This story was excerpted from Daniel Kramer's Mariners Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
WEST SACRAMENTO -- Leody Taveras was admittedly disappointed at first upon hearing that he was placed on waivers by a Rangers team that’s all he’s ever known, but he quickly turned the page for a fresh start with the Mariners, who claimed him on Tuesday and had him join the club one day later for their series finale vs. the A’s.
And Taveras made a strong first impression in a big way, ripping the game-tying RBI single with two outs in the eighth inning of a 6-5 win, then scoring the go-ahead run in the next at-bat, when Dylan Moore followed with a double.
“The good at-bats just were very contagious, because he picked it up right away,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said.
Taveras arrived after flying from Boston, then making a 100-mile trek from San Francisco International Airport to Sacramento. Yet the switch-hitting outfielder was already acclimated with Wilson and the few familiar faces he knew before first pitch, batting seventh and playing right field.
“Not easy, but this is the business,” Taveras said. “I understand all of those things. I'm ready and happy to be part of the Seattle Mariners and to just keep going.”
How Taveras was deployed on Wednesday hints at what his longer-term role in Seattle will be, especially given the lengthy recoveries to the club's top two right fielders on the depth chart. Victor Robles (fractured left shoulder) is out until around the All-Star break and Luke Raley (right oblique strain) is at least five weeks away from getting back into full baseball activity, based on initial prognosis.
It’s not just a fresh start for Taveras, who joins a new organization for the first time since signing with the Rangers as an international amateur free agent in 2015. He’ll also get a legitimate opportunity.
“A change of scenery is a real thing sometimes,” Wilson said. “I think this is an opportunity, obviously, for that. And Leody is a good player. He's a very talented player, great tools, and we're excited to see him on our side.”
Where the Mariners are bullish that they might be able to unlock something is with Taveras’ bat, which has been well under league average this year (66 wRC+, where league average is 100) but could be an outlier for a player who’s still only 26 years old.
Taveras has a 29.1% strikeout rate this season that’s on pace for a career worst, which includes two K's on Wednesday before his big hit. But his five-year track record prior was 24.1%, with a 21.1% rate during his best year in 2023, when he helped the Rangers win the World Series. Specifically this season, Taveras has struggled against fastballs, with 15 of his 25 K’s coming against heaters.
This is an area where the Mariners -- via director of hitting strategy Edgar Martinez and hitting coach Kevin Seitzer -- have worked some of their magic, in addition to refining the collective overall approach, which could potentially help Taveras, as well.
The Mariners were one of the worst fastball-hitting teams last year (ranking 27th in batting average and 28th in strikeouts against the offering) but are more middle of the pack in 2025 (ranking 22nd and 15th), respectively.
Perhaps fittingly, it was a 96.8 mph heater that Taveras connected on -- and in a 1-2 count -- for the big hit.
Taveras’ calling card, though, has been his glove, which has remained effective amid his other struggles this season. He ranks in the 85th percentile in outs above average, 83rd in arm strength and 82nd in sprint speed.
And he’s essentially a center fielder who will now shift to right, supplementing Julio Rodríguez and Randy Arozarena to give the Mariners what they believe can be one of the more dynamic outfields in baseball -- which is what they envisioned in Spring Training when Robles was among that fold.