‘I think you’re seeing a burst of confidence.’ Mariners starting rotation is currently one of best in majors
When the Mariners opened spring training back in February, one of the more intriguing storylines surrounding this team was how its starting rotation would perform.
Mariners ace Marco Gonzales was fresh off signing a four-year extension with the club, and Yusei Kikuchi seemed primed for a leap forward entering his second season with a retooled delivery and uptick in velocity he’d found during the offseason.
The club also signed two veteran right-handers coming back from Tommy John surgery in former first-round pick Taijuan Walker and Kendall Graveman.
Then there were up-and-coming rookies Justus Sheffield and Justin Dunn, looking for a longer opportunity with the big league club after a handful of appearances last season.
Here was the question way back then: Could this Mariners starting rotation be better than expected?
Here is the answer two thirds of the way through the season: Some names involved have changed, but Seattle has one of the better rotations in the majors the past three weeks. In the stretch since Aug. 19, during which the Mariners have gone 12-5 and worked into the postseason conversation, the rotation has a collective 3.47 ERA, which ranks fifth in the majors. Their 10 wins in that span are the most in the big leagues, and their walk rate per nine innings (2.25) is the lowest.
“I think you’re seeing a burst of confidence from a large majority of this team that’s finally feeling comfortable, finally feeling like they have a good routine down in the big leagues, and going out there and really searching for wins,” Gonzales said Monday when the Mariners swept Texas, and he posted the club’s sixth consecutive quality start.
“A team that’s playing together. We’re very, very united. We’re a united group and we have been since Day 1 here, so I’m excited to see what this last stretch of baseball holds for us, because we are playing great baseball right now.”
Gonzales has again anchored the rotation with a team-best 3.02 ERA in eight starts, and has won each of his past three decisions — including tossing his second career complete game against the Angels last month — to improve to 5-2.
“I’ve said it earlier this year … for all of our young pitchers on this staff, you should be up on the rail watching what this guy does every time he toes the rubber,” manager Scott Servais said following Gonzales’ most recent start — a seven-inning, two-run outing with no walks and seven strikeouts against the Rangers.
“Very impressive. He does not back off. He doesn’t throw 95 (mph), but it doesn’t matter. He can execute pitches, his ball’s got really good life and finish to it. He really sequences pitches, just outstanding throughout the course of the game.”
Kikuchi’s season ERA through six starts is 5.23, but his past two starts have shown more progress, and he has won both decisions, including a quality outing against he Rangers last week in which he allowed one run on two hits in six complete innings with seven strikeouts.
Walker was solid in his first month back with the Mariners, but was traded to Toronto at the deadline. Graveman made two starts before neck discomfort sent him to the injured list, and he is now in the midst of an impressive comeback in Seattle’s bullpen.
Their absence has paved the way for two more young pitchers — Nick Margevicius and Ljay Newsome — to join the rotation.
Four of Seattle’s starters, including Margevicius, Newsome, Sheffield and Dunn are 24 years old or younger, and had a combined majors-leading 10 quality starts this season entering the week among starters that age or younger.
Sheffield has emerged as a consistent starter, tossing quality outings in four of his past five appearances, including completing a career-high seven innings in his most recent start against the Rangers.
Dunn has allowed two earned runs over his past 18 innings in his three most recent starts.
Margevicius has also impressed since he took over for Graveman in August, with a pair of quality starts in four appearances as a starter. He was scheduled to make his fifth start in Wednesday’s series finale against the Giants in San Francisco.
Newsome impressed in his first big league start as Walker’s replacement last month, but was removed from his second Tuesday night after he was hit in his pitching wrist with a line drive.
Dunn said recently the rotation feeds off each other, and the younger members continue to learn from the more veteran pitchers on staff.
“I think that’s a credit to Marco, Tai when he was here, and Gravy when he was in the rotation, and Yusei, and the older guys kind of putting the pressure on us to really try to stay consistent,” Dunn said. “The game starts with us. We set the tone for the series, set the tone for the game that day, so we’ve tried to be as consistent as possible and giving our team a chance to win the game. That’s been our big thing.
“We’ve got some really good bats in our lineup, and if we can get them back in the dugout and let them do their job and give them a shutdown inning after they grind to get us a couple runs, we’ll be in a good place. So, we take a lot of pride in what we’re doing every six days going out and giving our team a chance to win.”
STRANGE-GORDON NOMINATED FOR CLEMENTE AWARD
Mariners infielder Dee Strange-Gordon is the club’s nominee for the 2020 Roberto Clemente Award, the annual award given to the player “who best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.”
“It means a lot,” Strange-Gordon said recently. “Me and my family have been doing the right things to try to help people, and use our platform the best we can to try to get some change in the world.”
Strange-Gordon founded Flash of Hope, which supports families impacted by domestic violence, in 2015. He has also worked to provide meals for families during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as partnered with a Seattle-based company to create custom face masks.
Fans can vote for the Roberto Clemente Award online through the end of the regular season on Sept. 27.
TACOMA HOMERS
Two Mariners outfield prospects blasted home runs Wednesday afternoon at the club’s alternate training site at Cheney Stadium in an intrasquad game.
Braden Bishop, who was optioned back to the site last week, sent a grand slam bouncing off the video board in left field in the first off pitching prospect Brandon Williamson. It was Bishop’s fifth homer of intrasquad play.
Top prospect Jarred Kelenic later crushed his fifth intrasquad homer of the summer, a solo shot to deep right center, on the first pitch he saw from Art Warren.
