What the A's Showed Us Against the Seattle Mariners

When a team is on the rise, you'll typically hear about how they're going to sneak up on people during Spring Training. Whether or not that team takes that step isn't always evident immediately.

For the A's heading into the 2025 season, they were saying that they feel confident about this group and that this is a team to watch out for. Some players even mentioned making the postseason in 2025. After watching the opening series against the Seattle Mariners, this team looks legit.

As Athletics on SI wrote after Saturday night's 4-2 win over the M's, this club is doing the little things that good baseball clubs do. This sentiment was also echoed by catcher Shea Langeliers following the win.

While a split may not look like much on the outside, the Mariners have completely dominated the A's over the past four seasons, beginning in 2021, which includes the final year of the club with Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, Chris Bassitt, Sean Manaea and company. That year they went 4-15, followed by an 8-11 mark in '22, 1-12 in 2023, and 4-9 last season.

That amounts to a 17-47 record against Seattle, good for a .266 winning percentage, or a 43-win pace. That is just two wins better than the 2024 Chicago White Sox, so for the Athletics to play the Mariners close in all four games while earning the only blowout win of the series, that's a statement. They already have more wins against Seattle than they did in 2023.

Obviously the bats can mash, as the A's ended up hitting seven dingers (three from Tyler Soderstrom), which currently ranks fourth in baseball.

It should also be noted that Seattle has one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, and T-Mobile Park is the most difficult place to score runs. The A's were still able to push across 12 of them, which is the 12th-most in baseball. These are all great signs early on.

The heroes for the A's over the weekend were the starting pitchers, with Luis Severino and Jeffrey Springs setting the tone for the series with six scoreless frames apiece, followed by Osvaldo Bido putting up five innings of one-run ball and JP Sears going 6.2 innings while allowing two runs.

His only mistake was a first-pitch slider at the belt that didn't get in far enough to Julio Rodríguez, resulting in a two-run homer, which was the difference in the game.

Two years ago, the A's had a problem getting their starting pitchers through even five innings consistently in the opening month, so this start is certainly a huge upgrade for the club.

It should also be noted that the Athletics scored against Sunday starter Bryan Woo for just the second time in seven starts, which is a bit of a feat in itself. Tyler Soderstrom provided the big blast, a solo homer in the top of the fourth that gave the A's a 1-0 lead. Woo has absolutely dominated the A's since arriving in the big leagues, posting an ERA under one in those seven starts.

This team has shown early on that is has what it takes to be a contender in the AL West. They'll look to continue putting themselves on the map when they take the field at their new temporary home in Sacramento against the Chicago Cubs on Monday night.

The game has been sold out for weeks, and the fans in West Sacramento should get a pretty good show.