Mariners offense's worst of both worlds explains why it's so hard to watch

Last year the Mariners finished tied-ninth in scoring and were expected to continue in a similar vein in 2026. Aside from Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez and Randy Arozarena, they were going to have a full season of Josh Naylor and the addition of Brendan Donovan. Instead, what should have been a power-packed lineup has produced tepid results.

Through 38 games the Mariners are averaging 4.03 runs per-game, compared to the Major League average of 4.49. On the subject of league average, they are the very definition of this with a 100+ OPS. And yet, why does the offense feel even worse that what these numbers indicate?

Sure the team batting average is poor, with the Mariners ranked a lowly tied-27th in the majors. However, that's the norm for this ballclub. They're actually tied-last in this category over the past five seasons, but are also one of only four clubs to win 85-plus games each year over the same time period.

A couple of offensive categories trending in the wrong direction for the Mariners

No, you have to go deeper to get a feel for why things seem so bad right now with this Mariners lineup. The reality is that the strikeout rate is UP from last season, while the hard-hit rate is DOWN. And making less contact plus hitting they ball more softly when you do, is undoubtedly a recipe for disaster.

The strikeout rate has been an issue for a few seasons now in Seattle, with the Mariners ranking tied-first in 2024 and second-highest a year earlier. However, it still doesn't look good when they've seen the seventh-highest jump from last season. Now combine this with the hard-hit contact rate, which was fourth-highest in 2025 but is now one of the 10 lowest in the majors.

At the risk of sounding sacrilegious about last season's AL MVP runner up and 60-home run king, Raleigh is the poster boy for this. Yes he's traditionally on the higher side when it comes to Ks, but his 31.0 percent strikeout rate is projected to be the highest since his rookie year in 2021. Meanwhile, his 29.7 hard-hit rate would be the lowest of his time in the majors and well below his career average of 44.4 percent.

So who's to blame for the Mariners' struggles at the plate?

What we're getting at either way is how the eye test feels more telling than the results. Any given at-bat just feels like a losing battle at the moment for the Mariners. In turn, this makes you wonder if the players are pressing?

We appreciate there may be some people wanting to put this on Edgar Martinez (Senior Director, Hitting Strategy) and Kevin Seitzer (Hitting Coach), but we're not willing to go there just yet. Martinez had an immediate positive impact when he took over as hitting coach in late August of 2024. And after he moved to his current position and Seitzer came on board from Atlanta, they did great work together last season with the offense.

Heck, you only have to look at the improvements of Luke Raley and Cole Young this season for proof that the duo still have a magic touch. No, as far as we're concerned this is on the hitters and they need to start doing their jobs more consistently. Especially when you're talking about a lineup containing five players with All-Star selections on their resumes (among other things).

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