What Does the 2024 Mariners Opening Day Lineup Look Like So Far?

Mariners Infield

Catcher - Cal Raleigh

This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone and with Tom Murphy departing for the Giants and Mitch Garver intended to be played primarily as a DH, Raleigh's spot on the roster should be secured for at least the next few years. He's under team control until 2028 and while there are still doubts as to whether he'll stick around or if the team will try to trade him before then, fans won't have to worry about that for the near future.

Designated Hitter - Mitch Garver

One of the newest bats to join the Mariners, Garver is coming off of a year that saw him slash .270/.370/.500 over 344 plate appearances. A major contributor to the Rangers' first World Series win in franchise history, Garver's acquisition is reminscient of the team's signing of Teoscar Hernandez. Both are coming in with similar hitting prowess although Garver will be spending significantly less time in the field. Fingers crossed that his huge strides against fastballs and sliders will persist throughout his time with the Mariners.

First Base - Ty France

Love him or hate him, France isn't too far removed from his stellar 2021 and 2022 seasons where he accumulated 4.4 and 3.1 rWAR respectively. 2023 saw him post below-average offensive production for the first time since his rookie 2019 season and he struggled immensely against fastballs and sliders. He's spending his offseason hanging out with J.P. Crawford at Driveline so hopefully, we'll see him return to form and post a 120 OPS+ like he's averaged with the Mariners over the past four years. If he starts to slack, Luke Raley may be slotted in to take his place.

Second Base - Josh Rojas

After a rough start to last season with the Diamondbacks, Rojas seemed to figure it out and improved his OPS by .132 after leaving Arizona. He split time at second base with Jose Caballero but was the better bat, posting a 102 OPS+ to Caballero's 90. Rojas isn't going to be winning a Silver Slugger any time soon but he seems to fit in well in Seattle based on the 134 plate appearances he had.

Third Base - Luis Urias

As of the writing of this article, this is probably the biggest hole in the team's lineup. Urias struggled immensely in 2023, coming off of injury and slashing .194/.337/.299 over 177 plate appearances with the Brewers and the Red Sox, culminating in an rWAR of -0.2. Eugenio Suarez didn't have a great year either but if the Mariners make one more move, upgrading the hot corner would go a long way.

Shortstop - J.P. Crawford

Perhaps the most underrated player in major league baseball, few outside of the PNW were discussing Crawford's stunning season. Aside from slashing a career-best .266/.380/.438 for an OPS+ of 131, he also led the American League in base-on-balls with 94. With 5.1 rWAR, he was just barely behind Julio Rodriguez for the metric and will look to continue his success into 2024.