Sunday, April 06

SEATTLE -- His stats page would’ve suggested that Randy Arozarena was off to a quiet start to the 2025 season through Opening Weekend, but everything about what he did over the Mariners’ first series was incredibly loud.

Aside from blasting a game-tying homer in the eighth inning of Seattle’s dramatic Opening Day comeback, Arozarena hit the ball as hard as anyone in the sport, though he didn’t quite have the results to show for it. 

Until Monday, when he ambushed the first pitch that he saw for a 389-foot solo homer into the visiting bullpen -- and above all, through the marine layer.

How his first five games played out begs the question how the slugger, who played most of his career indoors at Tropicana Field, is adjusting to T-Mobile Park, which yields the sport’s most extreme park factors -- and not in favor of hitters.

“I always go up to bat and try to hit that ball as hard as I can,” Arozarena said through an interpreter. “Sometimes the field can play against you, but ... it doesn’t matter if you play here or anywhere else, I’m just going up with the same approach no matter where I’m playing.”

Before Monday, Arozarena was 0-for-11 outside the Opening Day homer with four strikeouts and three walks, but the other seven putouts were all scorched.

The most glaring example was the flyout to straightaway center field on Sunday that was cut short at the ballpark’s deepest point, a 105.4 mph liner that was blown in by 28 feet. The marine layer essentially robbed him of a two-run homer, though it proved inconsequential, given that Julio Rodríguez lifted a 438-foot moonshot to propel the Mariners to a 2-1 win.

“The way I made contact with it, any other day, I think that would have gone out,” Arozarena said. “But you obviously have to pay attention to what's going on that day. With the wind, it didn't really help much.”

Just as stinging, though not related to the ballpark, was the 105.8 mph lineout that Arozarena ripped on Saturday that A’s second baseman Max Muncy made a stellar snag on. Because of his positioning, shaded just to the right of the bag, Muncy was able to double-up Rodríguez, who might’ve scored -- along with Victor Robles, who was on third base -- had the ball found grass.

That took place in the first inning, so there was still so much game left, but it nonetheless evaporated the Mariners’ momentum in a 4-2 loss.

Muncy also hauled in a 112.3 mph lineout from Arozarena on Thursday, which has been his hardest-hit ball so far -- and harder than any ball that he hit last season, hit or out. Over the weekend, six of his eight batted balls were hard-hit (95 mph or higher), but only the Opening Day homer ended with him reaching base.

These types of things balance out quickly, meaning that Arozarena won’t keep up a 75% hard-hit rate, but many of these outs will start dropping.

“He's in a really good place right now,” Rodríguez said. “We're going to see a lot from him this year. I'm very excited to just keep watching him.”

The ballpark can be mentally draining for hitters at this time of year -- especially newcomers, a category that Arozarena firmly falls into given that he didn’t join the Mariners until last year’s Trade Deadline.

September obviously yields cooler temperatures, too, but the marine layer is far more sustained from March/April through May, sometimes longer. But Arozarena says that it’s not affecting him, and he’s also making his presence felt beyond the box score.

The Opening Day homer was obviously vital to Seattle’s victory, but so was his emphatic reaction before trotting the bases, which proved to be contagious, as Jorge Polanco followed with a two-run blast that pushed the Mariners ahead.

“When that moment comes, [when] you know that it's time to fire everyone up, it just happens naturally,” Arozarena said. “But I like to do it, and I think it's also vice versa. If my teammates see that, maybe we're down, whatever it is, showing some momentum or emotion like that, it's a good thing.”

Count the Mariners as another team intrigued by the “Torpedo” model bats that were raved about throughout the sport over the weekend, after the Yankees used the new lumber en route to a historic home run barrage.

The bats -- which Major League Baseball confirmed are legal -- are defined by an untraditional barrel, which rests closer to the hitter's hands. "Torpedo" bats are designed with more wood, and thus more mass, concentrated in the area of the bat where the hitter is more likely to hit the ball. Each player touts a slightly different model, with the bat's shape specifically customed to maximize potential damage on any given swing.

The innovation is attributed to Aaron Leanhardt, a former Yankees analyst who was hired as the Marlins’ field coordinator this past winter.

In casual clubhouse conversations on Monday, a few players polled suggested that they’d like to try them out.

“Of course!” Polanco said.

Polanco will get his wish soon enough, as the Mariners are already in the process of ordering some.

Seattle’s bullpen will soon be getting a big boost via leverage relievers Matt Brash (Tommy John surgery) and Troy Taylor (right lat strain), who are expected to begin rehab assignments this week with Triple-A Tacoma.

Both were at T-Mobile Park on Sunday, where they played catch before embarking to Reno, where the Rainiers play this week.

Taylor might be closer than Brash, who made a remarkable return to the mound in the Mariners’ final Cactus League game on March 24, less than 12 months post-surgery. If all goes well, both could return in the next few weeks.

“We're not trying to rush them,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “We definitely want them to be ready to go when they get back and we'll just assess as we go, [see] how it all looks at the time.”

Julio “Bat Flip” Bobblehead

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Promotions On Deck

The Mariners promotion schedule is stacked with great giveaways all month long. Check out everything coming up on the next homestand. Buy Tickets »

Cal “Platinum Glove” Bobblehead 3-Day Giveaway -- Monday, April 7-Wednesday, April 9

Corduroy Hat Night presented by Alaska Airlines -- Friday, April 11

Salute to Armed Forces Night Camo Jersey Giveaway presented by Boeing -- Saturday, April 12

Little League Day Mariners Poster Giveaway -- Sunday, April 13

Season Ticket Memberships

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