Mariners’ Decision to Bet on Donovan Solano, Dominic Canzone Quickly Pays Off
The Mariners have kicked off a pivotal 17-games-in-17-days stretch with an impressive series win over the Cubs — their first at Wrigley Field in franchise history. While Cal Raleigh has justifiably dominated headlines thanks to another monster performance — adding four more home runs to his league-leading total — there was arguably a more meaningful development over the course of the weekend.
Dominic Canzone and Donovan Solano, both red-hot in the month of June, played key roles in Seattle’s three-game, 30-run explosion in Chicago. Solano racked up nine hits in the series, including two home runs in Sunday’s 14-6 rout. His eight RBI over the weekend nearly tripled his season total heading into the series, and his slash line has begun to stabilize at .257/.295/.371. Canzone, meanwhile, only appeared in Sunday’s finale but made the most of his opportunity, blasting two home runs — including a missile off the Wrigley Field scoreboard in right — to give him five extra-base hits this month.
So far, it seems the bet Seattle made on Friday is paying off.
With Luke Raley returning from the injured list, the Mariners faced a roster crunch. The simplest route would’ve been demoting Canzone back to Triple-A Tacoma, despite his recent success since being recalled on June 9. Instead, the club made the bolder decision to part ways with a well-liked veteran who had served as its primary first baseman for much of the season.
Rowdy Tellez hit 11 home runs and produced some memorable moments in a Mariners uniform — a modest success for a player signed as a minor-league free agent with a Spring Training invite. But his value was almost entirely tied to his power. The 30-year-old was hitting .208 with an abysmal .249 on-base percentage before being designated for assignment on Friday. He was especially ineffective at home, batting .151 with a .192 OBP and a 50 wRC+ across 99 plate appearances at T-Mobile Park.
On paper, Tellez’s dismissal was more than justifiable. The eyebrow-raising part was who replaced him. Canzone is somewhat redundant with Raley — both are left-handed-hitting corner outfielders best suited to face right-handed pitchers. He’s also 27 with a career slash line of .210/.268/.391. Meanwhile, Solano had been even less productive than Tellez entering the weekend, and his role as the weakside platoon to Tellez didn’t play to his strengths, given his .286/.350/.396 slash line against right-handed pitching since 2019.
For an offense as streaky as Seattle’s, though, there’s a real argument for riding the hot hand. Both Canzone and Solano have simply performed better than Tellez of late, and sometimes that’s all the reasoning needed.
With Solano in particular, the Mariners may finally be reaping the rewards of the one-year, $3.5 million deal they gave him this past offseason. The high-contact, high-average bat they envisioned has begun to show up, and moving on from him now — just as he appears to be heating up — was never a serious option for a team with razor-thin margins. Solano also provides the club with its best internal opportunity to establish an everyday first baseman until the trade market open ups, especially with his aforementioned success against right-handed pitchers. Following Sunday’s game, he’s now 13-for-38 (.342) facing righties in 2025.
For the Mariners, that development — paired with Canzone’s impact in limited action — couldn’t come at a better time. With a brutal stretch of games underway and the offense still fighting for consistency, finding production from unexpected places may be the difference between merely surviving and actually gaining ground in a crowded American League playoff race.
