Matt Severance, the SportsLine expert who’s up a cool $1,681 on MLB picks over the last four seasons, just laid out his home run props for the second-to-last Friday of the 2026 regular season, and his take on our Mariners is a gut punch. Facing Rockies pitcher Gabriel Hughes, who boasts an ugly 0-8 record and a 6.37 ERA, Severance flat out said he doesn’t “much like any of the disappointing Mariners to go yard.” Ouch.
Our Mariners Are “Disappointing” at Coors?
Can you believe it? Here we are, heading into hitter-happy Coors Field, and an expert is calling out our guys for being “disappointing” at the plate. Hughes is literally one of the worst pitchers in the majors, rocking an ERA that makes your eyes water. You’d think this would be prime time for a power surge, right? Severance notes that none of our Mariners have faced Hughes before, so maybe that’s part of it, but the overall sentiment feels like a slap in the face for any fan bleeding green and blue. Meanwhile, over in Cincinnati, the Reds are also at a hitter-friendly park, Great American Ball Park, but they’ve got two good starters going, Clay Holmes and Chase Burns, so it’s a different story there. It just highlights that this Coors Field matchup should be a golden opportunity for our bats, but the expert isn’t seeing it.
The Race for the Crown and Other Power Threats
While we’re trying to figure out why our M’s aren’t getting love, the home run race is heating up big time. Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber is sitting pretty with 45 dingers, looking like he’s gonna snag his first MLB home run crown and third in the NL. But Cubs likely NL MVP Pete Crow-Armstrong isn’t far behind with 44 homers. Schwarber is the -400 favorite, but hey, he was -1800 just a couple of days ago, so things can shift fast. Elsewhere, Severance is eyeing some serious power for other teams. His top home run picks for tonight are Nolan Arenado of the Diamondbacks at +630 and Mike Yastrzemski from the Braves, also at +630. Arenado’s pick comes as the Diamondbacks kick off a big series against the New York Yankees in Phoenix, a game that Severance even says could be a World Series preview. The Yankees are likely the AL’s top wild card, and Arizona still “has work to do” for the NL’s last wild card spot. That’s some high-stakes baseball, even if our guys aren’t getting the spotlight for their power tonight.
What does this mean for our final stretch? We’ve only got one more Friday after this, and Severance is dropping his “penultimate” home run picks. We want to see our Mariners end this season strong, especially if we’re not getting any love from the prop bet experts against a truly struggling arm. Let’s hope our guys prove him wrong tonight and send a few deep!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
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