These 10 Pitchers have owned Mariners hitters during their careers

3 of 3

I think we all know the feeling. The other team's Ace is set to pitch against the Mariners, and it just isn't going to turn out well for Seattle's hitters. It isn't always an Ace, though, and some guys just have IT against the Mariners. I wanted to punish myself and look at the top ten pitchers against the Mariners in their history. I'll warn you, the most dominant guy on here is going to give you nightmares once again once we get to the end of the list.

Chad Qualls: 20 G, 16.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.78 WHIP, 20 K, 11 H, 2 BB, 1 SV

We start with Qualls, who easily and without argument was the most dominant pitcher to ever pitch against the Mariners. 20 appearances, 16.2 IP, only 2 hits and 11 walks... and he never gave up a run. That's an OPS+ against him of 11. That's three times worse than Kolten Wong as a Mariner in 2023. Not a single earned run that entire stretch. He was a good pitcher, with a 3.89 ERA in 844 appearances, but the Mariners were his whipping boy.

Craig Kimbrel: 15 G, 15.0 IP, 0.60 ERA, 0.53 WHIP, 29 K, 4 H, 4BB, 1 ER, 2 W, 10 SV

This almost makes me want the Mariners to try and acquire Craig Kimbrel even more, just so it is one less person out there that can come in and effectively close a game against the Mariners. The 29K is insane, one shy of 2 per inning. Just eight baserunners means you are 3.6 times as likely to strikeout against Kimbrel as you are to get on base. That's pure dominance right there.

Jeremy Hellickson: 5 G, 36.1 IP, 0.99 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 1 HR, 25 H, 19 K, 3-1 record

This one surprised me a bit. Not because Hellickson wasn't good, but because he had some rough stretches in his career. The single homer allowed and 19 Ks allowed really stands out, showing how tough it was for the Mariners to make good contact against him and do anything with it.

Troy Percival: 53 G, 56.1 IP, 1.60 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, 21 H, 26 SV, 59 K

We move into the bullpen, and I'm pretty sure there are a lot of people my age or older that see Percival's name on here and aren't surprised. The former Angels closer constantly shut down any hope the Mariners had late in games. When you post a .112/.199/.186 slash line, it makes sense. That makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit to see a team post a SLG of .186 for a full seasons worth of stats against a closer. That 21 hits too... gross.

Joe Smith: 59 G, 52.1 IP, 1.72 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 37 H, 53 K, 5-1 Record

Yup, the Joe Smith that came over in the Abraham Toro trade from Houston, that's this guy. He owned the Mariners, but not to the same level as Percival. The Mariners hit .198/.266/.283, but only ever got one loss on Smith in nearly 60 appearances. He just quietly shut down the Mariners whenever he faced them. Luckily for the M's, he didn't pitch in 2023 as he finished his career.

Joakim Soria: 45 G, 46.1 IP, 1.75 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 21 BB, 21 H, 52 K, 21 SV

Soria loved the Mariners. Seriously, Of anyone who faced him in 10 or more games, the Mariners were far and away the worst. A .133/.238/.203 slash line shows how inept they were, especially when he walked as many hitters as he gave up hits. Just five doubles and two homers with a 43 OPS+ against him. I always enjoyed watching Soria pitch whenever he stepped to the mound at the end of the game... just not against the Mariners.

Mike Witt: 28 GS (30 G), 210.2 IP, 2.69 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 13 HR, 12 CG, 14-7 Record

Not gonna lie. No idea who this is. He only threw 11 games between 91-93, which is before my recollection being born in the late 80s. The Mariners struggled more than any other team that Witt ever faced, as he ate up innings against them and kept them off the board at the same time. 13 HR in 210 innings can do that to a team.

Zack Greinke: 18 G, 107.1 IP, 2.35 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 87 H, 93 K, 8-2 Record

Greinke is one of the oddest and coolest dudes in baseball, and he has climbed my list of guys that I'm a fan of. People forget that Greinke was a monster on the mound for a long time, and graces one of the coolest T-shirts I've ever seen as well. If he throws a full season next year, he will officially have been in the majors longer than not, as it will be his 21st season. It's not just the Ms he dominated, as they still rank 7th/4th/3rd worst in BA/OBP/SLG against the wizard.

Tommy John: 22 GS, 134 IP, 2.28 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 21 BB, 36 K, 13-4 Record

Yup. Tommy John. The guy who has the surgery named after him. He was around forever, making his debut at 20 on 09/06/1963 and last throwing on 05/25/1989. That's wild. He has the 8th most starts ever, plus 60 relief appearances. The Mariners hit just 7 homers against him, constantly finding weak contact against the ageless wonder.

Pedro Martinez: 14 G, 103 IP, 1.57 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 63 H, 137 K, 2 CG, 13-1 Record

You had to know this was coming, right? Pedro dominated a lot of teams in his career, but it seemed like he had a personal vendetta against the Mariners. When you combine the K's, record, and slash line, it's not hard to argue they were his favorite opponent. Just 63 hits in 103 IP, and in fact the Mariners scored more than one run just 3 times in his first 12 starts against them, with an ERA of 1.00 through 90 innings. Joy bloomed in his final decision against the Mariners, as they beat the then-Mets Martinez 4-1 in June 2005 thanks to some bloop hits and a stellar outing from Ryan Franklin.

Home / Seattle Mariners History