The ‘small thoughts’ behind the Mariners’ offensive resurgence | Notebook

ARLINGTON, Texas — The approach has been simplified. The results have been magnified.

Julio Rodriguez homered twice — a three-run homer in the fifth and a two-run shot in the seventh — in the Mariners’ 8-2 victory over the Texas Rangers on Friday night.

It was his first multi-homer game of the season, and he kept his explanation afterward as straightforward as his approach at the plate.

“I feel like our thoughts are a lot smaller, and I feel like that’s why we’ve been able to put together a lot of good at-bats,” Rodriguez said. “We’re grinding down starters and just keep the line moving, and I feel like that’s been huge for us.”

At the plate, Rodriguez is having his best month of the season, hitting .321 with five homers, four doubles, 13 RBI and a .908 OPS in 81 September at-bats entering Saturday.

He’s not the only one who turned things around under the direction of Dan Wilson and Edgar Martinez.

Since changes to the coaching staff last month, the Mariners are 15-11 and have kept their slim playoff chances afloat going into the final week of the regular season.

Some statistics behind the Mariners’ offensive resurgence since Aug. 23 (MLB rank in parenthesis):

Batting average: .251 (ninth)
On-base percentage: .351 (third)
OPS: .764 (fifth)
wRC+: 126 (fourth)
Home runs: 32 (12th)
Doubles: 43 (13th)
Strikeout rate: 24.3% (11th)
Walk rate: 11.3% (first)
Stolen bases: 34 (third)
Sacrifice flies: 15 (first)
Sacrifice bunts: 6 (second)

Source: FanGraphs

As the interim hitting coach, Martinez hasn’t tried to overhaul anyone’s swing or implement a new system-wide strategy.

As players have explained, Martinez has largely gone back to basics with hitters: be on time for the fastball and stay up the middle. Don’t overthink it, he’ll tell them.

Rodriguez might have explained it best Friday night.

“I just feel on time,” the star center fielder said. “I’m putting good swings on the baseball and just trying to make some good, solid contact. That has been working — it’s been working good.”

Victor Robles ranks No. 1 among all major-league hitters over the month with a .475 batting average and a .542 on-base percentage over his last 75 plate appearances entering Saturday. He also ranks No. 1 in two advanced measurements: wOBA (weighted on-base average) and wRC+ (which measures a batter’s overall value in runs created).

Luke Raley has also been a top-10 hitter in MLB with a 187 wRC+ over the past month.

Against right-handed starting pitchers, Wilson has also settled on a consistent lineup, with Robles leading off, Rodriguez second and Cal Raleigh third.

Here’s the slash line (batting average, on-base, slugging) and wRC+ for those hitters over the past 26 games:

Victor Robles: .475/.542/.627 (1.169 OPS), 240 wRC+
Julio Rodriguez: .303/.371/.541 (.912 OPS), 161 wRC+
Cal Raleigh: .209/.333/.341 (674 OPS), 104 wRC+
Randy Arozarena: .240/.339/.427 (766 OPS), 127 wRC+
Luke Raley: .290/.375/638 (1.013 OPS), 187 wRC+
Justin Turner: .296/.400/.506 (.906 OPS), 158 wRC+
Jorge Polanco: .114/.211/.228 (.439 OPS), 30 wRC+
J.P. Crawford: .191/345/.221 (.566 OPS), 85 wRC+
Josh Rojas: .230/.310/.328 (.638 OPS), 90 wRC+

Robles out of lineup Saturday

Robles, still dealing with discomfort in his right middle finger, was out of the lineup for Saturday’s second game against the Rangers at Globe Life Field.

Robles was hit in the finger on the first pitch thrown by Yankees starter Luis Gil on Tuesday. He left that game early and missed the rest of the series against the Yankees. X-rays were negative, but he’s had persistent swelling.

He returned Friday night — batting leadoff and playing right field — and went 2 for 4 with a run batted in.

But he’s had issues gripping a bat and throwing a ball.

Wilson was not sure if Robles would be available off the bench Saturday.