Sportscaster predicts Mariners legend Edgar Martinez's impact as Seattle's hitting coach
Last year, the Seattle Mariners had one of the league's most inept offenses. They had a dominant pitching rotation, but they missed the playoffs largely because of a 29th-ranked team batting average. Only the Chicago White Sox were worse on offense, and they set the record for losing games.
Down the stretch, however, the arrival of legendary hitter Edgar Martinez in a coach's role sparked something. Their offense got to be about middle of the pack with him around, and sportscaster Angie Mentink believes it'll trend in the right way again in 2025.
She said:
"You saw an immediate impact at the end of last year with Edgar Martinez coming in. ... You got a couple cracks at this trying to get off your A swing, but then once you get to two strikes, he really wants to see you grind."
Mentink continued, noting that Martinez got the Mariners to play significantly better fundamental baseball:
"If you look at last year, the Mariners were really bad at playing baseball when it comes to get them on, get them over, get them in. They were dead last in productive outs.
"Then you look at when Edgar took over... they were middle of the pack. You saw an immediate impact with that difference in approach and mindset. I think this is really going to be helpful for this offense."
After Martinez joined, the Mariners went from 3.9 runs per game to 5.1. Their average jumped from .216 to .255 as well.
Mariners land new sponsor for 2025
While the Mariners attempt to get back to the playoffs in 2025 and enjoy a stronger offense thanks to a full season of Edgar Martinez's coaching, their uniforms will look slightly different.
On the sleeve, there will be a small but bright red logo. Nintendo, the gaming giant whose American home is in Seattle, will be featured on Seattle's jerseys. This is just the latest piece of a lengthy collaboration. Nintendo actually purchased a minority stake in the team in 1992.
Kevin Martinez, the team’s president of business operations, said in a statement, via Fast Company:
“Nintendo and the Mariners have been inextricably linked since 1992. Now, each time the Mariners take the field, our jersey sleeves will help serve as a reminder of all that Nintendo of America has done for the Northwest community and the team.”
The MLB first allowed sponsor patches on jerseys in 2022. Teams like the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves quickly adopted this. Now, the American League West team is joining them.