Logan Gilbert, Seattle Mariners.
The Seattle Mariners are currently battling for recognition as the best team in the AL. It’s exciting to see this early season success from the ball club. Some of their former top prospects are succeeding while others are struggling. Baseball is a difficult game, one where failing often is not uncommon.
A batter hitting .300 or 3 out of 10 times is a good thing. However, getting three correct answers out of 10 on a quiz or test is bad. As Ted Williams once said, “Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer.”
The poor early season results of Julio Rodriguez and Jarred Kelenic are well documented. Instead of dwelling on the negative again, we look at a couple of the young pitchers for the Seattle Mariners.
Last season, Seattle Mariners’ top pitching prospect, Logan Gilbert, had decent success in the MLB. He picked right back up this year and is off to an incredible start. Gilbert has thrown 22.1 innings, coming away with three wins, one quality start (should have been two if he didn’t run his pitch count up on his last start), 22 strikeouts, and only yielding one home run and four walks. Gilbert has a 0.85 WHIP and leads the American League with a 0.40 ERA.
Typically, when the WHIP is higher than the ERA, it means the pitcher is getting some luck, but Gilbert’s excellence isn’t typical. He’s currently showing everyone why he will be the M’s ace of the future.
When Seattle acquired Andres Munoz from San Diego in the Austin Nola trade, not everybody knew about him. Arguably the headliners were Ty France and highly-touted prospect Taylor Trammell. Those who knew about Munoz were ecstatic by the acquisition. I said he would be the Seattle Mariners’ future closer when the trade happened.
The fireballer hasn’t disappointed in his return from Tommy John surgery. Before his injury, Munoz threw over 100 miles per hour. It took over a year-and-half for him to come back, but the 23-year-old is back to his triple-digit self.
On the season, he’s pitched seven innings, earning a win, save, and hold. All while allowing one home run, walking three, and striking out 14 to accompany his 2.57 ERA and 1.00 WHIP.
Munoz is a two-pitch pitcher. Along with that blazing heater, he throws a nasty 86.4 mph slider. Those two pitches have a combined 82.6 percent whiff rate. It’s almost not fair to hitters that he has two devastating pitches.
Currently, he is more slider-heavy by nearly a factor of two to one (63.3 percent compared to 36.7 for his fastball). It’s working nicely as Muniz K’s almost 60 percent of the batters he faces. With some more refinement and experience, this kid will be nasty out of the pen. Batters beware.
Now for the bad news. Matt Brash has arguably the best stuff in the rotation and maybe on the pitching staff. He was just right behind Julio Rodriguez in terms of excitement coming out of Spring Training. Unfortunately, his spring training success did not accompany him to the MLB level.
Through four starts and 17 innings pitched, he’s given up three dingers and 13 walks, leading to a horrendous 6.88 ERA and 1.82 WHIP. On the bright side, Brash has a win and 16 strikeouts.
Instead of getting better with each start, Brash is getting worse. His most recent start, against the Miami Marlins, saw him go only two innings with six earned runs allowed. His future is still bright. The question that is getting louder (probably too soon) is, “Will he be better out of the pen or as part of the rotation?”
His stuff is getting a combined 92.1 whiff percentage, with his slider receiving a 21.6 percent PutAway. Brash’s biggest problem right now is locating his pitches for strikes. Once he corrects or even improves, there will be marked results.
For now, these three young arms are still must-see TV. As a whole, the Seattle Mariners are a very exciting team to watch. This season will be loads of fun. If Brash can turn his early-season struggles around, and both Munoz and Gilbert can continue their early success, then this team is going to win more games than it will lose. Not only that, but contend for the American League West Division title.