Randy's All-Star selection a combo of trademark consistency and new mindset

This story was excerpted from Daniel Kramer’s Mariners Beat newsletter, with MLB.com's Josh Kirshenbaum filling in for this edition. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

SEATTLE -- Randy Arozarena's first half could be summed up in a stretch of three swings Saturday vs. Toronto’s Shane Bieber.

It started in the bottom of the first inning. Two-strike count, coming off back-to-back changeups. Bieber fires a fastball well off the outside corner that Arozarena not only manages to get his bat on but drills 338 feet the other way, off the wall for a double.

Next inning. Bases loaded, two outs. Bieber throws a first-pitch slider in the dirt and Arozarena bites, missing by 7.6 inches -- his seventh-biggest miss of the season per Baseball Savant's new miss distance metric. Seeing the flail, Bieber goes back to the slider and keeps it below the zone -- and Arozarena demolishes it 412 feet for a grand slam that sets the tone for an 11-0 romp.

“I thought [Saturday] was a microcosm of his season,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “First time up, the double off the wall to right field on a pitch away from him. Then getting his pitch there with the bases loaded … see it, and because he’s got the good swing and good approach, be able to put a really good swing on it and hit it out of the ballpark to the pull-side.

“That’s kind of what we’ve seen from him all season long. That’s one of the reasons I think he’s an All-Star.”

Arozarena is indeed an All-Star, earning the recognition for the second straight season. He’s the 15th player in Mariners franchise history to be named an All-Star multiple times.

It’s a well-deserved honor, for a first half that’s seen him slash .286/.375/.451 with nine home runs, 41 RBIs and 19 steals. Coming into Sunday, Arozarena’s 2.6 fWAR ranked third among American League outfielders -- behind Minnesota’s Byron Buxton (2.9) and Boston’s Ceddanne Rafaela (2.7) -- and was by far the highest among Seattle hitters.

And to the left fielder, it’s one that has come out of a couple small changes of mindset.

Take his first at-bat Sunday:

“I’ve been listening a lot more to the hitting coaches about coming in with a plan and sticking to the plan,” Arozarena said through interpreter Freddy Llanos. “… While before, I would go out there and every pitch I saw, my mentality was, ‘Hit this ball out.’ Because of that, I think I’ve been able to use that middle of the field and be able to hit the ball around and make those adjustments. I’m going up there now and thinking about where I can place the ball, and using all of my tools that I can to put the ball in play.”

And his second?

“Whenever you go up there and you make a bad swing, it’s part of the game,” he said. “You go up there and you try to battle with the pitcher … and sometimes you don’t look good. Whenever I make a bad swing, I kind of look at it as, ‘What kind of adjustments do I need to make?’ Batting can be very negative; you fail a lot more than you [succeed]. I always try to make an adjustment.”

It’s one of the few changes for a player who’s become one of the most consistent pieces in the Mariners organization since he came to Seattle at the 2024 Trade Deadline. Between his Mariners debut on July 28, 2024, and June 12 of this year, Arozarena played in 284 games, tied for sixth most in MLB. Even factoring in his brief stint on the IL with a left hamstring strain this past month, and his 308 games played since joining the organization lead the club.

For a team that’s dealt with a boatload of injuries -- to its rotation last year and its hitting core this year -- that stability in left field has become a backbone to the lineup.

“I thought Randy did a pretty good job of getting back into the lineup as quickly as he could, and has felt more and more comfortable each time he’s been in there,” Wilson said. “... His consistency in left field all season long has continued to be there. It’s great to see.”