Eugenio Suárez Under Fire For Second-Half Mariners Slump

The Seattle Mariners have a loaded roster with solid pitching and Cal Raleigh to anchor the lineup. Raleigh has been incredible, and the pitching staff is turning it on at the right time. At the trade deadline, the Mariners made a few big moves to add talent to their roster.

They added Eugenio Suárez and Josh Naylor in a pair of trades with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Naylor has been incredible in his time with Seattle, but Suárez has slumped. He's hitting under .200 in his time with the Mariners, and it doesn't seem like he's breaking out any time soon.

Billy Heyen of Sporting News recently bashed Suárez and questioned what was wrong with him as his second-half slump continues.

Eugenio Suárez's slump reaching new peak in second half

Seattle Mariners infielder Eugenio Suáre — Aug 27, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners third baseman Eugenio Suarez (28) celebrates in the dugout after hitting a three-run home run during the fourth inning against the San Diego Padres at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images | Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images

"Suarez has simply been a worse hitter since joining the Mariners, by pretty much every metric. With Arizona, he struck out 26.8% of the time. With Seattle, it has been 34.9% of the time. Suarez had a 91.1 mph average exit velocity with the Diamondbacks," Heyen wrote. "It's 86.1 mph with the Mariners. His hard-hit percentage with Arizona was 51.1%. That's down to 32.7% with Seattle. He's hitting line drives at a seven-percent lower rate in Seattle, and groundballs at a nine-percent higher rate.

"It's not clear whether Suarez has unintentionally created a mechanical issue, or had some sort of physical problem, or if this is just an extended slump. Whatever the reason, it's been quite the bummer. The Mariners will just cross their fingers that he can turn it around. If he does, this already potent lineup would become that much more dangerous."

The Mariners don't necessarily need Suárez to be a superstar to make waves in the postseason, as seen by their recent hot stretch.

But they would benefit quite a bit if Suárez could turn back into the .950 OPS player that he was earlier this year, rather than the .650 OPS player that he's been for the last few weeks.

If the Mariners' huge trade deadline addition can turn it on at the right time, while the pitching staff also gets hot, Seattle could be a hard team to beat in October.

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