Seattle Mariners 2020 Review/2021 Preview – Starting Pitching
Marco Gonzales, Seattle Mariners.
It was an exciting 2020 season for the Seattle Mariners. Pacific Northwest Sports begins our five-part series, which looks back on the season that just ended and previews the next season. We begin with the M’s starting pitchers.
The 2020 Seattle Mariners season is officially in the books. It was certainly an up and down ride during this year’s 60-game sprint. But that should be expected from what turned out to be the youngest team in Major League Baseball.
Despite their youth and uneven play at times, the Mariners finished with a 27–33 record. That was good for third in the American League West Division. Seattle was just two games out of the expanded playoffs. The M’s were in the postseason hunt until the final week of the season. Their young team got just a taste of what it’s like to battle for the playoffs at the Major League level. A valuable experience that will serve them well in the future.
While there were more losses than wins in 2020, the team instilled hope for a better 2021.
PNWS takes a look back at the season that just ended and previews the next season. We begin our five-part series with the starters.
This year Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais went with a six-man rotation. That’s something virtually unheard of in baseball, but the strategy made sense with the compacted season and limited ramp-up. They started with Marco Gonzales, Taijuan Walker, Yusei Kikuchi, Kendall Graveman, Justus Sheffield, and Justin Dunn. The season ended with Gonzales, Kikuchi, Sheffield, Dunn, Ljay Newsome, and Nick Margevicius comprising the rotation due to trades and injuries.
By the Numbers
All in all, the Mariners’ starting pitching was pretty good. The starters performed well compared to their peers around the league.
- Home Runs per 9 Innings – 1.13 (4th)
- Quality Start Percentage – 42 (T 5th)
- Games Won by Starters – 21 (5th)
- Innings Pitched per Start – 5.1 (T7th)
- Batting Average Against – .232 (9th)
- WHIP – 1.25 (12th)
- ERA – 4.41 (15th)
- Strikeout to Walk Ratio – 2.48 (18th)
Next, we breakdown the staff.