Overlooked Mariners star is teasing a heater the team has been waiting for

There are many ways to measure the success of a player, with statistics often capable of being manipulated to support any argument. However, with the second-best OPS among all Mariners regulars and the third-highest bWAR on the team, Randy Arozarena is enjoying an undeniably fine season in Seattle.

Often a polarizing individual, the Mariners have mostly seen the positive version of the mercurial Arozarena so far in 2025. However, the one thing you can argue he's been lacking this season is more power, with just one home run in the 27 games heading into this week's home series with the Kansas City Royals.

So, of course the 30-year-old exploded on Monday night at T-Mobile Park with his first multi-home run game of the season, which also doubled as his first since arriving in a trade from the Tampa Bay Rays last July. The first blast also proved to be a special one, as it represented the 100th of his Major League career.

Randy Arozarena on reaching 100 home runs

Speaking about the highlight moment to the media postgame, Arozarena alluded to his recent struggles to hit the long ball. As per Tim Booth of The Seattle Times, he said via interpreter Freddy Llanos: "I felt like I’ve been searching for the 100 for maybe like a month now I’ve been trying to go up there and hit it. And today, basically without thinking about it, I hit two."

Reaching — and surpassing — 100 home runs on Monday night gave the 2023 All-Star the opportunity to reminisce about his youth, including hitting three bombs during a game as a teenager in Cuba. He said: "Thinking of those three home runs and now coming here and being able to hit 100 it kind of gives me like, ‘Wow, I’ve hit 100 home runs in the best baseball league in the world.'"

Arozarena then teased the possibility that Monday could be the beginning of hitting home runs with more frequency moving forward. As per Daniel Kramer of MLB.com, he said: "This is a big ballpark. Sometimes, it's hard to hit a home run. But once that temperature gets higher, that ball is going to fly a little more."

Mariners fans will be happy to see more of the long ball

As if to prove this point, the 2021 AL Rookie of the Year had two hits and another home run on Tuesday night, albeit in a 6-3 loss to the Royals. In any event, the Mariners and their fans will be more than delighted if this increased frequency of the long ball is here to stay.

This is not to say Arozarena needs to be hitting more home runs to be effective in the Mariners lineup. Despite the aforementioned stretch of just one blast in 27 games June proved to be his best month of the season to date, with monthly highs of a .294 batting average and .854 OPS.

Further, this season has the opportunity to be among the very best of Arozarena's seven years in the Majors, highlighted by a 3.1 bWAR which is projected to easily surpass his career-high of 4.2 in 2021. More power or not moving forward, the 2020 ALCS MVP is going to continue being a key component in the Mariners' quest to return to the playoffs following a two-year absence.