Mariners Opening Day Roster Set

On Friday general manager Jerry Dipoto and manager Scott Servais announced the Mariners opening day roster for the upcoming 2017. There were not too many surprises for the team since the roster was really set when spring training started.

The bullpen was the only area that had some uncertainty since they had several pitchers that looked to start on the disabled list. The two main candidates for the disabled list were Steve Cishek and Tony Zych who were not expected to start the season when spring training started. Shae Simmons got hurt early in spring training so he has been added to the disabled list along with Rob Whalen. Zych has been throwing the ball so he most likely will be the first one available to pitch in a game and he may start on a rehab assignment in Tacoma depending on how the bullpen pitchers are doing.

The Mariners will start the season with eight relievers in the bullpen however at some point they will likely go to seven when the starters are able to go longer in the games.  Dillon Overton who was expected to be a starter in Tacoma when the season started did an excellent job that he will start the season as the Mariners long reliever. The other surprise was another lefty James Pazos who the Mariners picked up from the Yankees during the off-season. So right now the Mariners have three lefties in the bullpen with Marc Rzepczynski as the primary left handed specialist; Pazos will go in against lefties as well. Most likely he will be the first lefty specialist to get into the game in either the sixth or seventh inning while Rzepczynski will come in the eighth or ninth inning ahead of Diaz who will be the closer. Overton will be seen as the long reliever out of the bullpen.

When it comes to right handed relievers the Mariners will have Evan Scribner and Nick Vincent likely the first ones to come out of the bullpen. Casey Fien will be used depending on how much use for Scribner and Vincent. Dan Altavilla most likely pitches the eighth inning until Cishek return. Depending on his success and how much Diaz is being used as closer Altavilla may go two innings as well.

How far the starters can go will depend on how much the bullpen will be used. The Mariners may have to bring up someone from Tacoma if the bullpen is used too much. Speaking of starters the Mariners got bad news that Drew Smyly will be out for six to eight weeks because of his elbow. Ariel Miranda has been brought up from triple A to take his spot.

The Mariners will be going with a small bench with Carlos Ruiz as the backup catcher, Taylor Motter as the utility player and Guillermo Heredia as the fourth outfielder. Things can change on the bench when Shawn O’Malley gets well and comes off the disabled list.

The Mariners do look like an exciting team with better defense and speed this season though they do have question marks in the rotation and bullpen along with how well the hitting will be from the outfielders. Go M’s.