Justin Dunn is in Mariners camp to compete – and showed that against the Reds
Justin Dunn enjoyed his small slice of redemption Wednesday afternoon at Goodyear Ballpark.
Months after his disappointing big league debut against the Reds back in Seattle, the 24-year-old Mariners rookie tossed a much more encouraging outing at Cincinnati’s spring training home.
“A little redemption for myself,” he said. “I was excited when I saw I had this lineup, to come out and kind of show them who I really was, because they didn’t really get a chance to see it in Seattle.
“It’s good for me to build off it and really attack those guys.”
When Dunn joined the Mariners last September, he labored through his first start at T-Mobile Park, and was pulled with two outs in the first inning.
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Josh VanMeter was the first major league batter Dunn faced, and he walked on four pitches. Then Joey Votto walked. And so on. Three more walks and two run-scoring sacrifice flies later, Mariners manager Scott Servais signaled to the bullpen.
The Reds had no such luck against Dunn this time, in a 5-3 Mariners win on a cloudless February afternoon. He came out firing with a fastball that consistently hovered between 94-95 mph in the first inning. He opened the game by catching VanMeter looking at a 96 mph fastball — Dunn’s speediest of his outing. He wiped out Votto swinging at a 95 mph offering. He then got Nick Castellanos to fly out immediately, getting out of the inning on just 12 pitches.
“That’s what we’re looking for,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “I think that’s what they saw most of the year last year in (Double-A) Arkansas. Some guys it just takes them a little bit longer to get the comfort level.
“It’s great that he got some experience at the big league level last year. He took that into the offseason, made a few adjustments and showed up today.”
Dunn said a high-velocity pitcher is who he is, and he feels like once builds up his leg strength and the stamina in his arm, he will be able to sustain that deep into games.
“I’m getting closer to who I am as a pitcher and really hitting my stride, and I’m excited to get going,” he said.
Dunn’s velocity tailed off a touch in the second inning, never moving past 93, and he needed 22 more pitches to get out of it, allowing a leadoff walk, a two-out single and then a RBI double to Christian Colon.
“I threw a couple too many pitches in the bullpen, being a perfectionist, so I got a little tired there in the second,” Dunn said. “But, the ball still felt like it had life even though the numbers were a little down on the scoreboard.
“Breaking ball had the shapes I wanted, changeup had the shape I wanted. I’ve just got to land them in the strike zone. … I used a little too much energy there in the first, just being hyped up with adrenaline. I wanted to show that I was ready and show the work that I put in.”
The Mariners asked Dunn, who appeared in four games with Seattle last September and didn’t allow another run in six innings across his final three abbreviated starts, to make some mechanical adjustments during the offseason, and are pleased with the progress.
“When I saw him in January down in Florida, I thought it looked a little bit better — it looks way better right now than in January,” Servais said. “He’s just trying to be more consistent on-line. He’s kind of always fighting mechanically to get the ball to the glove side consistently.
“So far, it’s looked pretty good this spring. … I like where he’s at right now. The ball’s coming out really good, he’s got a lot of confidence. He’s carrying himself really well around here.”
Entering camp earlier this month, it appeared Dunn would battle some of of Seattle’s offseason acquisitions for the fifth roster spot. But, that situation became more murky when the Mariners signed former starter Taijuan Walker to a one-year major league deal.
Walker hasn’t pitched in a game yet — his scheduled Thursday start was pushed back, and he will likely throw another live batting practice or simulated game before he makes a Cactus League start — but he is expected to slot into the rotation, joining already inked in starters Marco Gonzales, Yusei Kikuchi, Justus Sheffield and Kendall Graveman.
Which presumptively leaves Dunn on the outside looking in, probably opening his season with Triple-A Tacoma. But, he’s in camp to compete nonetheless.
“I feel like you’re always battling,” he said. “I’m trying not to look at it. I’m in a good spot mentally and a good spot physically, so I’m just going to go out and try to be myself and make the decision tough.”
This story was originally published February 26, 2020 at 3:50 PM.
