With Kendall Graveman on IL, Nick Margevicius a ‘nice fit’ for Mariners rotation moving forward
Nick Margevicius made his first start of the season for the Mariners on Saturday night, and it won’t be his last.
With seasoned right-hander Kendall Graveman on the 10-day injured list, and out for an undetermined amount of time, Margevicius should slot into Graveman’s spot in the six-man rotation as Seattle plays out the final seven weeks of this shortened season.
“I think he’s going to be a nice fit in our rotation going forward,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said on a postgame video call with reporters Saturday. “He’s going to continue to get starts with Graveman being out, so a lot of confidence in him. I like what I’ve seen so far.”
After coming out of the bullpen his first three appearances this season, Margevicius, a 24-year-old left-hander, pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings Saturday against the Rockies before reaching his scheduled pitch limit. He allowed three hits, walked one, struck out three on 61 pitches.
“I thought he did a really nice job with all of his pitches tonight, but I like the back-and-forth combo of the slow curveball, and then the riding fastball off that,” Servais said. “He can make pitches, and he’s certainly not afraid of attacking.”
It was not only Margevicius’ first start since joining the club in the offseason, but his first since last June, when he made his final of 12 starts with the Padres after landing on their Opening Day roster as a 22-year-old.
After he was drafted in the seventh round by San Diego in 2017, Margevicius spent the rest of that summer pitching in rookie ball in Arizona and for the Short-A Tri-City Dust Devils. The following season, he tossed 135 innings across 23 games in Low-A and High-A with 146 strikeouts to only 17 walks.
Then he was invited to big league spring training in 2019, and made his big league debut that March without ever pitching a game above the High-A level.
Margevicius compiled a 1.69 ERA across his first three starts, but as hitters started to get comfortable, his numbers dipped. He was optioned to Double-A last June when his ERA peaked at 6.41 after a troubling start against the Rockies at Coors Field. He allowed nine runs on 11 hits and was pulled after recording just one out in the second inning.
That three-month stint with the Padres prompted questions about if Margevicius was rushed to the majors too soon.
“I just handled it the best I could at the time,” he said last week. “Looking back on it, maybe it was a little quick. Maybe I wasn’t quite ready for some of the things, but at the same time, I did what I could right away and had some success right away. I just hit a little struggle, and it was hard for me to bounce back from that. But, I think doing that so early and young in my career has offered me the chance to grow probably a little bit earlier than if something would have come along the line a little bit later.
“I don’t know if I was rushed or not, but I’m excited about where I’m at right now, and and continuing to learn and move forward has been great for me.”
He returned to the Padres’ big league roster as an extra bullpen arm late last summer, but was designated for assignment in January, and picked up by Seattle a week later.
The Mariners have always viewed Margevicius as a starter, Servais said recently. With Graveman scheduled to see a specialist this week to determine how to proceed with his neck — there is no timetable for his return, but he is likely to miss “significant time,” Servais said — Margevicius should get an extended look in Seattle’s rotation.
“Getting back to starting the game … the routine, getting back to that, it was good for me,” Margevicius said postgame Saturday. “Just going deeper in the game, seeing hitters multiple times again is something to build off of.”
TAXI SQUAD EXPANDS
Clubs are now allowed to carry up to five players — up from three — on their traveling taxi squads to supplement their 28-man active rosters should a player get injured or test positive for COVID-19 while on the road.
Seattle begins a nine-day, eight-game road trip Monday in Arlington. The Mariners will play a three-game series against the Rangers, then travel to Houston for three and finally Los Angeles to play a two-game set against the Dodgers.
Servais did not name the additional players the Mariners will carry for this trip pregame Sunday, but said there will be four, including an additional catcher, utility player and two pitchers.
“I think four should be enough,” Servais said. “We are very versatile with our position players. We have a number of guys that can play multiple positions. … We still have 10 guys in our bullpen. So, I think four will be plenty.”
The Mariners optioned Jose Marmolejos, who can play first base and left field, to their alternate training site in Tacoma last week when the 30-man roster was cut to 28.
They also have Sam Haggerty and Patrick Wisdom as possible utility options currently working out at Cheney Stadium.
Joseph Odom will likely resume the role as the traveling taxi squad catcher after making his big league debut during the last road trip.
The Mariners have several relievers in Tacoma they could bring along, including veteran right-hander Bryan Shaw and right-hander Zac Grotz, who were both optioned last week.
SHORT HOPS
Catcher Austin Nola was given a second consecutive day to rest Sunday as he continues to tend soreness in his left hand/wrist. Nola was hit by a fastball in the area on his glove hand late in Friday night’s game. Servais anticipated he would be ready to play Monday on the road against the Rangers. … Servais said Friday reliever Austin Adams is unlikely to travel with the team on the upcoming road trip as he continues to work his way back from knee surgery last fall. Adams has been working out at T-Mobile Park, but has not seen live hitters. “I know he’s still not feeling 100%,” Servais said. “He’s playing catch, but not to the point yet we can get him on the mound.” … Veteran reliever Yoshihisa Hirano has been throwing bullpens at the Mariners’ complex in Arizona and has been “progressing nicely,” Servais said. He is expected to transition to the Tacoma site soon to face live hitters.
