PEORIA, Ariz. – On the morning of March 21, 2024, Scott Servais sat in his office at the Peoria Sports Complex. Two nights prior, his Mariners posted 18 hits and 12 runs (with just five strikeouts) in a 12-3 clubbing of the Colorado Rockies, followed by a deserved day off. They’d soon wrap a sizzling spring with more runs per game (6.3) than any team in MLB.
Servais – the Mariners’ ninth-year manager – attributed those results to a hitting philosophy that filtered from the coaches to the players.
“When it’s coming from the players and it lines up with what we’re trying to do organizationally, then you have a chance to be really good and really stick and get it really deep rooted into our team. I think that’s where we’re headed,” he said.
“Again, it’s early. We just planted the seeds, but we’re watering them and we hope to get a little sunshine on them and it’ll grow throughout the year.”
Unfortunately, even weeds come from seeds.
You know what happened next. The Mariners led the majors in strikeouts (1,625), while finishing 21st in runs per game (4.2), 25th in OPS (.376), 27th in doubles (228) and 29th in batting average (.224). Spring standouts like Mitch Haniger (.385/.442/.846 spring training slash line), Jorge Polanco (.419/.490/.744), Ty France (.364/.442/.455), J.P. Crawford (.341/.408/.477) and Dominic Canzone (.295/.347/.705) couldn’t replicate those results. Servais and offensive coordinator Brant Brown’s jobs didn’t survive the season.
All of which reinforces an annual warning:
Spring-training conclusions cannot be trusted.
As I arrived Friday for a week with the Mariners, those deceptive seeds didn’t leave my mind. But excluding the obvious – Julio Rodriguez’s at-bats after an uneven season, the starting rotation’s bid to cement itself as MLB’s best, Andrés Muñoz’s new “kick changeup” that hurtles off a cliff – here are three things I’ll be watching anyway.
The bullpen wild cards
Seattle’s bullpen enters the season with an array of established options (Muñoz, Trent Thornton, Collin Snider, Troy Taylor, Tayler Saucedo), as well as a trio of arms returning from injuries (Matt Brash, Gregory Santos and Gabe Speier).
But after that bullpen faded last summer and fall, the Mariners must demonstrate formidable depth. Much will hinge on the availability and effectiveness of Brash, Santos and Speier to eat high-leverage innings.
Still, who are the wild cards who could claim critical roles?
Enter four fringe contenders: Brandyn Garcia, Hunter Cranton, Shintaro Fujinami and Trevor Gott.
Of that group, Garcia might offer the most intrigue. The 6-foot-4, 235-pound lefty touches the upper 90s and earned a 2.25 ERA, striking out 134 in 116 innings, between Everett and Arkansas in 2024. After being named the Mariners minor league co-pitcher of the year, can the 24-year-old crack the big-league roster – supplying a lefty power arm the pen currently lacks?
There are other questions to answer here. Can the 30-year-old Fujinami – who has long battled control issues – harness his triple-digit fastball? Can Cranton, a 2024 third-round pick with similarly explosive stuff, surge through the system? Can Gott, who made 30 appearances with the Mariners in 2023, bounce back from Tommy John surgery?
For a team that gobbles up one-run games, bullpen depth could prove the difference between a playoff appearance and yet another empty fall. And when it comes to reliable relief, Muñoz is not enough.
The Mariner Mitches
The “designated hitter” position might be an oxymoron for the Mariners.
That is, if Mitch Haniger or Mitch Garver can’t recalibrate their careers.
Both veteran bats were broken in 2024, as Haniger (.208/.286/.334, 12 HR, 44 RBI) and Garver (.172/.286/.341, 15 HR, 51 RBI) turned in simultaneously disastrous seasons. Now, both are tasked with proving they can still contribute to a winning team.
Given the front office’s stalled offseason, there remains an opportunity to seize the DH role. Donovan Solano, Polanco, Luke Raley or Rowdy Tellez could conceivably earn at-bats as well, but there’s an opening for Haniger and Garver to stake their claim.
As stated above, the spring-training stats won’t say much. But how do Haniger and Garver approach a career crossroads? Is there anything left in those aging talent tanks?
The eventual answer is an important one.
The Polanco experiment
The Mariners are pinning their third-base hopes to a player who has made just 24 appearances there in 11 MLB seasons. It’s also a player who has yet to man the position this spring after offseason knee surgery.
So, can Polanco be a viable starting third baseman?
He’s got to get in a game first.
On Saturday, upbeat Mariners manager Dan Wilson said: “We’re hoping to get him out there as soon as possible, within the next few days, and we’ll see how that goes. But (his timetable) seems to be right on track.”
Polanco, 31, struggled in his Seattle debut in 2024, hitting .213/.296/.355 with 16 homers and 45 RBI in 118 games. The hope is that a shift from second to third base lessens the load on Polanco’s legs, resulting in a healthier season. But Polanco must prove he can adequately play the position, while delivering at the plate as well.
Defensively, the work begins on the back fields at the Peoria Sports Complex, under the discerning eye of infield coach Perry Hill. The results, they hope, will be apparent in Seattle this summer.
For now, they’re planting seeds.