Mariners homestand preview: World Series champions, division rivals in town the first week
After returning from a two-game opening series in Tokyo last week, the Seattle Mariners will get the regular season going with a six-game home stand at the newly rebranded T-Mobile Park.
The defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox are in town for a four-game series beginning March 28, and the Mariners begin American League West play with a two-game series against the Los Angeles Angels on April 1.
MARINERS HOMESTAND PREVIEW
Today — Opponent: Boston, 4:10 p.m. Pitching probables: Chris Sale vs. Marco Gonzales (1-0, 4.50)
Friday — Boston, 7:10 p.m. Nathan Eovaldi vs. Yusei Kikuchi (0-0, 1.93)
Saturday — Boston, 6:10 p.m. Eduardo Rodriguez vs. Mike Leake
Sunday — Boston, 1:10 p.m. Rick Porcello vs. Wade LeBlanc
Monday — Los Angeles Angels, 7:10 p.m. Chris Stratton vs. Felix Hernandez
Tuesday — Los Angeles Angels, 7:10 p.m. Trevor Cahill vs. Marco Gonzales
About the Red Sox: Hosting the defending World Series champions is certainly one way to open a season. Mariners manager Scott Servais, and a handful of his players have said they welcome the challenge, but they are playing a four-game series against club that isn’t lacking in confidence.
Boston is an early favorite to become the first team since the 2000 Yankees — who won three in a row between 1998-2000 — to repeat as World Series champions.
Manager Alex Cora said this week he believes he has one of the best — if not the best — starting rotations in baseball, and the Red Sox also return reigning AL MVP Mookie Betts (.346/.438/.640 slash line in 2018) and run-producing slugger J.D. Martinez (.330/.402/.629).
Boston ended the regular season with an MLB-leading 108-54 record, and was one of just two teams in the league to eclipse 100 wins. The Yankees, Boston’s AL East rival, finished 100-62. The Red Sox went on to top the Yankees (4-1) in the ALDS, the Houston Astros (4-1) in the ALCS and the Los Angeles Dodgers (4-1) in the World Series.
About the Angels: Center fielder Mike Trout (.312/.460/.628) signed the richest contract in the history of North American professional sports on March 20, inking a 12-year, $426 million deal with the Angels.
He’s widely regarded as the best player in baseball, but the ninth-year veteran is still looking to return the club to its highest point — a World Series win in 2002 in the organization’s only appearance.
Trout joined the Angels in 2011, and has been to the playoffs just once, when they were swept by the Kansas City Royals in the 2014 ALDS.
With a player like Trout, a trip to the playoffs is never out of the realm of possibility, but Los Angeles has struggled to build around him in recent seasons.
Entering his 19th season, veteran Albert Pujols (.245/.289/.411) is still a viable threat, and Andrelton Simmons is considered one of the best defensive shortstops in the league. Japanese sensation Shohei Ohtani won’t pitch this season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, but will still appear as a batter.
The Angels finished fourth in the AL West in 2018 (80-82), behind the Mariners. They’ll open in Seattle against Felix Hernandez — who Trout has hit more home runs off of (eight) than any other pitcher he’s faced. His 20 home runs at the former Safeco Field are also the most he’s hit in his career at an opposing ball park.
This story was originally published March 28, 2019 at 4:22 PM.