{"id":639119,"date":"2026-03-23T15:50:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T15:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/639119\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T15:50:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T15:50:17","slug":"mariners-starting-pitching-depth-makes-them-al-west-favorite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/639119\/","title":{"rendered":"Mariners Starting Pitching Depth Makes Them AL West Favorite"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the last two weeks, I\u2019ve taken a look at the Opening Day true-talent rankings of the 30 MLB clubs on a division-by-division basis. While the rankings are based on actual 2025 batted-ball data, off-season player movement and potential impact of 2026 rookies will be addressed. We\u2019ve already covered the NL East<\/a>, NL Central<\/a>, NL West<\/a>, AL East<\/a> and AL Central<\/a>. Today, it\u2019s the AL West.<\/p>\n

1 – Houston Astros – \u201dTru\u201d Talent Record = 88-74 – Offensive Rating = 96.6 (20th), Pitching Rating = 91.7 (3rd), Defensive Rating = 96.9 (9th) IN: UT Nick Allen, RHP Ryan Weiss, RHP Mike Burrows, RHP Tatsuya Imai, RHP Kai-Wei Teng, LF Joey Loperfido; OUT: UT Mauricio Dubon, C Victor Caratini, LHP Framber Valdez, UT Ramon Urias, LF Jesus Sanchez<\/p>\n

The Astros looked awfully good despite the injury to Yordan Alvarez in the first half of 2025, but slid back toward the pack down the stretch. Alvarez is back and hopefully healthy, but their other second half problems remain, and are exacerbated by the loss of Valdez from their staff. It wasn\u2019t all that long ago that this team was a juggernaut, but they just don\u2019t behave like one anymore. Carlos Correa is back, but is not the same guy, and their system has simply stopped turning out impact talent. The season could turn on maintenance of high-end run prevention – the performance of Imai and return of Cristian Javier will be crucial.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

2 – Seattle Mariners – \u201dTru\u201d Talent Record = 85-77 – Offensive Rating = 101.6 (11th), Pitching Rating = 98.2 (14th), Defensive Rating = 97.9 (11th) IN: LHP Jose A. Ferrer, C Andrew Knizner, UT Rob Refsnyder, RHP Cooper Criswell, 3B Brendan Donovan; OUT: C Harry Ford, 2B Jorge Polanco, LHP Caleb Ferguson, 3B Eugenio Suarez<\/p>\n

As you can see by the ratings above, the Mariners\u2019 pitching was far from elite in 2025. Injuries cost key rotation members Logan Gilbert, George Kirby and Bryce Miller valuable time – all but Miller are healthy and raring to go as 2026 opens. This is a top five run prevention group when all hands are on deck. Suarez is a loss, but newcomer Donovan is a better all-around player, Cole Young should be more ready in his second crack at the 2B job, and could be an upgrade over Polanco. There are more impact youngsters on the way, like SS Colt Emerson, who could be ready to help out by season\u2019s end.<\/p>\n

3 – Texas Rangers – \u201dTru\u201d Talent Record = 83-79 – Offensive Rating = 97.2 (18th), Pitching Rating = 98.3 (15th), Defensive Rating = 96.2 (8th) IN: LF Brandon Nimmo, C Danny Jansen, LHP Tyler Alexander, LHP MacKenzie Gore, RHP Jakob Junis; OUT: 2B Marcus Semien, LHP Hoby Milner, RHP Merrill Kelly, RF Adolis Garcia, RHP Shawn Armstrong, RHP Jacob Webb, RHP Tyler Mahle, C Jonah Heim<\/p>\n

The Rangers are in general a misunderstood club, due to the extremely pitcher-friendly manner that Globe Life Field has played of late. Their offense is better than it appears, their pitching not as good. Expect their offense to take a step forward this season – Nimmo is an upgrade over Semien at the top of the order, and LF Wyatt Langford appears primed for a breakthrough season. The run prevention outlook is questionable, however – they can\u2019t expect another ironman performance from Jacob deGrom, and a lot more bodies are on the way out than in, especially in the pen. Gore is a key acquisition – if he can improve his contact management performance (or at least let his park do it for him) he could take a big step forward.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

4 – Athletics – \u201dTru\u201d Talent Record = 78-84 – Offensive Rating = 98.9 (16th), Pitching Rating = 104.0 (22nd), Defensive Rating = 98.1 (12th) IN: RHP Mark Leiter Jr., 2B Jeff McNeil, RHP Aaron Civale, RHP Scott Barlow; OUT: LHP Sean Newcomb, CF JJ Bleday<\/p>\n

