Good, Bad, and Ugly: Hot Hitting, Injury Concerns Highlight Mariners’ Sweep of Angels
The Seattle Mariners had their first two-game series of the season, and at least on the field, it couldn’t have gone much better. They were able to procure a 5-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday, and they followed it up with a 9-3 drubbing of the Angels on Wednesday, clinching their seventh straight series win.
While everything went swimmingly on the field, there was some bad for the M’s off it, with another two hitters joining the injured list to test the depth of the hometown nine.
Let’s look at the good, bad, and ugly from the mini-sweep over the Angels.
Good: J.P. Crawford Giving 2023 Vibes
J.P. Crawford’s first two weeks of the season were not very good, and it was an unfortunate reminder of how shaky he was with the bat for the majority of the 2024 campaign.
To say things have gone better over the last few weeks, however, is quite the understatement. After going 2-for-4 with a walk and two RBI, Crawford is now hitting a healthy .289/.423/.378, and he’s registered an OPS of 1.038 over his last dozen games with a pair of homers, 13 RBI, and seven walks generated. Sure it’s a sample of less than two weeks, but it doesn’t make it any less impressive and no less encouraging. Crawford hit in the leadoff spot in Wednesday’s blowout win, and that was a spot he was so effective in during his breakout 2023 season where he looked like one of the best shortstops in baseball.
If Crawford can be a semblance of this player for the remainder of the year - one isn’t asking him to have an OPS over 1.000 for a calendar year; he can if he likes, but that’s obviously not sustainable - the Seattle offense is going to be in good shape.
Bad: Dylan Moore Placed on Injured List
Moore has been a big part of what has been one of the best offenses in baseball over the first fifth of the season, but unfortunately, he’s not going to be a part of it for at least the next week. The versatile infielder/outfielder was placed on the 10-day injured list with hip inflammation, and the Mariners selected the contract of Samad Taylor to take his place. The good news is that Moore is saying that it’s not even a Grade 1 strain, and he expects to be activated off the injured list when first eligible.
That’s all well and good, but what Moore has given the Mariners with the bat - particularly against left-handed pitching - is a big loss for the next couple of series.
Good: Leo Rivas
Rivas had some good moments for the Mariners after being promoted with Crawford unavailable with injury, but nothing like this. After going 3-for-4 with three RBI in Wednesday’s win, he’s hitting a remarkable .367 with an even more incredible .513 on-base percentage. This is, of course, unsustainable, but Rivas deserves a ton of credit for working counts by laying off pitches outside the zone and fouling off tough pitches. His chase rate would rank among the best in baseball if he qualified at just 8.8 percent, and his walk rate would also be up there at 25.8 percent. It’s sort of remarkable to watch a player with borderline zero power draw these kinds of free passes, but it’s happening, and it’s a lot of fun to watch.
Bad: Luke Raley Also Hits the Injured List
A day after Moore hit the shelf with his injury, the Mariners had to deactivate another important part of the roster next to him in Raley. He was scratched from Tuesday’s lineup with what was described as a back injury, but the official designation with an oblique strain. Those typically require a longer stay on the injured list than the minimum length, so the Mariners should expect to not see the outfielder back in the lineup towards the end of May at this point.
While Raley hasn’t played spectacularly or anything close to that level, it is a big loss. With Victor Robles not expected back until the end of the season at the earliest, the Mariners are now pretty low on outfield options. Interestingly, the Mariners made the decision to call up Rhylan Thomas over Dom Canzone and Cade Marlowe, two options that have MLB experience but haven’t exactly torn the cover off the ball at the highest level. Expect to see Miles Mastrobuoni and Taylor get most of the reps in the outfield with the occasional chance given to Thomas, but it’s another position the Mariners need to look at making a move for. They probably needed to, anyway, with Raley being their best option at first base when healthy. Sorry Rowdy Tellez.
Good: Jorge Polanco
I mean, come on.
rt for jorge polanco, like for jorge polanco, comment for jorge polanco pic.twitter.com/7k6o9i3lcy— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) April 30, 2025
That was Polanco’s second homer of the game and gave him all five of the RBI in Tuesday’s win.
It’s not just hot at this point. It’s levels that will put Polanco in the MVP race if he’s remotely this good for the remainder of 2025. It’s more than understandable if you are skeptical based on his struggles in 2024. But goodness gracious, this is just ridiculous. It’s fun to say “this is just ridiculous” for something positive for once.
Ugly: Another Mike Trout Injury
Yes, this is a Seattle sports website and yes, Trout has absolutely destroyed the Mariners over his career. But seeing him leave with another injury was tough - at least for this writer. Watching him play for a mediocre at best baseball team over the last few years and also dealing with injuries is hard, because you can’t help but wonder “what if?” There’s still time for Trout to finish as one of the all-time greats - and there’s no doubt he’s going to be enshrined in Cooperstown even if he doesn’t play another inning - but there was a time that Trout seemed extremely likely to be a Mount Rushmore player. Kind of a bummer to think that’s not going to happen, even if that is ultimately positive news for the Mariners right now in the AL West.
