Five Takeaways From the Seattle Mariners’ 2025 Season

Of course, the conversation surrounding the 2025 Mariners must start with Cal Raleigh and the historic season he put together behind the plate.

Raleigh ended the year with a monumental 60 home runs, which were the most ever by a catcher (previously 48), the most ever by a switch hitter (previously 55), and the most ever by a Mariner (previously 56).

He also became just the fourth player in AL history to hit 60 homers, joining Aaron Judge (62, 2022), Roger Maris (61, 1961), and Babe Ruth (60, 1927).

Raleigh is looking to become the first catcher to win MVP since Buster Posey in 2012 and the first in the AL since Joe Mauer in 2009. It will be difficult to fend off Aaron Judge and the season he just put together, but what Raleigh did this season may be historic enough to take home the hardware.

Raleigh ended the year with a .247/.359/.589 slash line for an OPS of .948 (fourth in MLB), wRC+ of 161 (fourth in MLB), and 125 RBI (third in MLB), all while playing great defense too. What’s more, Raleigh showed up on the biggest stage when his team needed him the most, putting the finishing touches on a tremendous season.

In 12 postseason games, Raleigh went 14-for-46 (.304) with a 193 wRC+ and 1.081 OPS. Raleigh launched five homers, including a couple of clutch ones to keep the Mariners’ season alive.

Take a bow, Cal Raleigh, because that was a performance that may not be matched by a catcher for years to come.

Julio Rodríguez Is Who He Is

It was another terrific year for Julio Rodríguez, who finished as the top center fielder in MLB in 2025. His 5.7 fWAR ranked 12th in all of MLB and marked the third time in his four seasons where he has posted an fWAR of 5.7 or greater.

Launching 32 homers and stealing 30 bases, it was the second 30-30 season for Julio, making him the first player in franchise history to have multiple 30-30 seasons. He also became the first player in MLB history to begin a career with four straight 20-20 seasons.

However, it was once again an unsteady ride on his path to a great end-of-season output.

Julio earned the third All-Star nod of his four-year career in 2025, but it was a very controversial All-Star bid to say the least. His first-half metrics were underwhelming, highlighted by a .731 OPS and a 110 wRC+. But that’s nothing new for Julio, who has historically been a slow starter.

Rodríguez once again kicked it into gear following the Midsummer Classic, slashing .290/.341/.560 for a .900 OPS and 152 wRC+ in the second half and notching the sixth-highest fWAR in MLB since the All-Star break (3.2).

Following yet another tremendous second half, Julio now sports a career .902 OPS and 152 wRC+ in the second half of the season compared to a .737 OPS and 114 wRC+ in the first half. That may just be who Rodríguez is at this point, but Mariners fans won’t complain when the season-long production ends up being some of the best in the sport.

Moreover, like Raleigh, Julio had a handful of clutch swings in the playoffs this season, posting a 125 wRC+ with an .809 OPS to go with four homers and nine runs driven in.

The day Rodríguez puts together a complete season from start to finish may be the year he gets an MVP attached to his name, as he’s shown to be one of the premier players in the sport when he’s at the peak of his powers.

Whether or not that day comes, however, remains yet to be seen. But for the time being, appreciate what Julio has done to start out his very bright career.

Bryan Woo Is a Bona Fide Ace

Bryan Woo put himself on the map in 2024 as one of the top starting pitchers in the sport, but injuries across his first two MLB seasons really restricted his workload. Well in 2025, fans saw Woo fully break out and establish himself as a borderline top 10 starting pitcher in MLB.

Woo set career highs in both starts (30) and innings pitched (186.2), and he managed to maintain his elite results while increasing his workload. Woo ended the season with a 2.94 ERA, which was the 11th-best mark in MLB and the fifth-best in the AL.

Opponents hit just .198 against him, which was the sixth-lowest mark in MLB, and he posted the third-lowest WHIP in the sport at 0.93.

