The Seattle Mariners finished April 2026 with a .500 record, marked by streaks of both wins and losses. Cole Young emerged as a standout player, ranking highly in WAR and defensive metrics, while the team's overall performance reflects their preseason projections.
Key points
Seattle Mariners finished April 2026 with a .500 record
Cole Young ranked highly in WAR and defensive metrics
Team faced both winning and losing streaks during the month
Bottom of the order contributed significantly to the offense
Seattle MarinersMinnesota Twins
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 27: Manager Dan Wilson #6 of the Seattle Mariners walks to the dugout after making a pitching change against the Minnesota Twins during the seventh inning of the game at Target Field on April 27, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) | Getty Images
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 27: Manager Dan Wilson #6 of the Seattle Mariners walks to the dugout after making a pitching change against the Minnesota Twins during the seventh inning of the game at Target Field on April 27, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Mariners were a little bit of everything in April, which is exactly what they were supposed to be.
The Mariners finished April with a .500 record. The month included a five-game losing streak, a four-game losing streak, and two four-game winning streaks. They were projected in the preseason as favorites in their division and the entire American League.Ā They are still favorites in the division, but have fallen to second in the AL behind the hot-start Yankees. They are now two-games under .500 after opening May with back-to-back losses.
They finished April seventh by WAR:
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Again, this is about what they were projected for entering the season. A good lineup with middling base running, and a good pitching staff with a porous defense behind them. Itās a well-rounded but not extraordinary group with greater strengths than weaknesses, and they are elevated by a weak division and league.
Now, itās still early. Iāll have more commentary on the Mariners initial standing two Sundays from now when they breach the 40-game mark. Today, I want to discuss a few things that stood out in the seasonās first split.
Q&A
What was the Seattle Mariners' record in April 2026?
The Seattle Mariners finished April 2026 with a .500 record.
How did Cole Young perform in April 2026?
Cole Young had a WAR of 0.8 according to FanGraphs and 1.9 according to Baseball Reference, making him one of the top second basemen in the league.
What challenges did the Mariners face in April 2026?
The Mariners experienced a five-game losing streak and a four-game losing streak, alongside two four-game winning streaks during April.
Who were the key players contributing to the Mariners' offense in April 2026?
Key contributors included Cole Young, Dominic Canzone, and Luke Raley, with the bottom of the order posting a combined 114 wRC+.
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April Flowers
Cole Young steps forward
Cole Young has been good, or maybe great ā depends who you ask.
FanGraphs lists Young at 0.8 WAR through April. That makes him the seventh most valuable second baseman in the majors, and just outside the top 50 for qualified position players. Good.
Baseball Reference lists Young at 1.9 WAR. That makes him not only the leagueās best second baseman, but the fourth best position player in all of baseball. Great.
The difference comes down to defense. Baseball Reference uses Defensive Runs Saved (DRS). By that metric, Young has been the second best fielder in the majors. In fact, Young was named Sports Info Solutions Defensive Player of the Month for April in the American League. FanGraphs, on the other hand, uses Fielding Run Value (FRV) from Baseball Savant, which suggests Young has been about neutral on defense.
While the degree of success is up for debate, itās a (small sample) success nonetheless. Last year, Young was awful on defense. It was a combination of bad hands, bad footwork, and a weak arm. This year, he seems to have fixed at least the first two points. His arm is somehow even weaker than before, but heās now getting to grounders, collecting them into his glove, and throwing the ball accurately to first base. Kate Preusser did a great overview of Youngās improvements this spring, and those have indeed carried into the regular season.
Itās not just in the field. Young was the Marinersā second best hitter in April, with a 125 wRC+ in 126 plate appearances. Heās maintained all the things he did well last year ā pulling the ball in the air, drawing walks, and avoiding strikeouts. But heās improved his quality of contact, with a 40.7% hard hit rate (pretty good) and a 40.7% launch angle sweet spot rate (outstanding).
As the chart shows, however, this isnāt quite new. Young hit equally well for a good chunk of last summer. The upsell is this isnāt simply a fluke. The downsell here is weāve seen him collapse after doing this before. Still, a great season starts with a great month. Young is on his way.
The bottom of the order steps up
Young is one of several encouraging signs from the bottom of the Mariners order. Dominic Canzone picked up right where he left off last year, with a 142 wRC+ and some of the best contact quality in baseball. Luke Raley looks healthy again and has flashed extraordinary power, though heās cooled in recent weeks. Randy Arozarena is in the midst of a classic hot streak (even if the rest is still quite frustrating).
