Will this Mariners’ starting rotation be better than expected?

There were more than a few areas of concern for the Seattle Mariners last season, as they stumbled to one of the worst records in baseball.

Starting pitching was certainly one of them.

Here’s a brief recap: The Mariners opened the season with a rotation of Marco Gonzales, Yusei Kikuchi, Mike Leake, Wade LeBlanc and Felix Hernandez.

Four of those pitchers spent the entire season with Seattle — Leake was traded at the July deadline — but the Mariners seemed to cycle through different starters on almost a week-to-week basis.

Early injuries to LeBlanc and Hernandez brought in pitchers like veteran Tommy Milone and rookie Erik Swanson. Andrew Moore made an appearance. Justus Sheffield earned a promotion twice and ended up starting seven games. Justin Dunn showed up in the final weeks to get some big league experience.

And the Mariners rounded out an unstable stable of starting pitching — by season’s end, they used 18 different pitchers in the first inning — by using eight relievers in an opening role.

The result: A collective 5.21 ERA that ranked in the bottom third among big league starting pitching staffs.

Painful trip down memory lane? There’s reason to believe the results this season will be much better. Mariners manager Scott Servais recently noted the starting pitching is what he’s been most happy with early on in spring camp.

The Mariners parted ways with LeBlanc and Hernandez — LeBlanc is in Orioles camp, and The King is competing for a rotation spot with the Braves — during the offseason, leaving Gonzales and Kikuchi as the only two remaining from last year’s Opening Day rotation.

Sheffield will join the mix after impressing the Mariners during his call-up last summer, as will offseason acquisitions Kendall Graveman and Taijuan Walker — Seattle’s first-round pick a decade ago who returns after a three-year stint with the Diamondbacks.

Dunn is another candidate to join the rotation sometime during the 2020 season, as is top pitching prospect Logan Gilbert.

The results from this group as a whole through nearly two weeks of spring training games have been overwhelmingly positive. It was general manager Jerry Dipoto’s biggest takeaway heading into Tuesday’s off day.

“Our starting pitching is maybe a little better than it’s given credit for being,” he said. “You’re going to have some hiccup days in Arizona, but from the very start, I think the starting pitchers have been solid.”

Could this starting rotation be better than expected? Let’s take a look at the results of Seattle’s five projected starters so far:

LHP MARCO GONZALES, 28

Line: 2 GS, 3 2/3 IP, 4 H, 5 R, HR, 2 BB, 3 K

Outlook: The numbers look worse than they are. Gonzales was the most reliable starter the Mariners had last season, and there’s no reason to believe he will be less consistent in 2020. His first outing this spring was shaky — he pitched 2/3 of an inning, allowing five runs on three hits, including a three-run homer and two walks before he was pulled. But he and the Mariners both shook that off without worry, and he was much sharper in his second start Saturday, tossing three scoreless frames while allowing one hit and striking out three on an efficient 30 pitches. He threw first-pitch strikes to every batter he faced. Gonzales projects as Seattle’s Opening Day starter for the second consecutive season after posting career-bests in wins (16), starts (34), innings (203) and strikeouts (147) in 2019. He signed a four-year extension with the club in February.

LHP YUSEI KIKUCHI, 28

Line: 2 GS, 3 2/3 IP, 5 H, 4 R (3 ER), 3 BB, 5 K

Outlook: The improvement in Kikuchi’s physical stuff after an offseason of adjustments has been a “revelation,” Dipoto said Monday. Kikuchi’s rookie season with Seattle — which followed eight successful seasons pitching in Japan — was uneven at best. His 5.46 ERA was one of the worst among major-league starters, and constant tinkering made it tough for him to find any rhythm. But, after spending the winter simplifying his delivery and regaining lost velocity, Kikuchi figures to have a much better 2020. His fastball averaged 92.5 mph last season but has consistently reached 95-96 this spring, and his slider — which touched 93 on Friday — and curveball velocities have jumped, too.

RHP KENDALL GRAVEMAN, 29

Line: 2 GS, 4 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K

Outlook: How Graveman would look entering the spring was a question mark. He’s 19 months post-Tommy John surgery and hasn’t pitched in a regular-season game in almost two years. He’s already quelled any fears that his arm isn’t completely healthy in two starts this spring. Graveman is comfortably back in his usual attack method — inducing ground balls — and has yet to give up a run. He allowed just one hit and one walk in his first outing last week, and though his second start was less efficient — he was pulled after two innings instead of throwing his planned three — he worked out of a jam in the first inning with a swinging strikeout, and tallied two more in a 1-2-3 second. “Kendall was not as good (Sunday) as he was in his first outing, but again, operating in the low-mid 90s, with that type of sink, that’s exciting to us,” Dipoto said.

LHP JUSTUS SHEFFIELD, 23

Line: 2 G (1 GS), 5 IP, 2 H, R, HR, 7 K

Outlook: Sheffield was perfect in his first game last week, when he followed Graveman, punching out three of the six batters he faced. He was almost as sharp in his first start Monday, allowing two hits — including a solo homer on a wayward fastball — and striking out four. But, the most impressive number for Sheffield so far this spring? Zero walks. He struggled with free passes in eight appearances with the Mariners last season — walking at least one batter in seven of those, and three or more four times. He looks much more settled and comfortable now. “That’s probably the calmest I’ve ever seen him out there, which is great to see,” Servais said after Sheffield’s start Monday. “He continues to get a good feel for his stuff, and (he’ll) move from there.”

RHP TAIJUAN WALKER, 27

Line: Walker has not appeared in a spring training game yet.

Outlook: The Mariners aren’t rushing Walker, who is working his way back from Tommy John surgery in 2018, and some shoulder issues that followed. Walker is the only projected Seattle starter who has yet to pitch in a spring training game, but his turn should come up soon. He was projected to start Wednesday’s game against the Angels, but the Mariners will hold him out because of how often they will see Los Angeles in divisional play this season. Instead, Walker will throw another simulated game in the morning at the Peoria complex. He threw a two-inning simulated game Friday with mixed results. “Maybe not quite as sharp,” Servais said then. “He needs to get in a real game. He’s ready to roll. I thought the last 10 pitches he threw … were much better. He got after it there.” After parting ways with the Diamondbacks during the offseason, Walker signed a one-year contract with his former club the day pitchers and catchers reported to camp.

This story was originally published March 4, 2020 at 5:15 AM.

Lauren Smith

The News Tribune

360-754-5473

Lauren Smith is a sports reporter at The News Tribune. She has covered high school sports for TNT and The Olympian, as well as the Seattle Mariners and Washington Huskies. She is a graduate of UW and Emerald Ridge High School.