The Seattle Mariners’ draw in their American League Division Series is a Tigers team they swept in Detroit the last time they matched up, but it would be a mistake to sell the Tigers short going into the postseason meeting.

Especially considering what some of Detroit’s hitters have done both this year and historically against Mariners pitching.

The ALDS is set: Seattle Mariners will face Detroit Tigers

The Tigers have a few certified Mariners killers, chief among them left fielder Riley Greene, their best hitter.

In 2025, the lefty-swinging Greene led Detroit with 36 home runs, 31 doubles, 111 RBIs, 84 runs and an .806 OPS. And a good portion of that damage was done against the Mariners.

In six games this season against Seattle, Greene went 10 for 24 (.417) with four homers, two doubles, a triple, nine RBIs and six runs scored. Over his career against the Mariners, the 25-year-old Greene has a slash line of .352/.377/.648 for a 1.025 OPS.

Greene has hit every member of the current Mariners starting rotation that he has faced fairly well, too. He’s 5 for 12 all-time against Logan Gilbert, 4 for 8 with a homer against Luis Castillo, 2 for 9 with a homer against George Kirby, and 2 for 6 with a double against Bryce Miller.

Greene is not nearly as dangerous when facing left-handed pitching as he his against righties, so the Mariners may be quick to use their two lefty relievers, Gabe Speier and Caleb Ferguson, against him in the series. Greene is 0 for 2 against Ferguson and 1 for 5 against Speier, but that one hit was a homer.

Ferguson gives Mariners a valuable chess piece in playoffs

The Tigers have another lefty-hitting corner outfielder who gives the Mariners trouble: right fielder Kerry Carpenter. He has a career .375/.390/.900 slash line for an alarming 1.290 OPS in 41 plate appearances against the Mariners. He has six homers, a double, a triple, 14 RBIs and 15 runs scored against Seattle.

Among current M’s pitchers, though, Carpenter has really only hit one hard. That pitcher is Kirby, with Carpenter going 4 for 8 with – brace yourself – four homers all-time against the Mariners’ fourth-year right-hander.

Even though the Mariners won four of the six games the played against the Tigers this year, Detroit’s lineup did a lot of damage against Seattle. But much of it came either in a 9-6 Detroit win on March 31 when M’s starter Emerson Hancock gave up six runs while registering just two outs, or the series Seattle swept in mid-July that was high-scoring but dominated by the Mariners’ lineup.

Other Tigers hitters who had big showings in 2025 against the Mariners are Gleyber Torres (5 for 13, two doubles), Dillon Dingler (6 for 12, one double), Javier Báez (5 for 14, one double) and Trey Sweeney (6 for 18, one homer).

There’s also center fielder Parker Meadows, who was a thorn in the Mariners’ side last season. He not only hit 8 for 24 (.333) with two doubles and a homer against the M’s last year, but he used all of his 6-foot-5 frame to make an incredible catch that robbed Cal Raleigh of a two-run homer and preserved a 3-2 Tigers lead in the eighth inning of an early August 2024 game. The Mariners lost 6-2 that night and fell out of first place of the division as a result.

On the flip side, the M’s have some hitters themselves that should worry the Tigers. Julio Rodríguez went 8 for 22 (.364) with six walks, a hit by pitch, two doubles, a triple, three homers, seven RBIs and 10 runs against Detroit this year.

Raleigh and Randy Arozarena also hit three homers each against Tigers pitching in 2025, with Arozarena going 8 for 25 (.320) with three doubles, seven runs and five RBIs.

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