Seattle gets their first win of spring against Arizona, with the offense reaching double digits in runs and not in strikeouts for the first time.. maybe ever? Well, it feels like forever.
Placebo effect be damned, spring training of it all respectfully set aside, wins that come from Seattle Mariners offensive downpours just hit differently. No amount of rain and grey outside my window can deluge the sunshine coming to me through my screen from Peoria. I refuse to be nonchalant about a box score where both the hits and the runs on Seattle’s side are higher numbers than the strikeouts, which are somehow not in the double digits. Today the Mariners won against the Arizona Diamondbacks 11-5, and my “baseball is back” buzz has reached a pleasing hum.
The start of spring was less fortuitous to Seattle’s current lock-in for sixth man in the rotation, Emerson Hancock, who looked to be in 2024 form. For him, this means an uncomfortable amount of often hard contact he mostly escapes from, occasionally netting a couple of strikeouts in the process. In the first inning it was the hard contact and escape routine, sans the strikeouts. Gabriel Moreno started things off with a ground-out to Williamson at third, and Alek Thomas reached on a fielding error by Crawford, but had sent it 108.2 off the bat. Randal Grichuk hit it softly but found grass in right field to put two runners on, but Josh Naylor hit one hard but to Crawford at short, who redeemed his earlier glove gaff and turned the double play to end the inning.
Seattle didn’t score in their half of the first either, and Hancock returned to work the second. He wouldn’t finish it, allowing one run but also striking out two before leaving a game he otherwise may have stayed in, had he not been at 29 pitches so quickly in his first outing of the year. Jake McCarthy feasted on a hanging slider and led off with a ground-rule double, but Hancock recovered by getting Geraldo Perdomo to strike out looking on three pitches, then battled Adrian Del Castillo before getting him to strike out on the 3-2 ninth pitch. After getting ahead of Ildemaro Vargas 0-2 throwing three sinkers climbing higher, Hancock tried to change speeds and location with a changeup at the bottom of the zone, but Vargas timed it up and sent it to right field to score McCarthy from second, and ending Hancock’s night. Jesse Wainscott came in to finish the inning and only had to face Grae Kessinger, getting him looking on a full count curveball on the eighth pitch, and that was all we would see of Wainscott for the evening.
The bottom of the second Seattle answered back, and took a lead they never gave up. The entire lineup plated appearances, with Randy Arozarena leading off the inning with a 94.3 mph line out right back to Arizona starting pitcher Tommy Henry, and eventually ending it striking out on a 2-2 slider away. In between everyone either got a hit, or in the case of Julio Rodríguez specifically, a sacrifice RBI. J.P. Crawford, Mitch Garver, Dominic Canzone, and Ben Williamson all would get hits in the second, and go on to have two hit nights. After Randy’s line out, Garver and Canzone both singled on balls hit 106 mph and xBA’s north of .900, setting up the corners for Tyler Locklear. Locklear obliged the situation with a double that stayed just fair in right field, and hopped off the bat at 79.7 mph with an xBA of .140, scoring both runners and putting the Mariners on the board, and in the lead. Hey, the results on the score board matter more than anything.
Ryan Bliss finished off the tormenting of starter Henry, hitting a hard (106.4) double to center, and scoring Locklear.
Alec Baker came in for the rest of the second, but Ben Williamson immediately continued the RBI frenzy against him, softly turning away an inside fastball with one in ten chance to land for a hit, but sneak through it did into the outfield, scoring Bliss.
J.P. Crawford singled on a grounder, and a fleet footed Williamson made it from first to third. Julio came up next and did a very Julio thing, hitting the ball very hard and very deep, 106.2 off the bat, but caught at the warning track with more than enough space to allow Williamson to score. Cal Raleigh was next and last in the inning to pocket an RBI, hitting a double to right field 104.2, and scoring Crawford, and bringing the score to 6-2.
In the third Alec Baker made way for Scott McGough, and the Mariners were able to add on to their lead. Garver and Canzone collected their second hits and did so with emphasis, at 111.6 mph and 106.1 mph respectively. Garver lined sharply to left for a single, and Canzone brought him home with his hit to right field for a double.
