With the first homestand of the year is in the books, the M\u2019s are leaving T-Mobile Park with a 3-4 record after facing a pair of American League playoff contenders to kick off the year. Next up<\/a> are series with AL West rivals Los Angeles and Texas.<\/p>\n But first, let\u2019s take a look at whose stock is up and whose is down after the first two series of the new campaign.<\/p>\n \u2022 Stock up: Emerson Hancock<\/p>\n Hancock is getting another opportunity to begin the season in the starting rotation due to Bryce Miller\u2019s oblique injury. Unlike last year, he got off to about as impressive of a start as possible in his first outing Sunday with six no-hit innings and a career-high nine strikeouts against the Guardians.<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to take too much away from one start, but it\u2019s also hard not to notice how effective Hancock was at keeping hitters off balance with his sweeper as his new featured secondary pitch.<\/p>\n Hancock threw his sweeper 25.8% of the time in his season debut, up from just 3.2% last season. The pitch generated three whiffs and two strikeouts. It also helped Hancock\u2019s fastball play up despite a dip in velocity throughout the game, as he got nine whiffs on his four-seamer. In addition to getting more swing and miss, Hancock only gave up one hard-hit ball.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Stock down:\u00a0The big bats<\/p>\n The Mariners might consider themselves lucky to be leaving Seattle with a 3-4 record, because the meat of their lineup didn\u2019t provide much over the first seven games.<\/p>\n Julio Rodr\u00edguez, Cal Raleigh and Josh Naylor went a combined 7 for 78 (.090 average) with one extra-base hit and 30 strikeouts to 10 walks.<\/p>\n There were a couple big moments from the group: Raleigh hit a walkoff single on Monday against the Yankees and Rodr\u00edguez had a game-tying single with two outs in the ninth inning on Saturday against the Guardians. But the M\u2019s need far more from their Nos. 2-4 hitters.<\/p>\n \u2022 Stock up: Bottom-half-of-the-order lefty bats<\/p>\n For as much as the group above struggled, the trio of Luke Raley, Dominic Canzone and Cole Young put together an impressive homestand.<\/p>\n Coming off an injury-plagued year where his numbers plummeted, Raley homered in each of the Mariners\u2019 first three games, including one that he didn\u2019t start. Raley collected five hits and six RBIs in total while playing in five games during the homestand. The three homers he hit nearly matched the four he hit in 73 games last year.<\/p>\n Canzone picked up where he left off during his breakout 2025 season with a two-homer game in the season opener against Cleveland. In six games during the homestand, he also had five hits and six RBIs.<\/p>\n Young was perhaps the most impressive of this group, showing improvement at the plate and in the field. After an up-and-down rookie season, Young was second on the team with eight hits during the homestand, including one homer and two doubles. And he seemed to come up with a defensive gem in just about each game.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Stock down:\u00a0Logan Gilbert<\/p>\n The knock on Gilbert last season was that even though he struck out batters at an elite clip, he wasn\u2019t typically getting as deep into games as he showed he was capable of while leading MLB in innings pitched during 2024.<\/p>\n Getting deeper into games was a goal for Gilbert this season, but he didn\u2019t complete six innings in either of his first two starts of 2026. The right-hander went 5 1\/3 innings in both of his outings, allowing a combined eight runs over 10 2\/3 innings.<\/p>\n The caveat here is that starters typically aren\u2019t going to go as deep into games in their first couple of starts, but the flip side is that Gilbert\u2019s two starts are the only ones so far where a Mariners starter didn\u2019t complete six innings.<\/p>\n \u2022 Stock up:\u00a0Brendan Donovan the hitter<\/p>\n Considering how long his name was linked to the Mariners before a trade finally materialized, the wait for Donovan\u2019s team debut seemed much longer than the nearly two months between his trade and opening day.<\/p>\n He did not disappoint \u2013 at least at the plate.<\/p>\n Donovan started his M\u2019s tenure in style with a leadoff home run in his first at-bat, becoming the first player in team history to hit a leadoff home run on opening day. He continued that success throughout the homestand and finished with a team-high 10 hits, two homers and two doubles.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Stock down:\u00a0Brendan Donovan the third baseman<\/p>\n Donovan showed one glimpse of why he won a Gold Glove in 2022 with a terrific sliding grab as he crashed into the wall in foul territory down the third base line. Outside of that, it was a bit of an adventure for him at the hot corner while committing three errors, including an attempt to throw to first base that was nowhere close to Naylor after fielding a bunt in the 10th inning of Saturday\u2019s loss.<\/p>\n Donovan was touted for his ability to play all over the field when the Mariners acquired him, but it looks his defense may be a bit of a work in progress at third, a position where he had started just 29 games over four seasons entering 2026.<\/p>\n More on the Seattle Mariners<\/p>\n \u2022 Will Seattle Mariners become more aggressive with ABS challenges?<\/a>
\u2022\u00a0Dipoto: Emerson checked all the boxes for Seattle Mariners extension<\/a>
\u2022\u00a0Seattle Mariners SS J.P. Crawford begins rehab assignment<\/a>
\u2022\u00a0Cole Young shows he could give Seattle Mariners \u2018huge boost\u2019<\/a>
\u2022\u00a0Passan: Why Seattle Mariners \u2013 and Colt Emerson \u2013 agreed on record extension<\/a><\/p>\n
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