The Good, Bad and Ugly: Strong Pitching, Inept Offense Leads to Mariners’ Split vs. Astros
After a disastrous series in San Francisco - as disastrous of a series as you can have in early April, anyway - the Seattle Mariners entered their first set of games against the Houston Astros needing to get things right. They were able to break their three-game skid with a 4-3 win over Houston on Monday, but fell by a 2-1 score in 12 innings Tuesday, meaning they’ll need to win Wednesday’s finale to get their first series win of 2025.
Let’s take a look at the good, bad, and ugly from the first two games of the series against everyone’s favorite baseball team.
Good: Gilbert and Castillo Shove
The Mariners set their rotation to have their top two arms go against the ‘Stros, and both Logan Gilbert and Luis Castillo gave the Mariners what they were hoping for.
Gilbert took a no-hitter into the sixth inning Monday, and while he gave up a solo homer to Jose Altuve with two outs in the next frame, it was an outstanding start for the 27-year old. He allowed just that one hit and two walks, and he struck out seven while generating 17 swings and misses against the Houston lineup. Outside of the first inning against the Tigers, Gilbert has looked like an ace. Ace almost seems like an understatement.
Castillo wasn’t as efficient as Gilbert, but the results were still impressive. He blanked Houston over five-plus innings with six strikeouts and 14 swing-and-misses generated in his 102 pitches. The right-hander was the subject of trade rumors during the offseason, but Seattle has to be thrilled they turned down offers right now; this rotation would be much worse with him not a part of it, especially with George Kirby unavailable.
Good: Jorge Polanco
Despite Gilbert’s dominance, the Mariners trailed 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning Monday. With runners on second and third and two outs, however, Polanco was able to lace a single off Bryan Abreu - one of the toughest relievers in baseball - for a two-run single to give Seattle the lead and ultimately the victory. In his limited sample, Polanco is now hitting .417/.440/.667, and he has looked fantastic with the bat when he’s been able to take the field.
Bad: Jorge Polanco’s Health
Unfortunately, “when” is the operative term. It’d be a limited size regardless, but Polanco was unable to play Tuesday because of soreness in his side. The concern here is amplified because he’s dealt with injuries for so much of his career, and the Mariners chose not to use him even with several situations that would have made sense in the extra-innings loss. Simply put, the Mariners offense isn’t good enough to overcome losses from players like Polanco.
Ugly: Victor Robles’ Status For the Rest of the Year/Dom Canzone
Our own Ty Dane Gonzalez wrote a fantastic piece on the Robles’ situation, so go check that out. But yes. This is bad. This is very, very bad.
Dom Canzone was Robles’ replacement on the roster, and unfortunately his two at-bats Tuesday after coming off the bench were horrific. There’s enormous power potential in his left-handed bat. He just doesn’t do enough to tap into it, and Seattle cannot rely on him. Nope. Can’t happen.
Good: The Defense
It’s worth pointing out that the only run given up in regulation by the Mariners came because of a routine play that Dylan Moore couldn’t make. But outside of that, the defense was strong over these two games. J.P. Crawford made a couple of ranging plays to take hits away. Moore himself was able to “make up” for the blemish by knocking down a hard-hit ball down the line with the bases loaded, stepping on first and making the throw to first to complete the double play.
But this was my favorite play of the two games.
He didn't get the out, but Ryan Bliss prevented a run with this wild play 🤯 pic.twitter.com/VV0uvRXpuN— MLB (@MLB) April 9, 2025
As the tweet or whatever we call them now points out, this didn’t result in an out. But it saved the game, because if that run scores, Seattle loses. To be able to make that kind of adjustment while diving shows the elite instincts and playmaking ability that Bliss possesses with his glove. He also homered Monday, but it’s been the defense that has made Bliss worth putting in the lineup.
Ugly: Another Awful Offensive Effort Tuesday
With no Robles and no Polanco in the lineup for Tuesday’s contest, the Mariners offense was inept - again -- in the loss to Houston. There were some chances, but they went 1-for-19 with runners in scoring position, and they struck out 19 times. It’s frustrating to watch hitter after hitter flail away, whether there are runners in scoring position or not. The walks are great, but they’re not enough. This offense has looked inept more often than not in 2025. It’s more than fair to be concerned.
Potentially Ugly: Wednesday
The Mariners do not have a series win in 2025. The Mariners needed to use six relievers during Tuesday’s 12-inning loss. The Mariners are going to have to start Luis F. Castillo on Wednesday, and the relievers who worked Tuesday will be working on shorter rest since they’re going to be pitching in a matinee getaway game.
See where I’m going with this? Hopefully, I’m wrong.
