ESPN Insider Discusses Seattle Mariners Pitchers' Struggles Away From Home
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The Seattle Mariners are in the middle of a heated playoff push that could potentially come down to the wire, similar to the last few seasons.
Entering Friday, the Mariners were 68-60, two games behind the Houston Astros for first place in the American League West, and held the final wild card spot by two games over the Kansas City Royals.
Perhaps the biggest factor in whether Seattle finds itself in the postseason is the starting rotation.
The original Mariners starting five — Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryan Woo, Luis Castillo and Bryce Miller — didn't have a full turn in starting rotation until the team's most recent road trip due to a series of injuries.
The first full rotation for the starters didn't go well. The M's went 2-7 on the the road trip and and the three starters for the final series of the trip against the Philadelphia Phillies allowed a combined 13 earned runs in 11 innings pitched.
Last season, Seattle's rotation was arguably the best in baseball. It was the only unit that had four pitchers start 30 or more games, led the majors in innings pitched and the team used only seven starting pitchers — the least in baseball.
Now that all five pitchers are back in the fold, there's optimism that the unit can turn a corner in the final month of the season. But there's a potential concern with the group, even with everyone healthy.
This season, the team's starting pitchers have significantly better numbers at home compared to on the road.
Gilbert and Castillo, the Mariners' last two Opening Day starters, have the biggest contrasts in their home and road numbers.
Gilbert has a 2.22 ERA in 10 starts at T-Mobile Park, and a 6.00 ERA in eight starts on the road.
Castillo has a 2.41 ERA in 14 starts and home and a 5.04 ERA in 12 starts on the road.
Woo has the least amount of discrepancy in his home-away splits. He has a 2.39 ERA in 10 starts at home and a 3.48 ERA in 14 starts away.
Bryan Woo's 2Ks in the 2nd. ⛽️⛽️ pic.twitter.com/u6rJEMOQum
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 16, 2025
Pitcher | Home | Away |
|---|---|---|
Logan Gilbert | 10 GS, 2.22 ERA, 75 SOs | 8 GS, 6.00 ERA, 50 SOs |
George Kirby | 8 GS, 3.38 ERA, 44 SOs | 8 GS, 5.08 ERA, 50 SOs |
Bryan Woo | 10 GS, 2.39 ERA, 65 SOs | 14 GS, 3.48 ERA, 88 SOs |
Luis Castillo | 14 GS, 2.41 ERA, 77 SOs | 12 GS, 5.04 ERA, 50 SOs |
Bryce Miller | 5 GS, 5.11 ERA, 20 SOs | 6 GS, 6.52 ERA, 23 SOs |
In a recent episode of the "Refuse to Lose" podcast, ESPN insider Buster Olney talked about the starting rotation's home and away splits.
"The Mariners have just struggled so badly to pitch on the road this year," Olney said on the podcast. "With the Colorado Rockies hitters, as you'll know, they will often struggle when they're away from their home ballpark. But you can sort of understand that, to a degree. When the Rockies play at home, elevation reduces the ability of opposing pitchers to spin the ball, and it's a completely different game. I don't quite know what to make of this for the Mariners. I get it, they play their home games in a pitcher-friendly park, but it's not acute the that way the Rockies' home ballpark is. It makes me shrug my shoulders and I do think there's better days ahead."
The full episode can be listened to here:
Seattle will begin a three-game series against the Athletics at 7:10 p.m. PT on Friday. Luis Morales will start for the Athletics and Bryan Woo will start for the Mariners.
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