FanSided

Mariners vs. Athletics: Dylan Wants Moore, Miller is Money, and Julio Heats Up

Seattle started off their homestand on the right foot, and came through big in the final game to earn the series win over the Athletics

By Jason Wang |
Oakland Athletics v Seattle Mariners
Oakland Athletics v Seattle Mariners / Alika Jenner/GettyImages
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After a pretty brutal away series in Minnesota, the Mariners bounced back by taking a series win over an overachieving Athletics team. Other than a lopsided loss caused by some rough bullpen outings in the later innings, Seattle seemed to cruise to 2-1 in the three-game set.

Best Hitter: Dylan Moore

.400/.364/.700, 11 PA, 4 H, 1 HR, 2 R, 6 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 SB

Moore filled in at shortstop for this series while J.P. Crawford continues his rehab from his oblique strain and he did an incredible job to say the least. He might have had his best performance of the season (or even his career) in the first game of the series on May 10, going 3-for-4 with five RBI.

At first glance, his slash line of .222/.321/.411 doesn't seem like anything write home about but he does seem to have hit his stride recently. Over his last seven games, he's slashed .304/.346/.565 to help compensate for lacking offense in other areas of the lineup. Furthermore, his defensive utility continues to help fill gaps within the team created by injury. When J.P. Crawford inevitably returns, Dylan Moore might continue to find more work as a corner outfielder or even a second baseman.

Regardless of where he is, Scott Servais is incentivized to have him in the lineup since his 113 OPS+ is the third-best among all qualified Mariners and as mentioned earlier, he only seems to be heating up as the season goes on.

Honorable Mention: Cal Raleigh

.333/.429/.833, 7 PA, 2 H, 1 HR, 3 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 3 K

Speaking of hitters that have been heating up, add Cal Raleigh to that list. After a satisfactory March/April that saw him post a .742 OPS over 100 plate appearances, he's seen a big bump in hitting performance so far in May, posting a .865 OPS over 38 plate appearances. This has been helped by the fact that he has been absolutely torching baseballs in 2024, placing in the top two percent of hitters for average exit velocity (94.4 mph), barrel rate (19.2%), and hard-hit rate (58.9%).

Sure, he leans quite heavily into the three true outcomes, but he's already at 10 home runs (and just one double) this season. There might also be some issues with a suboptimal launch angle since he often ends up with a very high or a very launch angle on his batted balls, but for now the pop that he brings is much appreciated, especially for a team with the 22nd best slugging percentage (.367).

Best Pitcher: Bryce Miller

6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 9 K

Despite the game ending up as a 8-1 blowout loss, Bryce Miller performed admirably and should not be blamed for Oakland's offensive outburst as it happened after he had already departed the mound. He fanned nine opposing batters while collecting 17 swings and misses, ten of which were from his splitter and four-seam fastball combined. Those two pitches continue to be his most potent tools. Opposing batters are averaging just .147 against his fastball and are striking out at a 44.2% clip against his splitter.

His splitter is particularly interesting because of the 40.3 inches of vertical drop. His sweeper also has a ridiculous amount of vertical break at 48.1 inches but he's only throwing it 9.5% of the time, so it's clear that the splitter has become his favorite non-fastball weapon.

Honorable Mention: Luis Castillo

6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K

If not for the two long balls he gave up to Brent Rooker and Abraham Toro, Castillo would've likely put up a scoreless quality start. He had 14 swings and misses, ten of which came from his slider and four-seam fastball. Like Bryce Miller, Castillo has an elite fastball that is made even better by a strong secondary pitch. In his case, it's the slider. Batters are averaging just .160 against it and whiffing 43.0% of the time while striking out 41.2% of the time.

When Castillo sets up opposing batters with a slider down and away before speeding them up with an elevated fastball at 96 mph, it's hard for them to keep up. His 3.31 ERA and 10.6 SO/9 are statistical testaments to just how good he's been this year.

Best Moment: Julio's bat shows signs of life

The most worrying storyline for Mariners fans this year has been the seeming inability for Julio Rodríguez to uphold the offensive standard he's set over the past two years in the major leagues. In March/April, he posted a .606 OPS and had just four extra base hits over 124 plate appearances. Intrinsically, he's still in the top 10% of qualified hitters for average exit velocity (92.8 mph), bat speed (76.1 mph), and hard-hit rate (50.9%) but if baseball was won on intrinsic stats alone, Matt Chapman would be the best hitter of all time.

Fans have been waiting to see results and Julio simply hasn't met the expectations of most. In the final game of the series, we finally got to see flashes of the superstar we've all come to know and love. In the second inning, he torched a lazy sinker from Alex Wood and hit it 409 feet for his second home run of the season and first home run at home.

In the fifth inning, he hit a ball 403 feet off of Kyle Muller fastball that was just shy of being a home run and ended up as a double. These two extra base hits were just his sixth and seventh so far in 2024, showing just how lackluster he's been at this plate to this point. On the bright side, he's still playing spectacular defense and has stolen nine bases so he's trying his best to make up for his slow start in other places. However once Seattle gets their crown jewel in his full form, they just might be the team to beat in the AL West.

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