Seattle Mariners: Arms race to fill out starting rotation
Ed Stein
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In 2022, the Seattle Mariners intend to make the playoffs. To do so, they’ll need a solid starting rotation. Four of the six spots are filled. Where will the other two starters come from?
The Seattle Mariners went into last season with a solid six-man rotation. Injuries, however, decimated the original staff. It started early when they lost James Paxton after only a few pitches into his first start. He needed Tommy John Surgery and missed the entire year. New ace Marco Gonzales was out all of May with a forearm strain.
Justus Sheffield, Nick Margevicius, and Justin Dunn also missed time with injuries. Margevicius, who replaced Paxton saw his season go down the tubes at the end of April due to elbow surgery. Meanwhile, Sheffield and Dunn pitched through the first few months but after their respective injuries couldn’t make it back to the rotation and were sent down to Tacoma.
Finally, Yusei Kikuchi went from All-Star in July to unusable in September. It looked like his arm went dead two-thirds of the way through the season. The only starter to make it through 2021 unscathed was newcomer Chris Flexen.
There is good news. Gonzales came back strong and had a terrific second half. The overwhelming number of injuries lead to prize prospect Logan Gilbert‘s promotion to Seattle. He settled in nicely and put up some good numbers. His big focus this time around is to keep the ball on his side of the fence. Flexen is back for year two. Finally, Seattle Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto replaced Kikuchi with defending American League Cy Young winner Robbie Ray. So, the first four spots in the rotation are set.
That still leaves Seattle Skipper Scott Servais two-men short in his six-man rotation. Filling those jobs is a strong point of emphasis when spring training begins.
So who is in line to fill the last two spots?