3 Mariners' hitters going through terrible second-half slumps at the plate

#1. Mitch Garver

51 PA, .119/.275/.167, 5 H, 2 2B, 2 R, 1 RBI, 9 BB, 20 K

Garver never really found his footing in Seattle. The biggest free agent signing of the offseason for Seattle came off the back of a 2023 World Series run and a year that saw him post an .870 OPS and 139 OPS. Since coming to the PNW, he's slipped all the way down to a .617 OPS and 81 OPS+, a dramatic regression. His walk rate of 13.3% is the only thing that's been able to keep his numbers somewhat afloat but his poor strikeout rate and quality of contact numbers have limited his productivity as a traditional slugger.

Unlike Rojas and Moore, there isn't really a split one can point to where he's shown the ability to be elite in some circumstance. He had a .779 OPS in the month of June and currently has a .786 OPS against left-handed pitching which is decent enough but still under pre-season expectations. He's hitting four-seam fastballs for great power, slugging .506 against them, but he's getting destroyed on sinkers and breaking balls.

Can Garver come back? It doesn't look very likely this year but never underestimate the power of an eight-year major league veteran.