Logan Gilbert, Seattle Mariners.
Last week the Seattle Mariners played even baseball, splitting their six games. Overshadowing their break-even week was two interesting news items. It appears that after the All-Star Break, the M’s will move from a six-man starting rotation to a more standard five-man rotation.
The other item was the arrival of catching prospect Cal Raleigh ahead of Sunday’s game. He went the route of most other Mariners’ highly-touted prospects going 0-4 with a couple of strikeouts. Raleigh Joined Jarred Kelenic and Taylor Trammell by going hitless in his debut. His call-up was significant because the Mariners already have two healthy catchers in a really strong platoon situation. Adding Raleigh to the roster could lead to a position switch from one of the catchers or more DH time for Torrens, Murphy, or even Raleigh.
Luis Torrens – .333 avg in 5 games, hit safely in 7 of his last 8 games
Not a big power week for Luis Torrens, but it was significant toward improving his overall offense. The catcher walked as many times as he struck out (4), and he managed to be a big part of producing the offense needed to win on Saturday. In addition, Torrens should benefit offensively from the arrival of Raleigh as he might spend more time at DH, which puts less strain on his lower body.
Paul Sewald – 3 scoreless appearances, 1 baserunner allowed, 13 consecutive scoreless outings
Paul Sewald has been absolutely brilliant this season. Last week was no exception. He continues to impress as he kept the Mariners in back-to-back games and earned a save on Saturday. In his 13 consecutive scoreless appearances, he has only allowed 5 base runners and 3 hits total. As if that’s not impressive enough, the Mariners are 12-1 in those appearances and 19-6 overall when Sewald pitches this season.
Drew Steckenrider – 3 scoreless appearances, 1 baserunner allowed, 7 strikeouts
The combination of Sewald, Drew Steckenrider, and Kendall Graveman has been absolutely clutch since the trio became the Mariners’ set-up, set-up, closer combination. Steckenrider was incredibly dominant this past week as he struck out 7 in 3 innings pitched. The Mariners are 10-1 in the last 11 games that Steckenrider pitched. The righty earned a win and two saves over the same period.
.318 avg, .966 OPS, 5 runs scored, 5 RBIs
Besides his grand slam that put Seattle over the top in the first game of the Angels series, Mitch Haniger played a significant role in their other two wins. Haniger has a 15 game on-base streak that includes reaching base via hit-by-pitch 3 times in the last 8 games.
His batting average bottomed out at .246 after the loss to the Rockies on June 24. Since then, his average is up to .257. His on-base percentage has increased by 17 points over the same period. This week Haniger hit his Mariners’ best, 20th homer this season. He leads the Mariners in several categories, extra-base hits (37), Home runs (20), RBIs (52), Runs Scored (58), OPS (.798), and Slugging Percentage (.487).
It’s nice to see a healthy Mitch Haniger hitting the ball well again. The Mariners have an interesting decision to make about Haniger with the trade deadline looming. He’s under Seattle control through the 2023 season, with two more seasons of arbitration. Haniger’s trade value might never be higher. The Mariners have depth in the outfield, but part of that would be putting up with Kelenic’s growing pains and bringing him back up from Tacoma. He could net a decent haul of talent or an impact starting pitcher, but we must assume that Haniger is on the trade block.
7 innings, 3 hits, 5 base runners allowed, 0 runs, 6 strikeouts
For the sixth consecutive start, Chris Flexen allowed 3 runs or less. Even better, he’s allowed a single run over his last two starts. Flexen was dominant against the Angels on Saturday, July 10, shutting out LAA through 7 innings before turning the game over to Steckenrider and Sewald. He was efficient about his business and threw only 95 pitches en route to his 8th win.
The Seattle Mariners have done well in Flexen’s starts this season, going 12-4 and 5-1 in his last six starts. The right-hander is undefeated (3-0) in those six starts. Additionally, his ERA dropped from 4.70 to 3.5. Only Kikuchi has a lower ERA with the Mariners, and Flexen now ranks 12th in the American League among qualified starters.
In his game against the Angels, which the M’s won 2-0, he featured more velocity, hitting 95 MPH with his fastball several times throughout the game. Flexen limited any damage Major League home run leader Shohei Ohtani could inflict by pitching to the edges of the zone against him. After walking Ohtani, who leads the majors with 33 home runs at the All-Star break, in the first, he got him to fly out to left-center in the fourth inning. This was after David Fletcher extended his hitting streak and ended Flexen’s no-hit bid. Flexen struck out Ohtani in the sixth inning and didn’t face the All-Star again. It was an impressive outing, but only one player was more outstanding for the Mariners this week.
7 innings, 2 base runners allowed, 0 runs, 8 strikeouts
Logan Gilbert owned the Yankees in one of the most dominant outings by a Seattle Mariners starter this season. The numbers back it up no walks, two baserunners allowed, both in the first inning, 19 consecutive hitters retired, and 8 strikeouts. His fastball featured plenty of late-life, and he located his pitches excellently around the zone. Gilbert was never in trouble besides a double by Aaron Judge and a hit batsman in the first inning.
The performance dropped the rookie’s ERA to 3.51, the same as Flexen, and only a few points behind Kikuchi (3.48). He managed no walks for the third time in his last four starts. Gilbert also exceeded 100 pitches for the fourth time this season. Seattle won for the eighth consecutive time when Gilbert starts and is 8-2 in his 10 starts of 2021.
His numbers on the season are very impressive. His WHIP dropped to 0.97, which, if he qualified, would be good enough for third in the American League, just behind Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon. Gilbert is also putting up some impressive rookie numbers. Without a dominant rookie hitter or pitcher this season from the American League, the former Stetson hatter will be in the conversation to be the A.L. Rookie of the Year award.
The Seattle Mariners went 3-3 on the week, losing two to the Yankees before Gilbert’s dominant effort to finish the series off with a win. Then Haniger hit a grand slam to send the Mariners over the Angels in the first game of that series. Flexen earned the M’s other win with a dominant showing against the Angels on Saturday. These are your three stars of the week. We’ll see everyone on the other side of the All-Star break!
Joe Swenson is a lifelong Seattle sports fan and contributes to many different writing and artistic genres.