Seattle Mariners: June Offense and Pitching MVP Awards
Pitching MVP is much closer
Essentially it was a three pitcher race for best pitcher in the month of June for the Mariners. Two relievers and a starter. While Chris Flexen had arguably his best month as a major league baseball player, there were three other pitchers that took center stage.
The Nominees are: Yusei Kikuchi, Paul Sewald, Drew Steckenrider
Sewald
Paul Sewald is a journeyman reliever who features two pitches. The righty throws a four-seam fastball that sits in the low-to-mid 90s and a wipe-out slider. Sewald releases the ball from a unique arm slot, which makes his four-seam fastball less hittable. In June, he was 3-2 with a 2.38 ERA, which is good, but not great numbers. He struck out 19 in 11 innings and only gave up 3 hits with none of them leaving the yard. Maybe more impressive, he finished with a 0.79 WHIP for the month.
After a rough start to June where he allowed three runs, Sewald had a 0.00 ERA in the following 13 appearances. He’s also gone 7.1 innings without giving up a hit. During the streak, only allowed two opponents reached base.
Steckendrider
Drew Steckendrider features a mid-90s four-seam fastball. But his out pitches are a curve and change-up that are virtually unhittable. For the month of June, he tied for the team lead in saves (2) had a 1.64 ERA, and a 0.91 WHIP in 11 appearances. Since the start of May, he has only given up earned runs in one outing (June 5th where he gave up 2).
He has had 10 consecutive appearances without giving up an earned run and the only run he did give up in that span was because of the extra-innings runner on second base rule. Steckendrider has also been incredibly consistent, pitching a full inning in all 11 appearances while throwing 20 or fewer pitches every single time.
Kikuchi
The final nominee is perhaps the winner of the Seattle Mariners June Pitcher of the Month award. It’s not a slam-dunk though. Yusei Kikuchi started 4 games and won 2 of them. He struck out 26 in 23.2 innings and averaged 5.9 innings per start to lead all Mariners starters.
In addition to his 2-0 record and multiple quality starts, opponent’s batting average against was .181 with an OPS against of .582. Those numbers made for Kikuchi’s best month as a Major League pitcher. Kikuchi struggled with his control in the sixth inning of two of his games resulting in 10 walks after exhibiting pinpoint control in the month of May.
Previous Winner April – Kendall Graveman
Previous Winner May – Justin Dunn
The winners of the award for the month of June are JP Crawford on offense and Yusei Kikuchi for pitchers.
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Joe Swenson is a lifelong Seattle Sports Fan, Author, Playwright, Director, and Producer