Locklear and Bliss struck out swinging, but next Ben Williamson turned around an inside slider to score Canzone, hitting the ball softly (76.7 mph) and precisely enough in right field (.060 xBA and I may not be using “precise” correctly here) to turn the hit into a triple, and making it an 8-1 Mariners lead. In what was admittedly a tough decision, Ben Williamson is today’s choice for the Sun Visor Award. There are plenty of candidates from the Seattle lineup today with just as many hits, all of them harder hit, and just as many RBIs, so perhaps it is personal bias that made this selection final. Still, Williamson made the most of his first spring training start, and at a position that has had a question mark looming over it all off-season. Both his hits produced RBIs, and he did so turning around inside pitches, long an Achilles heel of the Seattle batters of recent years. That presence at the plate, combined with his base-running twice putting himself at third base, the scoring position, are also marks in his favor for today’s award.
Williamson would get left at third base that inning, and the Mariners wouldn’t score again until the fifth inning, against Arizona pitcher Dylan Ray. Austin Shenton was brought in to pinch hit for Tyler Locklear, and didn’t waste much time to make his presence known, hitting a second pitch changeup at the bottom of the zone 99.9 mph into right field for a double. Brock Rodden came in for Ryan Bliss, and singled Shenton over to third with a soft line drive up the middle. Luis Suisbel hit a grounder to Perdomo at short, and was out at first, but succeeded in scoring Shenton and moving Rodden to second.
Seattle finished their scoring efforts their last time up to bat in the bottom of the eighth, against pitcher Zach Barnes. Cade Marlowe reached first with one out on a fielding error by first baseman Tristin English. Cade Marlowe would steal second base before scoring on a Samad Taylor single, a hard hit liner to center field. Blake Hunt swatted a sinker 107.7 mph for a double scoring Samad Taylor, bringing the Mariners total runs of the night to eleven on seventeen hits, and with only seven strikeouts.
On the Mariners side of the mound, they needed eleven pitchers to get through the night. Hancock had about the performance one would expect from a first spring outing from a starter, with all of the conclusions that should be drawn from it (probably none!). After Hancock and Wainscott was Eduard Bazardo, who went one scoreless, allowing one hit and one walk, and striking out one. After him came Casey Legumina, who was one of only two Mariners hurlers to have a 1-2-3 inning. Casey handled his with a Geraldo Perdomo groundout, a Del Castillo strike out on a 3-2 foul tip, and a Ildemaro Vargas fly out to Arozarena in left.
Shintaro Fujinami worked a somewhat wild, but overall effective fifth inning. Giving up no hits, walking one, and striking out two. First getting Grae Kessinger to swing through a splitter, then getting Randal Grichuk to strike out on three pitches, over a cutter, to end the inning. Josh Fleming worked a scoreless sixth, getting all three outs on soft contact after allowing a leadoff double to Josh Naylor.
Adonis Medina worked the seventh, and was the other pitcher to go 1-2-3, getting Vargas to fly out, Kessinger to strike out swinging, and Christian Cerda to ground out. Luis F. Castillo made a rocky (I’m not sorry) debut to start the eighth inning, giving up two runs on three hits, and walking one, although also managing to nab a strikeout against pinch hitter Demetrio Crisantes. Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman took over for the less rock-like Castillo, and made an appearance almost shorter than the time it takes to say their name, striking out the one batter in Gino Groover needed to end the inning.
Dauris Valdez continued the tradition of Castillo before him and let the Diamondbacks also plate some runs, allowing two walks and one hit to turn into two earned runs, getting only the one out against inning leadoff Andy Weber, a fly out. Stefan Raeth took over and got the remaining two outs, but not before also allowing a walk and giving up a single that led to an RBI charged to Valdez.
There were a lot of highlights to go over, and not everyone who made an appearance contributed to them, so have yet to be mentioned, but for those on prospect and NRI watch, there were a few more familiar names getting reps this spring. Colt Emerson went 0-2 with a strikeout, and Cole Young had a 1-2 night. But of note in Emerson’s appearances were his strikeout coming on a 3-2 count, and his other out came on a ground out that was scorched 111.6 mph off the bat.. just at a -3 degree launch angle. Young hit both of his balls fairly hard, 93.8 mph on his ground ball single in the sixth, and 99.3 on his ground-out.
At the end of the day, like any spring game, there was plenty to over and under react to. Names and moments to be remembered, and just as many more over that will be forgotten. The journey of 2025 baseball has begun, and is starting to roll along. Yes, there is a lot of rolling left to do, but none of the wheels have fallen off yet, so lets enjoy this slow start to the ride, even if this first Mariners win is one penciled in with invisible ink.