Seattle Mariners
Dan Altavilla, Seattle Mariners.
Opening Day is tomorrow. The Seattle Mariners head to Houston for the first pitch of the 2020 season. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as Major League Baseball and it’s Players Association’s failure to agree on anything, it’s taken over four months to finally play games that count in the standings.
Seattle has been working out at T-Mobile park for the past few weeks to get ready for the 60-game slate. After some initial days get back into shape, the Mariners have been prepping with an endless stream of intrasquad contests. M’s Nation is looking forward to meaningful games as the summer winds down. Leading up to Opening Day, Pacific Northwest Sports will be running a series of countdown articles to get fans ready for action. Today is about a pair of X-Factors.
Sun 7/19 – 6 questions about the 2020 season
Mon 7/20 – 5 impact rookies to watch in 2020
Tue 7/21 – 4 reasons why the Mariners will have a hard time rising in the A.L. West
Wed 7/22 – 3 players who could be in their final Mariners season
Thu 7/23 – 2 X-Factors in 2020
Fri 7/24 – 1 big goal for 2020
So much goes into a winning season. No matter how hard a manager or team for that matter tries to prepare for all contingencies, something always happens to throw a wrench into the best-laid plans. Challenges arise from out of thin air, which lead to opportunities.
Then there are lynchpins that wind up determining a team’s fate during the season. The modern term is X-Factors.
Matt Magill, Seattle Mariners.
This season, more than any previous one in baseball history, relief pitching is paramount. There are several reasons why.
Due to the lack of time starting pitchers had to ramp up their arm strength before the season starts, they will be on short pitch counts. That means more innings for the bullpen to start the season. It’s one of the reasons why the Seattle Mariners broke camp with 11 relievers.
Next, it’s a short 60-game season, every contest counts. No team can afford to throw away a game because their relievers weren’t up to snuff. Finally, 2020 begins the new three-batter minimum rule for pitchers. There will be no more lefty/righty switches and momentum-killing pitcher changes.
The Seattle Mariners don’t have a bullpen filled with 11 all-stars. They do have a plethora of quality arms. Closer Matt Magill showed he could do the job when given his opportunity last September. Dan Altavilla throws smoke, and his control looked vastly improved at summer camp.
Carl Edwards Jr., newly acquired Bryan Shaw, and Yoshihisa Hirano, when he returns from the injured list, are all quality relievers with a past track record of success. Rule 5 draft acquisition Yohan Ramirez has a cannon attached to his right shoulder. He should be fun to watch. If Ramirez can get his feet under him early in the season, he has the raw power to dominate.
Jake Fraley, Seattle Mariners.
It’s no secret that the Seattle Mariners are rebuilding, we’ve written about it extensively. It will be a very young team that takes the field in Houston on Friday evening. Maybe one of the most inexperienced MLB teams in recent memory.
Among the position players, Jake Fraley (left field), Kyle Lewis (right field), and Evan White (first base) are all rookies and will start. Second baseman Shed Long, and freshly-minted number one catcher Austin Nola barely passed their respective rookie thresholds last season, they are also everyday players. So is shortstop J.P. Crawford, who has a whopping 165 games of major league experience.
Two of the six starting pitchers, Justus Sheffield, and Justin Dunn, are rookies, as are several of the relievers. This season will be two months of on the job training.
One of the beauties of youth is blissful ignorance. A good portion of the Seattle Mariners roster, deep down inside, doesn’t know they’re supposed to lose games this year. They will field a bunch of players who have had success so far their young careers and feel like they can take it to the next level.
To paraphrase Steve Lyons from the movie “For the Love of the Game,” many of the M’s are just young enough and cocky enough to not realize the magnitude of the situation they find themselves in.
This article was supposed to be about two X-Factors, so consider this a bonus. Today, the Mariners announced number one catcher Tom Murphy has a broken bone in his foot and will miss significant time. It won’t be big a surprise if GM Jerry DiPoto trades for a veteran catcher this week. That pending move that has “X-factor” written all over it.
Who or what do you think the Seattle Mariners X-Factors are in 2020? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.