One week into the season, the Seattle Mariners look familiar. The (intended) rotation has mostly been stalwart, the bullpen has been sturdy at the end but gooey in the middle, and the offense has flashed improvements on a year ago but remains hidebound due to factors malleable (a .211 BABIP that’s 26th in MLB) and inherent (these are the players!). What’s not been stagnant, however, is the defense, which came into 2025 as a massive question mark.
Despite his frigid everything-post-April last year, Josh Rojas brought elite defensive performance to the hot corner in 2024. Seattle retains two of the 2024 Gold Glove winners in Cal Raleigh behind the dish and Dylan Moore as the Utility winner, but D-Mo is generally a strong 2B and OF, a reasonable 3B/1B, and an overstretched SS.