If you’re a Mariners fan of a certain age — let’s just say, you’re probably not on TikTok — you have seen this kind of offensive surge from a star slugger before.
But not in a long, long time.
And not in this ballpark.
Jorge Polanco, the reining AL Player of the Week coming off the most trying season of his career, hit two more home runs — a three-run blast and a two-run shot — to power the Mariners to a 5-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night at T-Mobile Park, extending his offensive rebirth and placing him in elite company in club history.
The Mariners (17-12) have won 13 of their last 17 games, and their scorching-hot designated hitter has been the catalyst of much of this April ascent to the top of the AL West.
Polanco has nine home runs in his first 79 plate appearances, and his .819 slugging percentage at this early stage of the season ranks just behind Alex Rodriguez (a. 905 slug in 1999) and Ken Griffey Jr. (.861 in 1996), and just ahead of his hitting coach, Edgar Martinez (.786 in ’95), as the best marks in M’s history through the season’s first month.
That those superstar sluggers hit with that kind of authority in a hitter’s era while playing in the Kingdome might not be all that surprising.
What Polanco is doing — at age 31, sixth months after major knee surgery, while playing through a mild oblique strain, with much of his damage happening at T-Mobile Park — has to classify as one of the most unexpected developments of this MLB season.
Seven of Polanco’s nine homers have been hit at T-Mobile Park — a notorious pitchers’ haven — and he’s now batting .404 with an OPS of 1.325 in his first 51 plate appearances of the season at home.
Welcome to the new “Polo” Grounds, folks.
“It’s been a really good stretch, really fun,” Polanco said. “Right now, with my approach and everything, I think this is the best I’ve felt [in his career].”
The switch-hitting Polanco credited his new hitting coaches, Martinez and Kevin Seitzer, for helping him simplify this approach in the batter’s box this spring.
From the left side, Polanco has eliminated his open stance, helping him keep his front side closed longer and allowing him to maintain his up-the-middle swing mindset.
“It’s been since last season, when Edgar got here,” Polanco said. “He preached that approach. Everybody knows who Edgar was [as a hitter], so we just listened to him and worked on that. So I took it to the offseason and just kept on working.”
Polanco’s nine homers put him one shy of the MLB lead — teammate Cal Raleigh and Arizona’s Eugenio Suarez, the ex-Mariner, each have 10 — and he raised his batting average to .389 and his OPS to 1.242 through his first 79 plate appearances.
During an injury-riddled 2024 season, Polanco didn’t hit his ninth homer until July 27, and he finished the season with career lows in batting average (.213) and on-base percentage (.296), and a career high in strikeout rate (29.2%).
“He’s just in a state where he’s seen the ball really well,” manager Dan Wilson said. “He’s getting a barrel to it every time and he’s really locked in.”
Polanco hit two homers against Miami on Saturday. He had two doubles (plus a single) on Sunday.
And after Monday’s off day, he walked in his first plate appearance Tuesday against Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz. With two runners on in the second inning, Polanco turned on a 95-mph sinker and pulled it out to right field at 108.9 mph, a 395-foot blast that would have been out in all 30 MLB parks, per Statcast.
That gave the Mariners a 3-0 lead.
Facing Kochanowicz again in the fifth, Polanco just missed a home run on a high fly ball that Angels center field Jo Adell caught, on a hop, at the wall in right-center field. That 388-foot fly out would have been a homer in 18 ballparks.
In his next at-bat, against Angels rookie reliever Jose Fermin, Polanco crushed another long home run, a two-run shot to extend the M’s lead to 5-1. This one was estimated at 423 feet and would also have been a homer in all 30 MLB parks.
Polanco has nine homers and 25 RBI through his first 78 plate appearances this season, raising his batting average to .389 and his OPS to 1.242.
Bryce Miller, even with two extra day of rest, had shaky command from outset. He walked five in five innings against the Angels, after walking four in 4.2 innings a week earlier in Boston.
He still managed to throw five scoreless innings Tuesday, allowing just two hits with six strikeouts. He said afterward that he was playing through discomfort in his back.
“I was casually warming up, doing my normal pregame prep, and it locked up on me,” he said. “I wasn’t able to sit down between innings. Just had to keep it moving with keep it, keep heat on it.”
He’s the first M’s pitcher with five or more walks and no runs allowed since James Paxton on May 12, 2015 vs. San Diego.
“Happy I got through five without any damage,” Miller said. “But that’s not who I am out there. That’s not how I pitch.”
Miller’s fastball velocity dipped as low as 92.2 mph Tuesday — it averaged just a tick under 94 mph — and his overall “stuff” remains an ongoing concern after he openly discussed some arm soreness after his first start.
“Pretty frustrating outing. Been a frustrating start to the season for me,” Miller said, adding: “It’s just been one thing after another that hasn’t been major, but just been nagging.”
Andrés Muñoz closed it out in the ninth inning to improve to 11 for 11 in save chances. He has not allowed a run in 15 innings this season.
