Seattle Mariners: 3 stars of the M’s 5-2 Week 3 (April 12-18)
Star #3: Kendall Graveman
2 games, 2 IP, 2 saves, 0.00 ERA, no walks, no hits
In the Pacific Northwest Sportswriters community, a question was posed about who would end up with the most saves on the season. Some said Montero; I said Kendall Graveman. Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais hasn’t come out and named Graveman as his new closer, but after three blown saves by Montero, Graveman appears to be the M’s go-to pitcher in the ninth inning.
Graveman was efficient in his pair of relief appearances, with no walks or hits. More importantly, no drama for a change. He has my vote to be the Mariners’ closer for the foreseeable future. I’m sure most fans agree that he’s earned the position. For his part, Montero has done well as a set-up reliever. The entire bullpen was strong this week.
Former @BRHSWildcats pitcher Kendall Graveman, who earned his first @MLB save on Tuesday, got his second on Thursday, retiring the @Orioles 1-2-3 on 9 pitches in the final inning of the @Mariners' 4-2 victory. pic.twitter.com/OKqfoZrKJY
— Mark Inabinett (@AMarkG1) April 16, 2021
Star #2: Ty France
.280 BA, .945 OPS, 2 HRs, 4 XBH, 6 RBI
The 1-2 punch of France and Haniger proved to be a lot for opposing teams to handle, couple that with Crawford’s fantastic week, and it was a great week for these three consecutive hitters in the line-up. Ty France is batting over .300 and is second on the team in nearly every offensive category, except OPS (leads the team).
The other piece for France is that he’s playing decent defense, although he had an almost costly error in the loss to Baltimore. His versatility allows Servais to manipulate the line-up to keep Haniger rested (DH) and gives Dylan Moore some time in the outfield. The value of both Moore and France’s versatility is immeasurable because of their abilities to play multiple positions.