The Seattle Mariners have their first back-to-back AL Player of the Week award winners since all the way back in the 1998 season.
There isn’t really a situation where someone would usually put the combination of Jorge Polanco and Dylan Moore in the same conversation as Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez, but this changed on Monday. Polanco was named American Player of the Week seven days after Moore, making them the first Seattle Mariners duo to go back-to-back since Rodriguez and Griffey on June 27 and July 4 respectively in 1998.
Like Moore, this is the first time in Polanco’s major league career that he has won the prestigious weekly reward and it was thoroughly deserved. The 31-year-old hit .471 with five runs scored, four home runs, eight RBI and two walks in five games (including four starts), recording 22 total bases and producing a 1.844 OPS.
Jorge Polanco on fire versus the Marlins
Polanco’s success included his best series of the season to date, during the weekend at home to the Miami Marlins. He was electric at the plate as he hit .500 in 12 at-bats, and produced six hits, three home runs and seven RBI, as well as one walk and four runs.
There was plenty of pressure on the Mariners, after they declined Polanco’s club option but then brought him back on a smaller deal worth a guaranteed $7.75 million, but with up to an additional $3.5 million in potential incentives. He was coming off the worst season of his major league career which included a .213/.296/.355 slash line, .651 OPS and 93 OPS+, and many questioned the front office’s decision to re-sign him.
The calculated gamble was that the switch-hitter’s offseason knee surgery would help him perform better, but no one could have expected the level of success he’s achieved thus far. He doesn’t qualify yet due to being limited to 20 games out of a possible 28, but his .377 batting average and 1.145 OPS would ranking him second in the Majors, while his .739 slugging percentage would lead all of baseball.
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Mariners say goodbye to Casey Lawrence
In other news, Casey Lawrence’s time in Seattle is over after being claimed off waivers on Monday by the Toronto Blue Jays. The 37-year-old had been designated for assignment by the Mariners during the weekend, the third time it had happened to him this season.
Lawrence made four appearances for the Mariners in 2025, producing a 3.60 ERA, 5.17 FIP, 1.500 WHIP and -0.5 WAR in 10.0 combined innings. His final outing in Seattle turned out to be a low point, as he allowed 10 hits and eight runs (two earned) in 5.0 innings against the Marlins last Friday, after coming in to replace the injured Logan Gilbert.
The righty had previously pitched for the Mariners in 2017 and 2018, when he made 34 appearances but struggled in general. For his career in Seattle as a whole, he produced a 5.85 ERA, 4.83 FIP, 1.633 WHIP and -1.0 WAR in 75.1 combined innings over 38 appearances.
Photos courtesy of Tim Rodgers Photography
Do you predict Polanco will maintain a similar level of success for the duration of this season for the Mariners, or do you have any concerns about him? Let us know in the comments section below.
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