Mariners facing early adversity and test of their mental fortitude

The Mariners finish their first road trip of the season at 1-5, and now return to Seattle with plenty of questions surrounding the roster.

It’s been repeated ad nauseam about how it’s still early in the season, about how the Mariners usually start the year slowly. However, even accounting for these two realities, it doesn’t take away from the fact that things have been ugly so far in a year where they’ve been predicted by many to represent the AL in the World Series.

The pitching has been excellent, particularly a rotation which ranks sixth in team ERA, third in strikeouts, tied-third in fewest walks and first in WHIP. However, every other area of the team has struggled; the offense, the baserunning and the defense.

As a result, the Mariners have lost five straight games and seven of their last eight and return to Seattle with a 4-9 record for the first time since 2011. That team went on to finish that season 67-95, but surely a different fate awaits this year’s version, which has been widely acknowledged as the most well-rounded and deepest roster of the Jerry Dipoto era?

A talented but underachieving lineup

All the analytics seem to suggest the answer should be an emphatic yes, for a lineup which features last year’s AL MVP runner up, a generational five-tool talent, three All-Star-level players and a 2022 first rounder who’s now living up to his potential. And yet the evidence suggests that none of this matters right now.

What fans are seeing so far is an offense which ranks dead last in batting average and OPS, while also having the second-most strikeouts. (The K’a admittedly being an annual issue which they always seem to overcome.) As a result the Mariners have scored the second-fewest runs in the majors, with the only team below them having played one less game.

The poor defense play has been a surprise just based on preseason predictions, with MLB.com earmarking them to be much improved in 2026. Instead, they’re ranked 29th in Outs Above Average, with Brendan Donovan and Randy Arozarena arguably being the two main culprits.

You almost feel guilty for pointing out the duo’s defensive shortcomings, with them being two of the better offensive threats on the team. Donovan leads the team with a 1.027 OPS, while Arozarena had gotten on base every game until Wednesday’s series finale in Texas, but both still need to improve in the field of play.

The defensive miscues continue on Wednesday in Texas

Donovan’s defensive issues at third base continued during the demoralizing 3-0 loss to the Rangers which secured a series sweep, as he made the crucial first mistake which undid Bryan Woo’s tremendous outing in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Donovan fielded Danny Jansen’s hit cleanly enough, but his feet weren’t set properly and his weak off-balance throw allowed Jansen to safely reach first base.

As a result, what should have been the second out on the half inning turned into the starting point for the Rangers to take control of the game. Woo allowed two consecutive singles to load the bases and then Connor Joe made an error of his own in his first game for the Mariners, with an awful throw out of reach to Mitch Garver at home plate that resulted in two runs for the home team.

That was all the Rangers would need on a day when the Mariners were limited to just two hits and a couple of walks. However, Corey Seager added a third run via a sac fly to complete the fifth inning, and the game was effectively over.

It’s definitely not a case where the majority of the blame lands on Donovan, with plenty of culprits on the day, but it can’t be denied his off-balance throw started the tough sequence of events in the bottom of the fifth. And with it being just his latest mistake at third base, there’s a growing sentiment that he needs to be moved somewhere else on the field to allow Colt Emerson to be called up and take over at the hot corner.

Brendan Donovan makes no excuses

In any event, Donovan is a stand up guy and a leader, so deserves credit for facing the media afterwards to discuss his mistake, admitting he tried to plant but his foot got stuck in the turf. More generally speaking, he said:

“Yeah, I mean this game, it’s not something you can run from. So, it’s kind of one of those things, it’s like, you just (have) to keep preparing. And I understand I’m not playing to the standard that I set for myself defensively and what I have done the last few years. So, that’s frustrating. But my biggest thing is that I just want to help the team and I don’t feel like I’m doing a very good job of that over here.”

Not one to avoid a challenge, Donovan does want to remain at third base and prove himself, with him making no excuses for what’s happened so far. He said:

“Ultimately I do want the ball hit to me and I do want to make those plays. … I could sit here and say that I’ve had some tough plays, but they’re plays that I feel like I should make and plays that (they) are counting on me making. So, it’s definitely frustrating, but I’ll continue to prepare.”

Time for the Mariners to respond positively to early adversity

As for the Mariners’ tough start to the season as a whole, Donovan revealed a lot about his mental makeup and determined mindset in putting an almost positive spin on circumstances. He said:

“Unfortunately, we’re just kind of getting hit with some adversity at the beginning, but we can look at it one of two ways. You can say, oh for us, or you can say, okay, we can take this and we can kind of see what we’re really made of and we can get under this hump now and then we can get on a roll. I mean, personally, I’d rather us go through it now and see what we’re made of and kind of establish our identity and then go from there.”

You can use any number of cliches, including talk being cheap, or actions speaking louder than words, but there’s something to be said for Donovan’s outlook on things. Certainly he doesn’t sound like someone who’s going to get too downcast by the Mariners’ 4-9 start to the season.

The hope for fans is that this mentality permeates throughout the clubhouse, because this is still an extremely talented team. Now though, it’s case of going out there and proving it, beginning with what is already an important four-game home series this weekend versus the Astros.

Photos court​‌esy of Tim Rogers Photography

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