Seattle Mariners player milestones to follow in the 2021 season
Marco Gonzales
Marco Gonzales, Seattle’s opening day starter for the third year in a row, has several milestones to reach this coming season. Gonzales pitched in 96 Major League games with 88 starts, so he should go over 100 in both categories in 2021. He pitched in 84 games for the Mariners while starting 81, so he should break 100 in those categories as well. Gonzales has an MLB record of 41-29 losses. With the Mariners, he’s 37-20, so hopefully, he will reach 50 Major League wins and 50 M’s wins.
So far, @MarcoGonzales_ has 476 innings pitched with the Mariners. Once he breaks 500, Gonzales qualifies for the M’s all-time ERA list. If his 3.97 holds, that ties him for ninth place with Jamie Moyer. Finally, Gonzales enters 2021 with 420 career strikeouts (386 in Seattle). He should break 500, quite possibly by the All-Star break.
James Paxton
James Paxton in his return to Seattle, has a few milestones as well. Paxton is tied for the lead in ERA at 3.42 on the Mariners all-time list with Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma, and Randy Johnson. A better era than that this season and moves Big Maple up to number one by himself. Paxton has a career win-loss record of 57-33. He likely goes over 60 this season and may break 70 as well. Nine more wins give him 50 with the Mariners.
Of course, his “bread and butter” is strikeouts. He enters 2021 with 829 K’s. If Paxton stays healthy this year, there is no reason why he shouldn’t break 1,000. With the Mariners, Paxton has 617 strikeouts, 10th in franchise history. Again staying healthy this season, Paxton could challenge Freddy Garcia (819) for 6th place. Along the way, he’ll pass Joel Pineiro (658), Iwakuma (714), and Erik Hanson (740).