Kikuchi Stays on Roll

Yusei Kikuchi is having an outstanding
spring training so far in his third start
of the spring.

Kikuchi is looking like the pitcher the

Mariners signed out of Japan. This will

be his third season with the Mariners.

His fastball looked good throwing high

in the strike zone when needed. Kikuchi

looks like he will have a good season.

At times Kikuchi has looked good but

now looks like the consistency will be

there.

Kikuchi went three and one third innings

on Sunday. He gave up two hits, one run,

one walk and impressive six strike outs. 

The Mariners won the game 5-4. The 

Milwaukee Brewers scored three

runs all in fourth inning while Mariners

came back in the fifth inning scoring all

five of their runs. Kyle Lewis drove in 

two of those runs.

The question mark for the Mariner pitching

right now does look like the bullpen. Rafael

Montero expected to be the Mariners closer

had a solid inning in this game getting all

three batters he faced. 

Kendall Graveman, Keynan Middleton,

and Joey Gerber who are expected to be

in the Mariner bullpen all pitched on Sunday

as well. The expected to go with eight relievers

so that was half of the guys in the one game.

Who will make up the other four is still work

in process. Go M's. 

Marco Gonzales

Many may not think Marco Gonzales
as an ace however he is for the Seattle
Mariners at this point.

On Saturday Marco pitched four innings

despite it was his second start of the

spring. He  had pitched in at least one

simulated game before this start.

Marco looked like he is ready to start

the opening game of the season on

April 1. In the four innings he went

he gave up no runs, two hits, no walks

and struck out five batters. 

Marco pitches anything like that 

consistently on the 2021 season he

will have a good record racking up 

wins.

As most of us know who follow the

Mariners they will go with a six-man

rotation. What I hope for is Marco will

be able to go a little more often than

one game a week. Maybe he can start

every five days instead. Put him ahead

of the sixth starter and the fifth starter

on occasion.

I would like Marco to pitch more often

than any of the other members of the

starting rotation. This would mean the

other pitchers would be pushed back a

day while Marco pitches.

The reason the Mariners have a six 

man rotation is to be able to develop

starters. Even with Marco pitching

more frequently these other pitchers

will gain experience as well.

I would like Marco pitching as though

he is in a five-man rotation instead. Let

him be able to do so skipper.

When Marco left the game the score

was 0-0 so he wasn't able to gain a

win. In the end the Mariners lost 2-1.

The Mariners didn't score their lone

run until the top of the 9th inning to

tie but then Matt Magill gave up a

walk-off home run. Magill has 

pitched well so far this spring. This

was his first run given up. I hope he

makes the opening roster because

the Mariners could use him in the 

bullpen.

The Mariners had six hits on the

day. Taylor Trammell continues to

impress the team having another

hit on the day. Jake Fraley had 

a hit as well in two at bats so 

he is now starting to hit. Trammell

or Fraley should be the Mariners

opening day left fielder. Also

catching prospect Cal Raleigh 

had a hit as well. 

Yusei Kikuchi will make his third

start of the spring on Sunday. We 

will see his progress this time 

against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Hope to see former Mariner Daniel

Vogelbach in the lineup for the

Brewers. Go M's.  

Battle For the Sixth Spot

Friday night was the Mariners first game on
local television. The Mariners won 4-3 over
the Cincinnati Reds.

Nick Margevicius started the game going three
innings. He struggled though showed some good
signs too. Margevicius gave two runs on 

five hits through the first three innings.

Justin Dunn pitched the next three innings

giving up one run however it was unearned

because of an error. He gave up one hit at

the same time walked one batter. Dunn

has struggled walking batters so one in 

three innings is a good sign.

Margevicius and Dunn are competing for

the sixth spot in the rotation. Dunn has 

the advantage he is a right handed pitcher.

The Mariners already have four lefties in

the rotation already so unless he does real

well I am sure Dunn will have the spot

over Margevicius who is a lefty.

Margevicius will likely be coming out of

the bullpen since the starters will have to

stretch out further in the beginning of the

season. He will be available to start as 

well if one of the starters goes out or is

not performing well. 

Margevicius and Dunn likely would both

been in the rotation if the Mariners had not

signed James Paxton  as a free agent. Speak

of Paxton he hasn't made an appearance yet

on the season. I am sure the Mariners taking

easy on him to be sure he is ready to go when

the season begins. 

Though the Mariners scored four runs they

only had three hits on the night. The Mariners

didn't have a lot of regulars in the game but

Tom Murphy was the only one with a hit. 

The other two hits were by backups.

The Mariners are back to another afternoon

game taking on the Colorado Rockies on

Saturday. This game will be televised locally

as well. Marco Gonzales is expected to 

make his second start of the spring. Go M's.

Another Tie

The Seattle Mariners are playing a lot of
tie games this spring. It seems more than
I remember before. The final score was
Seattle 4 Los Angeles Dodgers 4.

 Chris Flexen got off to a rough start in

his second outing giving up a home run

to Kyle Seager's little brother in the first

inning. Flexen if he can be steady over 

the season it will be good for the Mariners.

Most likely he will be the third pitcher

in the rotation after two lefties start the

first two games.

Right now it is hard to know who the

first two lefties will be in the rotation.

Marco Gonzales is expected to be the

opening day starter. James Paxton hasn't

started or been in a game yet in the spring.

It may not matter as long as he is ready

to go when the season begins. Gonzales

has only pitched in one game himself

during the spring. 

It looks like the Mariner brass are looking

at other pitchers right now so I expect no

big deal. Regular season starts in three 

weeks so I expect we will see Paxton make

a couple starts along with two more by 

Gonzales. None of the starters have pitched

more than two games so far. 

The Mariners could have Kikuchi start in the

second spot while Paxton pitches fourth or

fifth in the rotation when the season begins.

