Mariners offense looks unstoppable compared to inept AL West rivals

With due respect to the Los Angeles Angels and Athletics, the main threats to the Seattle Mariners' chances of winning the AL West this season are the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers. Between them, the two Texas teams have won nine of the last 10 division titles, as well as three World Series during the same time period.

Certainly, it's a big challenge the Mariners face to win the division, which they haven't achieved since 2001. However, they are receiving an unexpected boost early on in 2025, courtesy of some subpar offense by the Astros and Rangers.

We appreciate the initial reaction of a lot of people will be to mock a seemingly asinine take from this platform, give just how poor the Mariners' lineup was last year. Among other things, they had the second-lowest batting average in the Majors, recorded the most strikeouts, ranked 22nd in OPS, and finishing 21st in scoring.

However, this is a new day (season) and the Mariners have actually improved thus far on last year's offensive showing, not that this would have been too hard to do considering just how bad they were in 2024. At the same time, their main divisional rivals are the ones looking truly offensive with their offense.

Astros and Rangers just not at the races

Beginning on the very basic level, the Mariners are tied for 12th in scoring following Sunday's MLB games, while the Astros and Rangers are tied for 24th and tied for last, respectively. However, scratch below that surface and you really discover just how much the two Texas teams are struggling offensively so far.

This is not to claim the Mariners are some kind of offensive machine, bringing back memories of the Big Red Machine in Cincinnati, but they truly have been better compared to their divisional rivals. For example, the Rangers have the second-worst OBP in baseball while the M's are 13th, and the Astros are fourth-lowest in slugging percentage compared to 17th in Seattle.

Put the two categories together and the Mariners are ranked 13th in OPS, compared to 25th and 26th by the Rangers and Astros, respectively. What really makes all of this so surprising is just how badly the M's began this season, looking like a continuation of last year's offensive ineptitude.

Low point of the season for the Mariners

Following a deflating 2-1 extra innings loss to the Astros a couple of weeks ago, the Mariners offense was looking like an abject failure, accentuated by going just 1-for-19 with runners in scoring position. The M's were 4-8 and tied for the second-worst batting average in the Majors, 23rd in OPS and, most importantly, tied for the sixth-fewest runs.

Anger and frustration within the Mariners fanbase was as bad as it had ever been, with criticism of the lack of offseason additions seemingly providing even more justification. However, the very next day in the series finale against the Astros, the situation was turned on its head when Randy Arozarena led the way on a comeback from 5-0 down in the middle of the eighth, to somehow win 7-6.

Galvanized by this unlikely win from an impossible position, the Mariners have not looked back since. Now, the offense is more akin to the one which soared after Dan Wilson took over as manager late last August and was especially dangerous during September, when they scored the third-most runs in the Majors.

No stopping the Mariners at the moment

It's truly remarkable just how effective the Mariners have been during a 10-game run which has seen them go 8-2, to the point of even being 10th in batting average. They are second in OPS, tied for seventh in walks, first in wRC+ and fourth in runs scored.

Whether or not this recent run of dazzling offense is sustainable remains to be seen, but the Wilson effect is real, with him proving time and again that he's more aggressive than his predecessor Scott Servais. Lets also not forget the Mariners are achieving this without Víctor Robles and with Julio Rodríguez playing nowhere near his potential.

Overall, we appreciate the sentiment that the Mariners are best served just focusing on themselves rather than wondering how other teams are doing. However, this doesn't mean fans can't be excited about how poorly their rivals are performing at the plate; the people of Seattle should embrace and enjoy it all, with the promise of something special come September time.

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