Seattle Mariners All-Star is Showing Worrisome Trends in Second Half of Season
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The Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox 8-6 on Wednesday night to run their record to 62-53 on the season. Seattle is now just two games back of the Houston Astros as they attempt to win the American League West for the first time since 2001.
However, Wednesday's win was not without some drama, as Andres Munoz surrendered a leadoff homer in the top of the ninth to Michael A. Taylor and then walked the tying runs on base with nobody out before getting out of the frame and earning his 26th save.
Michael A. Taylor sent that one outta here! pic.twitter.com/tT2jBaGiSn
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) August 7, 2025
It's been a great year for Munoz, who has struck out 56 batters in 44.0 innings. He also made his second All-Star Game, but he has been walking the tight rope more often of late.
As noted by M's insider Luke Arkins, Munoz has seen his walk rate climb 10 percent in the second half of the season.
Andrés Muñoz’s walk rate is up 10% in the small sample known as the second half of the season. #Mariners pic.twitter.com/PobwizCwnK
— Luke Arkins (@luke_arkins) August 7, 2025
Munoz has walked at least one batter in five of his last eight appearances, and he's walked multiple batters in two of those appearances.
Given the Mariners propensity for playing close games, and given the importance of each game moving forward, they can't afford to have Munoz stumbling late, especially when the high-leverage options are limited.
Furthermore, the walk issues have caused his pitch counts to inflate, which hurts his availabilities for multiple innings, or outings on back-to-back days. He's thrown 20 pitches or more in three of those eight outings.
The Mariners will finish out a series with the White Sox on Thursday at 1:10 p.m. PT.
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