The Mariners 1st and 5-9 hitters posted a combined 114 wRC+ in April, keeping the offense afloat while the middle of the order struggled. Julio RodrĆguez, Cal Raleigh, and Josh Naylor each picked it up in the second half of the month, and the Mariners 127 wRC+ since April 10 is second best in baseball. This looks like one of the leagueās top lineups once again.
Emerson Hancock steps at all
Perhaps more surprising than Youngās progress on defense is Emerson Hancock emerging as a quality mid-rotation starter, or as he showed Saturday, maybe even more. Hancock wasnāt good last year (or the year before) in the sixth starter role, and the Mariners often needed him to be. Iād honestly written him off ā the stuff simply wasnāt there over a fairly large sample.
But in the latest example of ādevelopment isnāt linear,ā Hancock suddenly found it in April. He had a 2.86 ERA, 4.60 FIP, and 3.46 xFIP in six starts. Sure, a pesky home run problem was still there, but he struck out batters, limited walks, and went deep into games for the first time in his career.
Michael Rosen outlined the changes for Hancock recently at FanGraphs. Basically, heās the rare pitcher who, mid career, suddenly changed the way heās physically throwing the ball. Stuff metrics love the changes, and the results have followed. Thatās whatās so exciting about what would other wise be a small sample ā itās a lot easier to believe heās changed when he literally has.
Now, I was going to note that Hancockās stuff ticked down over his last to April starts. He still looked like a better pitcher than the last few years, but maybe more āreasonable improvementā than ānew ace.ā Then last night happened. Hancock struck out 14 batters and picked up 21 whiffs. It was an incredible, career-best performance for any pitcher, and that it was Hancock makes it borderline unbelievable. He is now fourth ā fourth! ā in the majors with a 25.2% K-BB rate. Itās a turnaround unlike anything Iāve witnessed.
April Showers
The rest of the rotation
The other starters havenāt been bad necessarily, and including them here isnāt quite fair. The Marinersā rotation finished April in a four-way tie for eighth most fWAR in the majors. They also posted a league best 5.6% walk rate and were 1/3 of an inning behind the Dodgers for most innings pitched (181).
They also finished a disappointing 20th with a 21.2% strikeout rate. Strikeouts arenāt everything, but the tradeoff is more contact, and the Mariners have allowed the third worst hard hit rate in baseball. One of those should ideally change.
Again, itās still an above average group, and there a lot of teams that would love to have this rotation. But itās year four and five for Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, and Bryan Woo, and they donāt seem theyāre any closer to *actually* being in the top tier of rotations. Mariners starters are 10th by fWAR since 2022; Mariners batters are ninth.
There are important questions ahead, with Hancock continuing to pitch well, Luis Castillo getting shelled, and Bryce Miller nearing completion of his third rehab stint in the last 365 days. The dynamic will shift soon.
The defense
All that hard contact allowed is not ideal for the defense behind them. Itās been dreadful, again. At the moment theyāre tied for last in the majors by OAA.
The thing that jumps out most is Julio at -3 OAA (-2 FRV thanks to a nice throw). I donāt buy that heās suddenly bad now. As I wrote in the preseason, fielders of his caliber (and age) should be good for a long time, and I expect his performance will even out over time. But this was indeed the worst month of his career in the outfield. Heās completed outs on just three of seven plays graded as ā1 Starā by Baseball Savant (here, here, here, and here); he also missed a ball so easy it didnāt even get a star.
Now, if you click through those videos, I think youāll see why Iām not concerned. Itās not like his range has suddenly disappeared (in fact, itās slightly improved). Thereās beenĀ weird weather, roofs, and a few misreads on tweeners. Julio has never been a guy like Pete Crow-Armstrong or Ceddanne Rafaela, where youād expect him to fetch more than a handful of five-star catches in a season. Instead, Julio earns his keep as one of the most fundamentally sound route runners in the game, with the athleticism necessary to adjust on the fly. He made 81 of 84 plays graded one or to stars last year ā he does the routine better than anybody. I expect that to return.
The rest? Awful. Dreadful. I donāt need to see anymore. Iāll always take offense over defense, and I continue to believe this is a top-10 group overall. But defense is where good fell short of great in 2025, and thatās likely the case again this year.
The short side
The Mariners finished April with an 81 wRC+ against lefties. There were a handful of strong performances from Arozarena, Young, Mitch Garver, and even J.P. Crawford. But there was still half a lineup that was simply non-competitive against lefties.
This isnāt a surprise. The Mariners best role players are lefties with strong platoon splits, and the plan was always to platoon and pinch hit. The issue is the Mariners have a 50 wRC+ in 31 plate appearances off the bench. The strategy simply hasnāt worked, again.
Of course, the Mariners are also fourth in the majors with a 113 wRC+ against righties in twice as many plate appearances. Itās a good lineup, if a vulnerable one.
