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

There are around 40 games left to play in the 2024 season, 40 more opportunities for Seattle to punch their ticket to October baseball. Things aren't looking great right now with a rough stretch coming at the same time as an eight-game win streak by the Astros, giving Houston a 2.5 game lead in the AL West. The Mariners are also three games back of a Wild Card spot, right behind the Red Sox. With just a 38.2% chance to make the playoffs as per FanGraphs, what bats need to warm up as soon as possible?

#3. Dylan Moore

80 PA, .179/.313/.328, 12 H, 5 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 7 R, 10 RBI, 11 BB, 22 K, 2 HBP, 4 SB, 2 CS

Dylan Moore is having a very weird season. He's actually one of the better hitters on the team this year, sitting at a .697 OPS and 104 OPS+ on the season. What makes things extra kooky is his home/away splits. In 191 plate appearances away, he's posting a .881 OPS. In 162 plate appearances at home, he's at a .488 OPS. His performance after the All-Star break reflects an almost identical disparity, hitting to a .445 OPS at home and .886 OPS away.

At first, I thought the drawback was something to do with field dimensions and park factors. After all, in the second half, he has an ISO of just .054 while hitting at T-Mobile Park while having an ISO of .267 in the 29 other parks. However, he's also striking out at a whopping 39.1% clip while walking 17.4% of the time. His BABIP is down to .211 and he has just one extra base hit since the break, a triple on July 21st against the Astros.

On the bright side, this means that Dylan Moore is actually pretty good and it isn't out of the question for him to be a true offensive force for the team. An .886 OPS is better than any mark that Julio Rodriguez has ever posted over a full season. If only he could find a way to bring that kind of hitting home.

#2. Josh Rojas

71 PA, .190/.282/.317, 12 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 6 R, 6 RBI, 7 BB, 17 K, 1 HBP

In the first month of the season, Rojas was playing like 1992 Edgar Martinez. He hit to the tune of .938 OPS and performed well enough to take the full-time third base job from Luis Urías who is now with Triple-A Tacoma. Unfortunately, his offense has gradually regressed to his career average, putting him at a .665 OPS and 95 OPS+. His stellar defense has still given him nearly two rWAR but his offense leaves a little to be desired.

Without the natural power of other sluggers on the team like Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez, the hope would be that he would fill the role of a contact hitter akin to Luis Arráez but his .190 average since the All-Star break has shown that to be unlikely. In the second half, he has struggled the most against cutters and sinkers, logging just three hits against those pitches, none for extra bases. Can he return to April Josh Rojas? It remains to be seen but in the event that he does, it would be a huge boost to the Mariners' offense.