Mariners vs. Nationals: Julio is back, Logan limits damage, and J.P. goes yard

To cap off their East Coast road trip, the Mariners stopped by Nationals Park for a three-game set. After a disappointing first two games which saw them outscored 9-2, they came back in a big way and claimed a 9-5 victory before returning to the PNW. Ending on a victory will hopefully generate the necessary positive momentum for their three consecutive series against division rivals.

Best Hitter: Julio Rodríguez

13 PA, .308/.308/.769, 4 H, 2 HR, 3 R, 5 RBI, 1 K, 2 SB

Finally, the series that we've all been waiting for. After struggling week by week, Julio finally put it together and posted a 1.077 OPS including two home runs and two stolen bases. Things finally seemed to click, especially since he was able to keep the strikeouts to a minimum. He's struggled quite a bit with plate discipline and swing decisions this year which may be a big reason his numbers aren't as good as they've been over the past two years but maybe this is the start of a hot streak yet to come.

We would need a deeper dive on exactly what has been dragging him down but a quick peek at his figures begin to uncover a recurring theme. He's getting crushed by offspeed pitches, striking out 40.9% of the time against the changeup. He's also struggling with movement, striking out 45.5% of the time against sweepers and 41.7% of the time against curveballs. Furthermore, he's whiffing more than 50% of the time against curveballs and cutters.

It's now been two months so he's only got about 100 more games to begin to iron out these problems, fewer if the Mariners want to remain a competitive playoff team.

Honorable Mention: Ty France

12 PA, 4 H, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI, 5 K

Like the 2022 All-Star Game, joining Julio is Ty France in this selection of best hitters. He also had a great series despite being punched out five times. Like his fellow Seattle All-Star, he's been struggling with getting on base and putting the ball in play this season. However unlike Julio, he doesn't have the power or quality of contact abilities so he'll have to make up for his shortcomings in other ways. Nonetheless, he can hit 400-foot home runs when things fall into place just the right way like they did against this lazy Patrick Corbin cutter.

Best Pitcher: Logan Gilbert

6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

It was a rough stretch of games for the Seattle rotation. George Kirby gave up five earned runs in six innings and Bryan Woo gave up there earned runs while getting just one strikeout. Woo ultimately earned the win but Logan Gilbert had the best individual performance. He had 11 swings and misses, all of which were split relatively evenly between his slider, four-seam fastball, and splitter. An interesting little nugget was that he earned four called strikes on his called strikes but no swinging strikes.

He also had a little stumble when making a play at first base but it's okay because pitchers are athletes.

The nugget about the cutter is made more interesting by the fact that over the weekend, Jeff Passan referenced it as one of the best single pitches in baseball. I wrote more about how he came to that conclusion and there's some real potential there, but it may have been hard to see in his start.

Honorable Mention: Austin Voth

2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

Seattle's pitching mishaps weren't restricted to the starters this weekend. The bullpen also had a few tragic moments, including Gabe Speier giving up two runs in the seventh inning of the second game and Ryne Stanek's blown save in the final game. Stanek was ultimately saved by his lineup but Speier was not so lucky.

One reliever that bookended the series with strong showings was Austin Voth, taking on a total of two innings of relief in the first and third games. He tied Ryne Stanek and Logan Gilbert for the most total strikeouts on the team in the series. While far from lights out, he's been a decent arm so far with a 3.80 ERA and 0.98 WHIP in his 21.1 innings of work this season.