Seattle Mariners: Reviewing the Kendall Graveman trade 2 weeks later
New York crash
In the first contest of the four-game series with New York, Anderson pitched effectively through five innings, only giving up two runs. The Mariners took the lead into the 7th inning only for Paul Sewald to yield a 3-run home run to Joey Gallo.
Game two of the series was all about Marco Gonzales. He pitched into the 7th inning and only gave up 3 hits and no runs when he left with a 1-0 lead. Diego Castillo came in in the bottom of the 8th inning and gave up a hit and two walks to load the bases and blew the save. The Mariners took another lead in the 10th inning, and Drew Steckenrider blew the save. Finally, Kenyan Middleton, who has been mostly ineffective this season, gave up the game-winning walk-off with two outs in the 11th.
Game three of the series had the Mariners up 4-1 heading into the bottom of the 6th inning. Flexen was cruising. But an error and more ineffective pitching from Anthony Miskiewicz cost the Mariners the game.
The Mariners salvaged the final game of the series with a 2-0 win. It was a game where no one scored until the 8th. Casey Sadler, Sewald, and Steckenrider were all strong in relief. But the damage to the pen is already done. Since the trade, Seattle’s bullpen is 1-5 with 7 blown saves and a 5.72 ERA. Before that, M’s relievers were 27-14 with a 3.37 ERA. Seattle went from a game out of a wild card spot on July 26th to 5.5 games out of a wild card spot in just two weeks.
Revisionist History
What if we didn’t make the trade? Maybe things remain the same, but probably not. The Seattle Mariners are 4-8 with Toro in the line-up, so he’s not the answer yet. Castillo has two saves, but the Mariners are 2-2 in games when he appears. They were 29-2 in games that Graveman pitched in.
Maybe Seattle blows a few of the games anyway, but not five of them. Who knows, one day, M’s fans look back on this trade and say it was genius. But two weeks after the fact, it’s been a terrible trade. Even though Toro has been outstanding, the rest of the offense has reverted to their April and May failings.
Joe Swenson is an author, award-winning playwright, and founder of Broken Arts Entertainment.