Yusei Kikuchi (Photo by Moto Milwa, via Flickr)
Marco Gonzales, Seattle Mariners.
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.
All in all, the Mariners’ starting pitching was pretty good. The starters performed well compared to their peers around the league.
Next, we breakdown the staff.
Taijuan Walker, Seattle Mariners
Marco Gonzales leads the rotation as the Seattle Mariners ace. He pitched like an ace in 2020. In 11 starts, Gonzales had a record of 7–2 (2nd in American League), with a 3.10 ERA (8th) and 0.95 WHIP (3rd). His control was excellent all season. Gonzales yielded only seven walks in 69.2 innings pitched without no more than one base on balls in a game. The former Gonzaga Bulldogs standout led the league in two categories, 0.90 walks per nine innings, and 9.14 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
The highlight of Gonzales’ season was a 102-pitch complete game against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim on August 31. He limited the Halos to five base runners (four hits, one walk). To make the victory even sweeter, Angels slugger Mike Trout went 0–4 with three strikeouts. It’s hard to do much better than that except a no-hitter.
Not only did Gonzales lead the pitchers, but he also finished second on the team with a 1.5 Wins Above Replacement (WAR). Unless the M’s sign someone else, Gonzales will be at the top of Seattle’s rotation next season.
Seattle welcomed back former first-round draft pick (2010) Taijuan Walker to the team. After two years of injury rehab after Tommy John surgery, Arizona decided to let him go in the offseason. M’s General Manager Jerry DiPoto signed Walker as a free agent in February hoping that he would bounce back.
Bounce back indeed. In five starts with Seattle, he was 2–2 with a 4.00 ERA. DiPoto converted his bargain signing into outfield prospect Alberto Rodriguez in a pre-deadline trade with Toronto.
It was originally thought that the Mariners would try to sign Walker in free agency, again this offseason. Those chances seem less likely now. In six starts for the Jays, he allowed only four earned runs with an ERA of 1.37. Walker’s price went way up.
Nick Margevicius, Seattle Mariners.
Yusei Kikuchi showed some signs of pitching well for the Mariners. However, most M’s fans would agree they were expecting more out of Kikuchi this year. Unfortunately, his 2020 was about the same as his 2019. The Japanese import finished the season with a 2–4 record and 5.17 ERA in nine starts. In September, Kikuchi showed a glimmer of hope for the future. He posted a 1–2 record with a 4.02 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and .206 BAA.
The only real improvement in his stats was that he gave up only three home runs in 2020. Over 32 starts last year, he gave up 36 long balls.
Kikuchi signed a four-year deal with the Mariners before the 2019 season. He has two more years to become the pitcher the Mariners thought they got after playing in Japan. Depending on how spring training goes, he will probably be the fourth starter in going into the season.
Another of DiPoto’s reclamation projects this year was Kendall Graveman. In 2018, the right-hander had elbow reconstruction surgery and missed the entire 2019 season. He made it through two very dismal starts with the Seattle Mariners before going on the injured list with neck spasms. Upon further examination, it was discovered that Graveman had a benign bone tumor on his spine.
After sitting out a month, Graveman returned to the team in a relief role. He pitched decently out of the bullpen in September. That should be enough to get him an invite to someone’s spring training next year.
Nick Margevicius started the season in the bullpen, but when Graveman went on the injured list, the lefty was promoted to the rotation. To be honest, he was less than stellar in either role. Over seven starts, he was 2-3 with a 4.46 ERA. Margevicius looks to be in the Mariners bullpen next year and make a spot start on occasion. He is only 24 years old, so the future is ahead of him.
Justin Dunn, Seattle Mariners.
Highly touted Justus Sheffield got off to a rough start this year. He was beaten up in his first two starts, giving up eight earned runs in 7.2 innings. His third start was the turning point. On August 9, Sheffield shut out Colorado through six innings, giving up four hits with no walks and seven strikeouts.
From that game on, the 24-year-old rookie took off. In September, Sheffield won all four of his starts. The rookie didn’t allow more than two earned runs in any of those games and posted as 2.16 ERA. He could be a number two or three starting going forward.
Justin Dunn came to Seattle from the New York Mets with top prospect Jarred Kelenic for Edwin Diaz and Robinson Cano around the same time they acquired Sheffield. In his rookie season, Dunn showed some signs as to why the Mariners wanted him in the trade. He finished the year 4–1 with a 4.34 ERA.
Dunn’s biggest issue is his control. He walked 31 batters over 10 starts. Also, over his 45 innings, Dunn gave up ten home runs. On the positive side, the 10 dingers were part of only 31 hits allowed. On the other, he gave up eight of ten when he was either even or ahead of the count. If he can get a better command of his pitches, cuts down on walks as well as the home runs next season, he could be impressive. Right now, Dunn slots in as a number five starter.
This year, Ljay Newsome became the first Seattle Mariners player drafted in the 26th round to make it to the major leagues. After beginning the year at the M’s alternate training site, he debuted with a strong three-inning relief appearance on August 20. When Walker was traded to Toronto, Newsome slid into the back of Seattle’s rotation.
He looked a bit over his head at times, but aside from one poor outing, the 23-year-old was okay on the mound. The Mariners will give him a shot at making the rotation in spring training; however, he might have to start the season at Triple-A or in the bullpen.
It’s safe to say four of the Mariners five starting spots are set for next year with Gonzales, Sheffield, Kikuchi, and Dunn. Top pitching prospect Logan Gilbert is probably a year away from making the show. That means DiPoto will have to sign someone from the outside. Hopefully, he gets a pitcher who can fill a top-two role.
Our series continues later this week.