Seattle Mariners' Ben Williamson shows more pop in Triple-A

It’s been a few weeks since the Seattle Mariners sent rookie third baseman Ben Williamson back down to Triple-A, but there’s good reason to check back up on him.

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Williamson was optioned to the Tacoma Rainiers after the M’s reunited with All-Star third baseman Eugenio Suárez at the trade deadline, but it by no means meant the book was closed on the 24 year old. Williamson showed off his impressive defensive ability as well as good contact skills at the plate while with the Mariners for 85 games, even providing 1.2 bWAR for the big club.

When he was optioned, though, it came with the idea that there were a few things he could focus on adding to his game. One was playing other positions in the infield, and another was to see if there’s untapped power in his swing.

That’s where things get interesting.

In Williamson’s first 11 games since returning to Triple-A, he’s hit .341 with a .453 on-base percentage and .614 OPS for a 1.067 OPS. That’s included a double, a triple and three home runs out of his 15 hits in 52 plate appearances – and all of those homers came in a three-game stretch, two of which were in the same game.

BEN BOMBBBBBB!!!! (His 3rd of the series‼️) pic.twitter.com/APMqNEIHH1

— Tacoma Rainiers (@RainiersLand) August 17, 2025

For comparison, Williamson had just one homer and 13 doubles in 295 plate appearances with the M’s.

It’s a promising development, and one where some credit may be owed to a former Mariners player with local ties. Tacoma’s hitting coach is Shawn O’Malley, a Tri-Cities native and Southridge High School alum who played for the M’s in 2015 and 2016.

Rainiers broadcaster Rylee Pay mentioned the connection Thursday to host Curtis Rogers on Seattle Sports’ Extra Innings, pointing out that O’Malley earlier had a big hand in what first baseman Tyler Locklear did in Tacoma this year before he was the centerpiece in the Mariners’ trade with Arizona for Suárez. Locklear hit .422 with a 1.297 OPS and nine homers for the Rainiers in July.

“I know that (Williamson) has been working with Shawn O’Malley, who’s our hitting coach in Tacoma,” Pay explained. “Shawn worked with Tyler Locklear as well a few months ago, making some adjustments to his swing, and obviously you saw those numbers just speak for themselves as well, the way that he was really able to just perform consistently with that power that he’s known for. And I think same goes for Ben.

“They have probably just had a few conversations over the last week of figuring out a little bit of an adjustment to his stance, and the way that he’s been able to adjust to it and the offensive numbers that have come with that has been really impressive.”

Seattle Mariners’ Ben Williamson shows more pop in Triple-A

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