Seattle Mariners Three Stars of Week 2 (April 5-11)
Joe Swenson
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The Seattle Mariners had a good Week 2, going 3-3 against potential playoff teams the Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins. Here are the M’s 3 Stars of the Week.
This was supposed to be a tough week for the Seattle Mariners, facing two of the top American League teams from 2020. The Chicago White Sox won the first series of the week, 2 games to 1, but the Mariners traveled to Minnesota and managed to get two wins in a three-game series. Winning in Minnesota Sunday put the week at .500. After taking the first series of the season against the Giants, the Mariners are 5-4 to start the season.
This week the Mariners start a four-game series against the Orioles and a three-game series against the Astros. The Orioles pitching has been suspect at best. They are 4-5 to start the 2021 season but have scored a ton of runs. The Astros are off to a 6-3 start. While they started on an offensive roll (Scored 8 or 9 runs in their first four games, 35 runs), they have slowed down as of late (21 runs in the last 5 games).
Honorable Mentions
Yusei Kikuchi – Quality Start, 6 innings, 6 strikeouts in another no-decision
Yusei Kikuchi is off to a great start for the Mariners, and he once again flashed his repertoire of great options. His velocity sat in the mid-to-high 90s with his fastball, and his breaking pitches, including the cutter, were on point. Also, for the second straight outing, he avoided getting into high pitch count innings.
Drew Steckenrider – 3 games, 4 innings, 5 strikeouts, and a 1-0 week
Drew Steckenrider was a key part of the series finale against the Twins. He pitched the eighth inning, and besides, a walk didn’t allow another base runner. The Rule 5 pickup started off the season with a horrible outing against the Giants after Kikuchi pitched a gem. Since then, he’s settled down (still allows too many runners and gets his pitch count higher than it should be) and been effective.
Ty France – .333 average, 8 hits, .804 OPS, 4 runs scored
With a strong week, Ty France‘s batting is .324 on the season. France didn’t make the Top 3 Stars because he didn’t do much with those hits. He picked up even singles, a double, a walk, and two RBI. The utility man/designated hitter is off to a great start with the bat, but not many well-timed, clutch hits either. In fact, he does nearly all of his damage during the 3rd inning (6-for-8).
The troubling thing about France right now is that he’s 0-for-9 in the 1st inning. While he makes up for that in the third inning, it’s important not to be a consistent out in the first inning, especially when batting second in the line-up.