Tarik Skubal isn't the only Tigers star Mariners need to worry about in ALDS

The Mariners have a tough test in their first postseason series of the year, facing off against the Detroit Tigers in the American League Division Series.

The biggest obstacle to overcome is undoubtedly Tarik Skubal, the team's ace who followed up his Cy Young campaign in 2024 with an even better season in 2025, posting a 2.21 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP over 195.1 innings. He's by far Detroit's biggest threat and fortunately, the Mariners won't see him until the second game of the Division Series.

Unfortunately, he's not the only player they need to be worried about.

Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter have historically played very well against the Mariners

It was a down year by Riley Greene's lofty standards, but the young outfielder is still one of Detroit's best position players, posting a 120 OPS+ with 36 home runs and 31 doubles. He has done a lot of damage against the Mariners over his four-year career, hitting to a 1.025 OPS over 77 plate appearances against the team, and he'll likely carry that success forward into the playoffs.

To make matters worse, Greene has an .886 OPS against right-handed pitching and a .620 OPS against left-handed this year. Seattle is severely understaffed when it comes to the southpaw department, having no starters and just two relievers, Gabe Speier and Caleb Ferguson.

Fellow 2022 call-up Kerry Carpenter presents similar challenges. His 114 OPS+ for the season already makes him a strong hitter but he has had even more skewed results against the Mariners. Over 41 plate appearances against Seattle, he has a 1.290 OPS with a whopping six home runs.

Every playoff team comes with threats and the Mariners have a few of their own. Julio Rodríguez has dominated when playing against the Tigers, posting a 1.144 OPS over 88 plate appearances. Jorge Polanco, who was with the division rival Twins before signing with Seattle, has the most history against the team, accumulating an .807 OPS over 489 plate appearances. Andrés Muñoz has one earned run and 10 strikeouts in 6.1 innings against Detroit.

After all the hype and momentum of the final few weeks of the season, it'd be a sad state of affairs if Seattle were to follow up a Division win with an unceremonious October exit. The two squads are pretty evenly matched on paper and if the Cleveland series taught us anything, it's that the Tigers are still prone to mistakes. Whether the Mariners will be able to take advantage of this mistakes remains to be seen but the parity is what makes this postseason matchup one of the most exciting to watch.