Seattle Mariners: Six-man rotation will get the M’s to the playoffs sooner than later
Joe Swenson
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Last year the Seattle Mariners went to a six-man rotation. Expect the strategy to continue through the next few seasons.
Due to the lack of preparation time and shortened 2020 season, the Seattle Mariners used a six-man starting rotation. Should the Mariners continue to use a six-man rotation in 2021? Traditionalists would say no thank you. Some of them would harken back to the days of old where a four-man rotation.
Most of us don’t remember those days. We do remember the days of Randy Johnson, where he had six Seattle seasons where he threw five complete games or more. Since then, the game has changed to protect MLB teams’ investment in their pitcher’s arms.
Now managers use pitch counts, innings caps, quick triggers to assuage potentially injury concerns. There are stats about everything. Those statistics, though, lead to the questions I’ve seen on social media lately.
When it comes to the Mariners, most of the answers are wrong. Here are some better answers. (Note: These are the opinions of the author of this article and not the views of Mariners management)
#1. Why are the Mariners using a six-man rotation?
Answer 1
The M’s have so many starting pitchers. Marco Gonzales, Justus Sheffield, Yusei Kikuchi, Chris Flexen, Justin Dunn, Nick Margevicius, LJay Newsome, Juan Then, Logan Gilbert, Emmerson Hancock, and George Kirby. There are also converted starters working out of the bullpen like Kendall Graveman.
While this is a decent answer to the question, and Seattle has plenty of starting pitching, it’s not the right one.
Answer 2
It’s a quicker way to get the Seattle Mariners starting pitcher prospects more development at higher levels. Again, a decent answer for getting Gilbert to the Majors and Kirby and Hancock up to Tacoma with Newsome and Then, presumably. This idea also misses the mark by enough of a margin to not equate.
Answer 3
In 2020, the Seattle Mariners were seventh in MLB with 5.1 innings pitched per start. When a team increases their starter pitcher’s innings on average, they can better manage the bullpen.
The Indians led the league at 5.8 innings per start last year. That’s where the Mariners need to be. Another benefit to a six-man rotation is that it erases the need for bullpen starts. That means a team can run with an eight-man bullpen and be effective.