3 Seattle Mariners Who Would Like To Forget April

April was challenging for the Seattle Mariners as they finished with a 12-16 record. While the team played some strong opponents last month, it's no excuse for the team to underperform. Multiple players struggled in the opening month, but here are 3 Seattle players that I am particularly critical of and hope to see improvements from.

Julio Rodriguez didn't meet his superstar standards

I'm going to start off with a bit of a hot take... Julio certainly wasn't the most disappointing Mariners player in April, but he certainly didn't live up to his hype and he knows that himself.

Julio, the face of the Seattle Mariners and arguably the MLB, hit an underwhelming .239 with five home runs, and 13 runs batted in. Rodriguez also struggled in the first 20 games of 2022 so maybe he's just a slow starter?

The 22-year-old talent's advanced metrics aren't showing major red flags but there are areas that are below his 2022 numbers. His barrel percentage was down 3%, wOBA was down 40 points, hard hit rate was down 5 points, and strikeout rate was up 2 points. Like I said, no major red flags and it's still too early in the season to draw conclusions.

Last year, Rodriguez quickly turned things around in May so I am looking to see if he can bounce back in a similar way. The Seattle Mariners certainly need some life after a rough first month and J-Rod needs to lead it. It also doesn't help that Robbie Ray is out for the year and Julio himself is experiencing back tightness.

If Julio Rodriguez isn't able to turn things up a level, the Seattle Mariners are going to be in a lot of trouble because he is the spark plug for this offense. Our typical offensive producers like Ty France, and Eugenio Suarez have been alright, but not good enough to the point where they can carry the entire offense.

For the Seattle Mariners to be a legitimate offensive threat, they need Julio, Ty, Eugenio, Teoscar, and Kelenic to be firing on all cylinders.

Kolten Wong is entering bust territory

I thought Kolten Wong was a smart acquisition for the Seattle Mariners, but things are starting to look dim. Wong's offensive numbers have been abysmal and he's made a few defensive mishaps that you wouldn't expect from a Gold Glover Winner.

Kolten Wong has never made the All-Star team but he's had a respectable career. He is a career .259 hitter and stolen 117 bases; you'd think that a track record as such would slot in nicely for the Mariners.

Although he is hitting below the Mendoza Line, I see a small glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel. Across his career numbers, he tends to struggle in the first month of the season. In April, he typically hits around .240 with a .675 OPS.

Now when you go into May and June, he brings that batting average up to at least .250. The OPS also follows the same trend. In May, he averages a .710 OPS. In June, he averages a .751 OPS.

When you look even further, July and August are his best offensive months. In July, he averages a .284 batting average and a .770 OPS. In August, his career average is .272 with a .760 OPS.

Now, I am not defending Kolten Wong's struggles by any means, but there is some hope for us fans.

To add to this, the Hawaii native was starting to hit better towards the end of last month. After recording just one hit in the first 7 games, he has put together 11 hits in the last 14 games. Again, it's not groundbreaking hitting but it's a step in the right direction.

Another positive that you can take out of his stats is his OBP. Wong is a patient hitter that doesn't strike out often; he will put the ball in play and force pitchers to throw quality pitches. His OBP is roughly 100 points over his batting average which is a positive sign.

All this being said, Kolten Wong needs to flush the first month of the season and start to produce for the Seattle Mariners. A slight uptick in performance from Kolten Wong at the bottom of the lineup could go a long way.

Based on what I have heard on TV, Wong isn't the type of player that will accept mediocrity so I m hopeful. I think his personality is a lot different than the guy who played for the Mariners last season.