Mariners have a critical problem to solve in final major road trip of 2025

The Seattle Mariners are about to begin a nine-game, three-city road trip through Cleveland, Tampa Bay, and Atlanta. It's a relatively forgiving gauntlet, but fans in the Pacific Northwest have every right to be thinking "Oh, crud" all the same.

Memories of what happened the last time the Mariners went on a nine-game road trip are still fresh, and they're the kind fans would just as soon forget. The M's went 2-7 on stops in Baltimore, New York, Williamsport, and Philadelphia between August 12 and 20, which briefly put their playoff aspirations in jeopardy.

Mercifully, this is no longer the case after a six-game homestand in which the Mariners won back-to-back series. Though they are 2.0 games back of the newly reinforced Houston Astros in the AL West, they have a 3.0-game edge on the Kansas City Royals for the AL's third wild card spot.

The Mariners need to become road warriors, and soon

Then again, what good is a playoff spot if a team is incapable of winning on the road?

This isn't literally true of the Mariners, but it feels even more true than their 31-35 road record indicates. It just seems like they get thrashed on a routine basis when they venture away from T-Mobile Park, and there's a clear reason for that:

• Home ERA: 3.40, 5th in MLB
• Road ERA: 4.59, 22nd in MLB

This is not a new problem, as Mariners pitchers also had dramatic home/road splits in 2022, 2023, and 2024. Yet the difference this time is how frequently the M's have had a starter completely implode on the road.

By wOBA, only Colorado Rockies starting pitchers are performing worse on the road than Mariners starters. Save for Bryan Woo, who has a solid 3.48 ERA away from home, the other four members of Seattle's current rotation all have ERAs over 5.00 on the road.

It's a reminder that just because stuff travels, effectiveness doesn't necessarily follow. And the big problem that all five Mariners starters have on the road (yes, even Woo) is an unsurprising one. There have simply been too many long balls, as they have a collective 1.39 HR/9 on the road compared to a 1.10 HR/9 at home.

The shame is that the Mariners don't hurt for offense when they hit the road. Their 112 wRC+ away from home is the third-best in the majors. Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez have especially cleaned up, combining for 42 homers and a 157 wRC+.

That even this much offense hasn't allowed the Mariners to salvage a winning record on the road is concerning, and that much more so in relation to where they stand in the AL playoff picture. If they do end up settling for the third wild-card spot, they won't have home-field advantage in any round of the playoffs.

Winning the AL West and grabbing one of the AL's top two seeds would be a Get Out of Jail Free card, but neither figures to be easy to obtain. The Astros aren't giving the Mariners an inch in the division race, and even they are 3.5 games off the pace for the second seed.

Stranger things have happened, of course, but that old adage will only lead to anything if the Mariners come through this latest road trip relatively unscathed. And for that to happen, it's really not complicated: The pitchers need to do their jobs.

Game Times and Probable Pitchers for Mariners vs. Guardians, August 29-31

• Friday, August 29 at 4:10 p.m. PT: George Kirby vs. Logan Allen
• Saturday, August 30 at 4:15 p.m. PT: Logan Gilbert vs. Gavin Williams
• Sunday, August 31 at 10:40 a.m. PT: Bryce Miller vs. Tanner Bibee