Mariners: 4 takeaways from series split with Los Angeles Angels

3) Special moment for Fraley and kudos to Crawford

In terms of the offense, we want to focus on two players in particular. One, who had arguably the highlight of the series from a Mariners’ perspective, and another who was the most consistent bat for the ball club.

Starting with Jake Fraley, he will be the first to admit he hasn’t shown much with his hitting so far in Seattle. While some will point to just 19 games in his two years in the Majors, a batting average under .160 and just a single RBI gave little to be encouraged by.

This season, things hadn’t been much better for Fraley entering the Angels series, with just one RBI in eight games. (The one saving grace was an impressive 13 drawn walks.)

However, this all changed on Thursday night, with a special moment that essentially won the game. That moment came in the fourth inning, with the Mariners losing 2-1.

Fraley proceeded to hit the first home of his Major League career. The three-run bomb turned the deficit into a lead which the visitors would not relinquish.

The 26-year-old also stole a base and drew two walks to complete a productive night. However, it was the home run which stood out.

Making the moment even more impressive, was that Fraley was having issues with his sight beforehand. The result was a trainer coming out to put drops in his eye, which clearly helped.

Fraley said after the game he didn’t know what was in his eye, but focused on staying in the moment during his at-bat. Speaking to the media, he said:

“You’ve got adrenaline going, and you want to make something happen. Honestly, I feel like the staying composed part was the easy part and getting the thing out of my eye was the hard part.”

As a result of his first home run Fraley appears to be galvanized, at least if you consider what has happened during the remainder of the Angels series. On Saturday night he hit the first grand slam of his Major League career, albeit in a losing cause.

The 2016 second round draft pick then followed this with one RBI, a walk and a run on Sunday, this time in a winning effort. The Mariners and their fans will now wait to see if he can continue to produce with his bat in the coming games.

As for the best bat in the series as a whole, it has to go to J.P. Crawford. Putting him in the lead-off position has proved to be a smart move by manager Scott Servais.

In four games against the Angels, Crawford had seven hits, a home run, five RBI and four runs. He also had three walks, to further show how much his offensive game and patience continues to grow.

For the season as a whole, the 26-year-old is one of the best and most consistent bats on the ball club. He leads them in batting average following Sunday and is second behind only Mitch Haniger in hits.

We acknowledge there is still effectively two-thirds of the 2021 campaign to go. Regardless, Crawford’s year compares favorably with his four previous seasons in the Majors.

As things stand, the shortstop has the best batting average and second-best OPS of his career. Combined with his exceptional play on defense, he is on course to be one of the best in the league at his position.

NEXT: THE CORRECT DECISION