Mariners’ Final 11 Games: 6 Priorities That Could Shape 2027

We can dispense with the fantasy. The Mariners are 70-81 with 11 games remaining. Even a perfect finish only gets them to 81-81, and they still need an absurd amount of help across the American League. After Monday’s 6-4 loss to an Angels team that entered last night with 93 losses, treating 11-0 as a credible plan would be unrealistic.

The Mariners spent months close enough to contention to keep believing, then watched their position dissolve against teams they were supposed to beat. These final games cannot repair the season in any honest sense. However, they can still provide some notes for the future if Seattle treats them as an early start on 2027. Here is what should matter now.

1. Shut Brendan Donovan Down For the Rest of the Season

This should be the easiest decision Seattle makes all month. The latest detailed public update on Donovan still had him experiencing dizziness and nausea when attempting baseball activity. He has played only 39 games this season, and the Mariners are no longer competing for anything important enough to justify squeezing a few more appearances out of him.

Seriously, even if Donovan clears the concussion protocol before the season ends, what exactly would Seattle gain by putting him back into the lineup?

Eleven games will not provide a meaningful evaluation of his long-term fit. They would just be asking a player recovering from a concussion to return for games carrying pretty much no competitive value.

Donovan has been trying to return because that’s what players do. The organization has to make the right decision here. Let him finish recovering and send him into the offseason healthy.

2. Make Michael Arroyo and Lazaro Montes Everyday Players

Seattle gave Michael Arroyo another start Monday, and he responded with a single and a stolen base. Lazaro Montes, meanwhile, was held out of the starting lineup against lefties and worked as substitution when a righty entered. That split usage is exactly what needs to disappear over the final 11 games.

Arroyo and Montes should start against right-handed and left-handed pitching. Montes especially shouldn’t be protected from difficult matchups when the entire point of having him in the majors is to learn how he handles them.

These games are an audition now...meaning the staff should be watching how both players adjust. Montes didn’t have great splits against lefties in the minors (.163 in Double-A, .258 in Triple-A). It makes sense to start attacking that weakness now rather than resorting to the same old platoon tactics.

Regular starts will give Seattle more information than a handful of scattered plate appearances ever could.

3. Figure Out Where the Mariners’ Young Hitters Belong in 2027

Cole Young, Arroyo, Montes and Brock Rodden all present defensive questions Seattle will have to answer eventually. The final 11 games offer a low-risk chance to begin experimenting. Young should continue seeing time at second base. Arroyo should get opportunities there while also receiving work at another position. Montes needs more innings in right field, and Rodden should see third base often enough.

The Mariners don’t need to uncover four everyday players before the season ends, but they should work on getting a clearer understanding of which combinations are realistic.

4. Keep Developing Kade Anderson Without Rushing Emerson Hancock

Kade Anderson’s outing Monday illustrated why the Mariners must separate development from results. He allowed five runs and seven hits over 4 1/3 innings, but he didn’t issue a walk and struck out five. The line wasn't great, but the underlying assignment is where we should be paying attention. How does he respond in his next start after opponents are starting to figure him out?

Seattle should keep Anderson on a carefully controlled schedule as long as its workload plan supports it. His remaining starts should focus on pitch efficiency, secondary-pitch execution, deception, and making adjustments after the first time through the order.

Emerson Hancock presents a different calculation. He threw his second bullpen session on September 13 and is scheduled for another on September 16 before Seattle decides on his activation, role and timeline.

That session should determine everything. If Hancock is completely healthy, a limited appearance or two could offer information about how his arsenal plays in relief. But rushing a bullpen cameo would be reckless if it’s risking another setback.

5. Find Andrés Muñoz Some Reliable Bullpen Help

Michael Rucker and Eduard Bazardo combined for three scoreless innings Monday after the Angels had done their damage. That was decent work given their history down the stretch, but their bullpen roles should still remain in question.

With Matt Brash finished for the season, the Mariners need to find out whether anyone else can provide late-inning support for Andrés Muñoz in 2027. Can one of these relievers close when Muñoz needs a night off? Can any of them be trusted to consistently connect the rotation to the ninth inning?

That requires more than distributing comfortable innings after a game has tilted one way or the other. This is a good time to test relievers with inherited runners, one-run margins and consecutive-day appearances when workloads allow. Rucker, Bazardo, Carlos Vargas and the rest of the group should be evaluated in situations resembling the work they would actually receive on a competitive team. Bazardo may still belong in next season’s bullpen, but his previous success should not guarantee an automatic return to high-leverage work.

6. Judge the Finish by What Seattle Learns

Nine of Seattle’s final 11 games are against the Angels and Rockies. The other two are against Houston.

That schedule offers the Mariners another chance to pile up wins against losing teams, but we already know how little that can mean. Their inability to consistently handle favorable matchups is one of the many reasons they’re in this position.

An 8-3 finish would make the final record look less disappointing. It would tell us very little if veteran players absorb most of the plate appearances, young hitters remain protected from uncomfortable matchups and the bullpen hierarchy doesn't change.

If Seattle answers even two or three of those questions, the final 11 games will have served a purpose.

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