He nearly cleared 200 strikeouts (198) and posted a career-high strikeout rate of 27.1% that was in the 80th percentile of MLB. On top of the increased strikeout rate, Woo walked less than five percent of batters, and his strikeout-minus-walk rate of 22.2% was the fifth-best in MLB.

Woo’s arsenal is headlined by a four-seam fastball that is one of the top pitches in the sport. His fastball had a Run Value of +21, which was the fifth-highest mark among any pitch in MLB this season, according to Baseball Savant.

Woo was the ace of an elite group of starters, and he may have established himself as the leader of the rotation heading into 2026.

The Back of the Bullpen Is Set

Andrés Muñoz has long been one of the more underrated relievers in the sport, and he fully broke out as a top five reliever in MLB this season.

Muñoz ended the year with the third-most saves in baseball (38), the fourth-lowest ERA among relievers (1.73), and opponents hit just .162 against him this season. He also didn’t surrender a single run through his first 24 appearances of the season.

He carried that dominance into the postseason, throwing 8.1 innings of scoreless baseball while only allowing two hits. Muñoz is the true anchor at the back of that ‘pen, and he headlines a very formidable group of relievers that the Mariners have at their disposal.

Matt Brash returned from Tommy John surgery in early May and he was great upon his return, throwing to a 2.47 ERA while striking out over 11 hitters per nine across 47.1 innings. He heads into 2026 as Seattle’s primary setup option to Muñoz.

Eduard Bazardo emerged as a really valuable piece of the bullpen in 2025, finishing sixth among relievers in innings pitched while tossing to a 2.52 ERA. Though his home run to George Springer in Game 7 of the NLCS will leave a poor lasting memory of his 2025 campaign, he took a major step forward this season and will be an important member of the bullpen for the Mariners in 2026.

Gabe Speier was one of the most valuable members of the bullpen as a very effective high-leverage southpaw. Throwing to a 2.61 ERA, Speier finished with 1.7 fWAR, which was tied for 13th among MLB relievers. He struck out nearly 12 hitters per nine innings while limiting his walk rate to under five percent, yielding a K-BB% of 29.2% that was the fourth-best mark among all qualified relievers.

Each of those four arms finished the year with a sub-3.00 ERA in 2025, and the Mariners established a really strong core of relievers to lock down the back of the bullpen heading into 2026.

They Deserve an Immense Amount of Credit for Going for It

The Mariners fell short of their ultimate goal of bringing a title to Seattle for the first time in franchise history.

However, Mariners brass deserves an immense amount of praise for pushing the chips forward and making a legitimate run at it. After all, the team came up one Springer swing short of the AL pennant.

Previous Mariners teams hadn’t made this type of push at the trade deadline, and the front office was often criticized for its complacency.

This time around, they recognized the opportunity ahead of them, realized that the lineup was a few pieces away from putting this team over the top, and they went out and brought in two of the top bats on the trade market in Eugenio Suárez and Josh Naylor.

While Suárez disappointed in a Mariners uniform this season overall, he delivered one of the most memorable and significant swings in Mariners history in Game 5 of the NLCS — a go-ahead grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning against the Blue Jays.

It was his second homer of the game, and it was that moment and that type of game that was the exact reason why Seattle brought Suárez in.

Naylor on the other hand thrived in Seattle, hitting nearly .300 with an .831 OPS and 137 wRC+. He was even more impressive in October, slashing .340/.392/.574 for a .967 OPS and 176 wRC+ in 12 postseason games.

Naylor was a tremendous addition by the front office, and bringing in both of these bats provided a jolt of life for both the team and fanbase. Sure, fans would have liked to see more out of Suárez as a whole, but both hitters did their job of providing a threat in the heart of the order.

With both hitters set to hit free agency this offseason, the front office knew the risk of trading for a pair of expiring bats. But they saw a team that had the pieces to reach the mountaintop and went for it.

It may not have worked out, but at least they gave it their best shot. That’s more than a lot of other franchises and front offices can say, and they deserve a lot of credit for putting themselves in the best position possible to make a run at a World Series title.