Seattle Mariners outfielder Dominic Canzone has forced a reset.
A year ago, there was plenty of reason to doubt him. In a 67-game look in 2024, he hit .196 with eight home runs, and even after he pushed that average to .300 across 82 games in 2025, the skepticism didn’t really go away. The profile still looked like one that could unravel: too much chasing, too little discipline, too easy to game plan against.
That criticism had numbers behind it. Canzone’s chase rate last season sat at 36.8 percent, even higher than Julio Rodriguez’s 35.9. In the playoffs, the concern only sharpened when he hit .107 (3-for-28) with 10 strikeouts.
But 2026 has changed the conversation.
Canzone has put together a strong season at the plate, hitting .264 with 23 homers and 77 RBIs while helping prop up one of the most anemic offenses in the sport. He’s also produced a .335 on-base percentage and an .821 OPS, which is a very different-looking player than the one Mariners observers were trying to make sense of a year ago.
The comparison inside the lineup is telling, too. Randy Arozarena is still getting the most credit for Seattle’s best offensive season, and rightfully so, but Canzone is right there.
Arozarena has only three more home runs and the same number of RBIs entering play on Saturday. Arozarena’s .280 average and .862 OPS are better, but not by much.
The underlying changes back up the surface production. According to Baseball Savant, Canzone’s chase rate has dipped from 36.8 in 2025 to 34.8 in 2026. His whiff rate has nudged from 26.4 to 27.0, his strikeout rate from 21.9 to 20.8, and his walk rate from 7.4 to 8.8.
None of those jumps are enormous on their own. Put together, though, they tell the story of a hitter making real adjustments.
By chasing less, Canzone is getting into better counts. Better counts mean better pitches to hit.
Better pitches to hit mean damage.
And he’s done damage.
There’s also a split that matters: Canzone has hit .268 against left-handed pitching, which is actually better than his .258 mark against righties. He’s added a .390 on-base percentage against lefties and has five home runs against them.
Seattle will take on the Los Angeles Angels in the penultimate game of the season on Saturday night, with Kade Anderson set for his final start of the season after a historic outing against the Colorado Rockies last weekend.
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