Mariners vs. Blue Jays series preview

This weekend, the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays will face off in a three-game series.

The Mariners are 10-9, third in the American League West. They won their most recent series against the Cincinnati Reds and have won two games in a row.

The Blue Jays are 11-8, second in the AL East. They’re coming off a series victory over the Atlanta Braves and have also won two consecutive games.

The pitching matchup for the opening game will be Bryan Woo (2-0, 2.84 ERA) for Seattle and Bowden Francis (1-2, 3.71 ERA) for Toronto.

Saturday’s game will be a battle of veterans, as the Mariners’ Luis Castillo (1-2, 4.22 ERA) faces the Blue Jays’ José Berríos (1-1, 5.16 ERA).

Sunday’s pitching matchup features arguably the best starting pitcher taking the mound this series, Seattle’s Logan Gilbert. He’s 1-1 with a 2.38 ERA, 0.66 WHIP and 32 strikeouts this season. He’ll take on Toronto’s Easton Lucas (2-1, 4.70 ERA).

But why else is this series interesting?

Toronto’s veteran hitters are contributing

When you look at the Blue Jays’ lineup, the hitters that come to mind are Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Anthony Santander. However, those aren’t the primary reasons their lineup has been raking.

Four players are hitting above .300, and they aren’t the four you’d expect.

Catcher Tyler Heineman has the highest average on the team. Across seven games, he’s batting .455 with ten hits in 22 at-bats, three of them being for extra bases.

Outfielder George Springer is their second-best hitter at a .375 AVG. The 2017 World Series MVP with the Houston Astros, Springer has looked more like his former self this season with two HR and ten RBI.

Outfielder Myles Straw has played in 14 games for Toronto and is batting .355 with eleven total hits. His seven runs scored are tied for the third most on the team.

Lastly, shortstop Bo Bichette has posted a batting average of .305 so far this season. A pending free-agent in the offseason, Bichette hasn’t gone deep yet but has eight doubles and four walks.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. vs. Julio Rodríguez

Neither of these star hitters have been spectacular this season, but it’s still fun to watch them go head-to-head.

The aforementioned Vladimir Guerrero Jr. recently received a fourteen-year contract extension worth $500 million, including a $325 million signing bonus which will be spread out across the length of the contract.

This season, Vladdy is batting .292 with just one home run. However, he’s still finding ways to get on base with four doubles, nine walks and an on-base percentage of .373.

With the contract situation now behind him, there’s no doubt that Guerrero Jr.’s power stroke will start to come around.

Julio Rodríguez isn’t exactly playing up to Julio standards, but is still one of the league’s more exciting players.

In 19 games so far this season, he’s batting .187 with three home runs and eight RBI. His 23 strikeouts are the most on the team, but he also has the third most walks on the team (11). He’s also stolen five bases without being caught.

The Blue Jays’ bullpen duo

Toronto has seen success from two veteran relief pitchers this season, Jeff Hoffman and Yimi Garcia.

Hoffman was signed to a three-year, $33 million contract after being an All Star with the Philadelphia Phillies last season. He had planned to sign with the Baltimore Orioles, but a failed physical caused that agreement to fall through.

But Hoffman has shown no injury concerns so far in 2025. Across nine appearances as the team’s primary closer, he’s 2-0 with a 1.74 ERA, 0.68 WHIP and 14 strikeouts, and is a perfect four for four in save opportunities.

Garcia has possibly been more dominant. In the same sample size as Hoffman, he’s posted a 0.00 ERA with one unearned run given up. He’s surrendered a total of four hits and is one for two in save chances. Ironically, Garcia will be facing his former team, the Seattle Mariners, in this series.

First pitch for all three games (Eastern time) will be 7:07 p.m. Friday, 3:07 p.m. Saturday and 1:37 p.m. Sunday.

Adam Pietrzak is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email app5940@psu.edu.