Rob Refsnyder Adds Right-Handed Hitting Depth to Mariners Lineup
The Seattle Mariners have tried several times to fill in the right-handed platoon niche over the first half of the 2020s - with decidedly limited success. Mitch Garver, who had a .344/.500/.438 slash (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage) and (160 OPS+, where 100 is league average) against southpaws for the World Series-winning 2023 Texas Rangers, dropped to a little over league average in 2024 and right about league average in 2025.
That is probably the biggest success story of the decade on that front. A 39-year-old Justin Turner slashed a solid .264/.303/.403 during his 48 games on the 2024 Mariners, but that was a stopgap solution for a team that ended up missing the playoffs entirely. Donovan Solano ended up with unexpected reverse splits in 2025 just as Mitch Haniger did in 2024. AJ Pollock killed lefties like they were cod in a barrel for the 2022 White Sox, but his rather fishy 54 OPS+ for the 2023 Mariners sent him swimming down the Pacific coast to San Francisco before season’s end. Dylan Moore finally looked like a strong utility man in 2024 and early 2025, only to fall into the trenches of the Cascadia subduction zone, get designated for assignment, and end up in Arlington, Texas with a host of other former Mariners.
Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto and company aren’t done trying, however. The team was in clear need of righty bench bats during the postseason, and with Jorge Polanco gone to the Mets, Seattle just needed an extra bat in general. The man they got, Rob Refsnyder, does appear to be solid - but what’s so solid about him, and can Seattle be sure he won’t end up like all the other platoon right-handers?
How does Rob Refsnyder’s profile stack up compared to Mitch Garver?
With Refsnyder’s acquisition as a righty platoon bat and the signing of Andrew Knizner as the backup catcher, it’s quite clear that the Mariners’ Mitch Garver era is coming to a close after two years. Although Garver had greater value than appearances would indicate due to his role as a backup catcher, nearly all of Refsnyder’s production will have to be from visible offense - while he’s not a big liability with the glove, his defense isn’t very impressive, either.
It won’t be much comfort to the Emerald City to learn that Mitch Garver’s 2023 profile and Rob Refsnyder’s 2025 profile indeed have strong similarities. Garver’s OPS was .938 against lefties in 2023; Refsnyder’s was .959 in 2025. Both Garver and Refsnyder are patient hitters, not prone to chasing - this was one area of Garver’s game that held up well with Seattle - and both seasons sported well above average walk rates.
But there are clear differences, too. Garver was effective against pitchers from both sides of the plate in 2023, whereas 2025 Refsnyder struggled with a .616 OPS against right-handers. Garver was 32 in 2023 while Refsnyder was 34 in 2025. Points go in Refsnyder’s direction, too: while both players benefitted from batting average on balls in play (BABIP) luck in their respective pre-Seattle seasons, Refsnyder’s .354 BABIP against lefties in 2025 was less outlandish than Garver’s .423 BABIP versus 2023’s southpaws.
The biggest indicator that Refsnyder might outdo Garver, however, is consistency. From 2019 to 2023, Garver tended to bounce between an up year and a down year, settling back into down year mode once he reached the Mariners. Although Refsnyder had one down year (2023) during his four seasons in Fenway, he still hit well against lefties that season, and his stats against lefties were solid all four years in Boston.
Still, there’s a catch. After a solid rookie campaign in 2015 and a platoony 2016, Refsnyder was consistently below average from 2017 through 2020, only reaching a good clip against lefties with the 2021 Twins. While the home/away splits weren’t wildly divergent in righty-friendly Fenway Park, playing on a team with good offense year-in and year-out forced opposing pitchers to be careful with everyone, Refsnyder included - and his take-heavy approach was well-adapted for that situation.
I wouldn’t expect Refsnyder to equal his .959 OPS against lefties in 2026, but if he’s able to put up something in the .800-.900 OPS range against left-handers, Seattle will have spent its $6.25 million well.
Is Refsnyder the Finishing Touch to Mariners Offseason?
Dipoto stated in an MLB Network interview during the 2025 winter meetings that the team was looking to add one more bat and do so by about a week after the meetings started. That didn’t quite happen, as their main target in Jorge Polanco signed with the New York Mets. Did Seattle simply settle for Refsnyder, and is that where the team’s offseason will end?
The only thing that will prove that wrong is another acquisition, but according to Daniel Kramer of MLB.com, Seattle isn’t quite done with the search for a bat. The infielders that the M’s have been connected to, such as Brendan Donovan and Ketel Marte, are probably still on the board for Seattle, and comments Mariners general manager Justin Hollander made on MLB Network Radio suggest the team could be pivoting towards an Eugenio Suárez return as the final infield addition.
That is, in my view, the most likely outcome, with Suárez signing a one- or two-year deal to shore up the infield (and potentially, the designated hitter role) as Colt Emerson makes his debut and the infield duo of Ben Williamson and Cole Young enter their sophomore seasons. If that is indeed what happens, I’d give the Mariners offseason something in the range of a B to B+ grade. It wouldn’t be flashy, the pieces would have clear risks, but it would be broadly sensible. Still, it would have an air of disappointment after the winter’s big-time start.
If Seattle stands pat from here on out, however, the offseason will end up as a far more middling C or C+ - not particularly subpar (especially compared to previous Mariner winters), but a seriously unenticing finish after the aforementioned head start.
Of course, a big, well-negotiated acquisition could bring Seattle’s offseason another step higher. Whether that’s a talked-about connection like Ketel Marte or Brendan Donovan, or a surprise blockbuster acquisition like Nico Hoerner, Seattle still has the chance to go big. Will they take it?