Jake Fraley finally had his first two hits of

the spring against the Dodgers hitting a 

double then a three-run homer in the

fourth inning. 

Fraley and Taylor Trammell right now look

like the two outfielders who will spend time

in left field. Still three weeks away so things

could change. A lot depends when Jarred

Kelenic gets back into the lineup after his

injury. 

All three outfielders bat left so you

wonder if the Mariners will keep two or

just one of the three. Kyle Lewis and Mitch

Haniger both hit right handed so not a big

concern unless they figure to platoon in left.

Platooning in left field would mean the 

Mariners would keep Braden Bishop on the

roster or they could use utility player Sam

Haggerty as the right handed platoon player

as he is a switch hitter. Another option would

have Dylan Moore play left field against 

lefties and have Ty France at second base. 

Jose Marmolejos is having another good spring

training. He can play first base, left field and

dh as well. I wonder though he will make the

opening roster or not. He got off to a poor start

when the season began last year. 

We don't have to be too concerned about left

field right now. It will work itself out for sure.

The key is how the bullpen works out besides

the starting rotation. They will work themselves

out as well.

News came out on Thursday with conversation

with the governor T-Mobile Park will be able to

start out the season with nine thousand fans in

the stands. I am sure things will change over the

course of the season with the vaccine being available

for fans.

The first game of spring on local television will

happen Friday night as the Mariners take on the

Cincinnati Reds. Nick Margevicius will start the

game. Though he started most of last season with

four other lefties in the rotation he will probably

be in the bullpen unless injuries happen to one of

the other lefties.  He is starting so his arm will be

ready to go for the season regardless where he will

be. 

Mariner baseball and more

The Seattle Mariners are still looking for
a president after the resignation of Kevin
Mather at the beginning of spring training.
Jerry Dipoto will be running the baseball
side of things reporting to ownership. Former
Microsoft president of business operations
Jeff Raikes will run the business side.

On the baseball side of things on Wednesday

the Mariners pitching wasn't good as they

lost to the Texas Rangers 17-5. In his second

outing Justin Sheffield went two and one-third

innings giving up six runs on seven hits. 

Sheffield ended up walking three batters and

giving up two home runs as well.

The Mariners bullpen didn't do any better as

well. Kendall Graveman who the Mariners

re-signed in the off-season gave up four runs

on four hits including a home run. Keynan

Middleton the Mariners signed as a free agent

gave up five runs on four hits including three

home runs. At least it is spring training with

both working to get into shape. Both are 

expected to be in the Mariner bullpen.

On the hitting side Mitch Haniger was moved

into the leadoff spot had a double in three at

bats. Kyle Seager had two hits including a

double as well. Catcher Tom Murphy rounded

out the doubles having one as well. JP Crawford

was moved down in the order to seventh after

leading off in his previous games. Crawford

is hitting only .200. 

The Mariners have an early evening game 

Thursday night against the Los Angeles

Dodgers which is airing on the major league

baseball network. 

In another sport the Washington Huskies 

men's basketball team lost to Utah in the

first round of the Pac-12 tournament. The

Huskies were behind by a large margin for

most of the game but did rally to make the

game interesting but lost 98-95.

The Huskies were led by player of the year

Quade Green with 31 points. Jamal Bey

had 18 as the Huskies had four players in

double figures. Hameir Wright in his final

game as a Husky had nine points along with

six rebounds. We wish Wright in his future

endeavors. 

The Huskies had a terrible season we are

hoping for better results next year. Now

coming up will be March Madness. See

how number one ranked Gonzaga will do

in the NCAA tournament. 

Newsome second time around

On Tuesday Ljay Newsome made his
second start of the spring for the Mariners.
It looked a lot better than his first outing.
Making the starting rotation won't be easy
but Newsome does have a shot as the
sixth starter.

Newsome went three innings gave up one

hit, no walks and struck out three. What

Newsome has on his side he doesn't walk

a lot of batters. If things work out between

him and other pitchers vying for the end

of the starting rotation will be the lack of

walks. 

Gerson Bautista coming back after missing

last season is not having a good time during

the exhibition games anyway so far. On Tuesday

he went one inning giving up two runs on two

hits. He didn't give up a walk but has an era

of 9.00. Bautista will have to improve to make

Seattle bullpen. He likely will begin at triple-A.

Ty France continues to hit the baseball hard

and often. He will be in the lineup for the

Mariners somewhere when the season begins.

Evan White and Jake Fraley are both struggling

at the plate. Fraley still hasn't had a hit in the spring.

White  defense is a plus for him and the Mariners

don't have many other options unless France play

some first base. White is the superior defensive

player. 

Yusei and the Mariners

The Seattle Mariners were shut out
Monday against the Cleveland Indians
10-0. Yusei Kikuchi had his second
start of the spring. So far he has done
well in spring training.

Kikuchi needs to have a good season

if he expects to have a major league

career to continue. Next year will be

his option year so he and the Mariners

are hoping for a good year.

Kikuchi went three inning giving up

two hits and a run. The run happened

in the third inning when he gave up a

home run.  It was the relievers who

gave up the other nine runs on the day.

The Mariners hitting only got four hits

on the day which isn't a surprise since

they did get shut out. 

Some of the starting position players

like Haniger, Seager, White and Moore

were in the lineup while other players

trying to make the ball club started as 

well. Evan White is struggling at the 

plate. Hopefully he will figure things

out before the season starts.

Ljay Newsome will make his second

start of spring against the Kansas City

Royals on Tuesday. Newsome is a starter

he will be at the backend of the rotation.

He will probably either be in the bullpen

or start the season in Tacoma. Last 

September he showed why he should be

in the majors however the Mariners have 

a good rotation.