The Athletics are the antithesis of the Rangers – they play their home games in a bandbox, making their offense appear better and their pitching worse than it really is. That said, their offense has a chance to be really good, and unfortunately, their pitching has a chance to be really bad. Most of their position players – led by 1B Nick Kurtz – are quite young and on the upswing in their respective careers. Luis Severino and Jeffrey Springs are stable vets at the top of their rotation, but are miscast as #1-2 starters. Lefty Jacob Lopez might have the most upside among their starters. Their high leverage relievers are largely unproven, adding to the risk. It won\u2019t be boring in Sacramento.<\/p>\n

5 – Los Angeles Angels – \u201dTru\u201d Talent Record = 64-98 – Offensive Rating = 94.9 (24th), Pitching Rating = 109.1 (27th), Defensive Rating = 106.9 (29th) IN: RHP Grayson Rodriguez, 2B Vaughn Grissom, LHP Drew Pomeranz, RHP Jordan Romano, RHP Kirby Yates, LF Josh Lowe, LHP Brent Suter; OUT: LF Taylor Ward, RHP Connor Brogdon, RHP Kenley Jansen, 3B Luis Rengifo, LHP Brock Burke<\/p>\n

How did the Angels\u2019 hole get so deep? The Anthony Rendon contract didn\u2019t help, nor did Mike Trout\u2019s decline. They will hit homers, but that\u2019s about it. They actually hit more homers than doubles last season. But their offensive approaches are awful up and down the lineup, and seemingly down into their minor leagues. And the run prevention is worse than the hitting. Jose Soriano and Yusei Kikuchi are competent at the top of the rotation, but like the A\u2019s duo are miscast in their roles. Their club, and especially their pen, are full of reclamation projects, and most of those don\u2019t pan out. And their Ward for Grayson Rodriguez challenge trade isn\u2019t looking good, with the big righty starting the year on the injured list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Over the last two weeks, I\u2019ve taken a look at the Opening Day true-talent rankings of the 30…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":639120,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2389],"tags":[2132,3418,8125,12643,9394,42,5,226,4492,1549,3765,762,1996,9097,3225,12342,4611,10947,6175,4789,76555,513,92,79,465,582,139,54,3211,403,632,442,8640,1332,3239,1952,18040,7530,1098,120,1397,37588,132,99,466,56,2180,1327,771,386,890,3617,660,363,603,4,2270,459,376,1521,81731,3423,12476,62395,11148,751,65,10630,4658,5694,69,1949,9112,91,1229,385,2264,809],"class_list":["post-639119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston-astros","tag-aaron-civale","tag-adolis-garcia","tag-al-east","tag-andrew-knizner","tag-anthony-rendon","tag-astros","tag-baseball","tag-brandon-nimmo","tag-brendan-donovan","tag-brent-suter","tag-brock-burke","tag-bryan-woo","tag-bryce-miller","tag-caleb-ferguson","tag-carlos-correa","tag-cole-young","tag-connor-brogdon","tag-cooper-criswell","tag-cristian-javier","tag-danny-jansen","tag-defensive-rating","tag-drew-pomeranz","tag-eugenio-suarez","tag-framber-valdez","tag-george-kirby","tag-grayson-rodriguez","tag-houston","tag-houston-astros","tag-houstonastros","tag-jacob-degrom","tag-jacob-lopez","tag-jacob-webb","tag-jakob-junis","tag-jeff-mcneil","tag-jeffrey-springs","tag-jj-bleday","tag-joey-loperfido","tag-jonah-heim","tag-jordan-romano","tag-jorge-polanco","tag-josh-lowe","tag-kai-wei-teng","tag-kenley-jansen","tag-kirby-yates","tag-logan-gilbert","tag-los-angeles-angels","tag-luis-rengifo","tag-luis-severino","tag-mackenzie-gore","tag-marcus-semien","tag-mark-leiter-jr","tag-mauricio-dubon","tag-merrill-kelly","tag-mike-burrows","tag-mike-trout","tag-mlb","tag-nick-allen","tag-nick-kurtz","tag-nl-central","tag-nl-west","tag-offensive-rating","tag-pitching","tag-rob-refsnyder","tag-ryan-weiss","tag-scott-barlow","tag-sean-newcomb","tag-seattle-mariners","tag-shawn-armstrong","tag-tatsuya-imai","tag-taylor-ward","tag-texas-rangers","tag-the-athletics","tag-tyler-alexander","tag-tyler-mahle","tag-vaughn-grissom","tag-wyatt-langford","tag-yordan-alvarez","tag-yusei-kikuchi"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=639119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/639120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}