Mariners Game Notes — March 29 vs. Boston

AS YOU MAY KNOW…George Kirby is coming off a stellar 2023 season where he finished 8th in the American League Cy Young Award voting after going 13–10 with a 3.35 ERA (71 ER, 190.2 IP), 19 walks, 172 strikeouts, a 1.038 WHIP, 0.9 BB/9 and 9.05 SO/BB ratio, and…YOU MAY ALSO KNOW…that Kirby’s 9.05 SO/BB ratio in 2023 was the 5th-highest single-season mark since 1900 (min. 162.0 IP), but…DID YOU KNOW?…that among all pitchers with at least 300.0 IP since 1900, Kirby is the all-time leader in strikeout-to-walk ratio with a 7.44 mark?…he ranks ahead of current Red Sox pitcher Chris Martin (7.36), former Red Sox closer Koji Uehara (7.33), Roberto Osuna (6.33) and Jacob deGrom (5.38).

TONIGHT’S TILT…the Mariners and Red Sox meet tonight for the 2nd of 4 games in the opening series to begin the 2024 regular season…following the series with Boston, the Mariners will host Cleveland for 3 games (April 1–3)…tonight’s game will be televised live on ROOT SPORTS with Aaron Goldsmith and Mike Blowers on the call…the game will be broadcast live on Seattle Sports (710 AM) with Rick Rizzs and Dave Sims on the call.

ODDS AND ENDS…the Mariners began their 48th season as a franchise last night, dropping the season-opener 6–4…despite the loss, the Mariners are 14–4 over their last 18 Opening Day contests since 2007.

• Great Scott — Manager Scott Servais enters his 9th season as Seattle’s skipper…Servais’ 616 managerial wins and .515 winning percentage both rank 2nd in Mariners history.
• From the DR to the Show — Yesterday’s starting pitching matchup of Luis Castillo and Brayan Bello marked just the 2nd time in MLB history that an Opening Day matchup featured 2 Dominican Republic-born starting pitchers…they joined Johnny Cueto-CIN and Francisco Liriano-PIT on 4/6/15.
• Off to a Good Start — Jorge Polanco singled in his first plate appearance with the Mariners, the first player to do so since Jake Lamb on Aug. 5, 2022 vs. LAA.
• Repeatedly Blank’d — In 2023, the Mariners pitching staff led the Majors with 18 shutouts, setting a franchise record for most in a season…the previous record was 15 shutouts in 2003.
• Local Kid — RHP Austin Voth yesterday became the 30th player in franchise history who was born in Washington to appear in a game with the club.

THE RETURN OF MITCH MASHES…Mitch Haniger reached base 3 times in last night’s game, including a home run in his 2nd plate appearance after returning to the Mariners this offseason…Haniger has now homered in his last two Opening Day games with the Mariners (also: 4/8/22 at Minnesota)…he also became the 8th player with multiple Opening Day home runs in a Mariners uniform, joining Ken Griffey Jr. (8 Opening Day HR), Richie Sexson (3), Dustin Ackley (2), Russ Davis (2), Tino Martinez (2), Jim Presley (2) & Kyle Seager (2).

FAVORABLE PROJECTIONS…prior to Opening Day, Baseball-Reference projected the Mariners as the 5th-best team in MLB (92 wins; 1st in American League West Division)…FanGraphs projected the Mariners as tied for the 5th-best team in MLB (86 wins; T-3rd in AL)…MLB.com also named the Mariners starting pitching rotation as “the best in baseball”.

TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR OPENING HOMESTAND…tickets are still available for the remaining 5 home games, including the 2 remaining games against the Boston Red Sox (March 30–31) and Cleveland Guardians (April 1–3)…every night of the Guardians series is a Value Game with tickets starting as low as $10, and each night is also a Julio Rodríguez “No Fly Zone” Bobblehead Night (first 10,000 fans)…more information is available at Mariners.com/tickets.

THE ROSTER…the Mariners yesterday announced their Major League, 26-man Opening Day roster to open the season…the roster includes 13 pitchers (5 starters + 8 relievers)…the 5 starters: Luis Castillo, George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, Bryce Miller and Emerson Hancock…the 8 relievers: Cody Bolton, Andrés Muñoz, Tayler Saucedo, Collin Snider, Gabe Speier, Ryne Stanek, Trent Thornton and Austin Voth…5 pitchers are on the Injured List: Eduard Bazardo (15-day IL), Matt Brash (15-day), Gregory Santos (15-day), Bryan Woo (15-day IL) and Jackson Kowar (60-day)…the roster includes 2 catchers: Cal Raleigh and Seby Zavala; 1 designated hitter/catcher: Mitch Garver; 5 infielders: J.P. Crawford, Ty France, Jorge Polanco, Josh Rojas and Luis Urías; 3 outfielders: Dominic Canzone, Mitch Haniger and Julio Rodríguez; and 2 infielder/outfielders: Dylan Moore and Luke Raley, plus infielder/outfielder Sam Haggerty (10-day IL).

NEW AND FAMILIAR FACES…of the 26 players on the Mariners active Opening Day roster, 16 appeared in a game for Seattle last season…the 10 newcomers are 4 pitchers: Cody Bolton, Collin Snider, Ryne Stanek and Austin Voth, and 6 position players: Seby Zavala, Mitch Garver, Jorge Polanco, Luis Urías, Luke Raley and Mitch Haniger…Haniger, who has played 5 seasons (2017–19, ‘21–22) with Seattle, is the only player of the 10 “newcomers” to previously appear with Seattle.

YOUTH MOVEMENT…Seattle’s age 26-or-younger group of players were recently ranked 3rd-best in the Majors by Yahoo Sports, ranking behind only Baltimore and Atlanta…outfielders Julio Rodríguez (age 23) and Dominic Canzone (26), along with pitchers George Kirby (age 26), Bryce Miller (25), Andrés Muñoz (25), Emerson Hancock (25), Bryan Woo (24), Gregory Santos (24) and Matt Brash (26) make up the age 26-or-younger on the Major League roster…top prospects in the minors include infielder Cole Young (age 20), catcher Harry Ford (21) infielder Colt Emerson (18), outfielder Lazaro Montes (19) and more.

SEASON 3 OF THE J-ROD SHOW…Julio Rodríguez doubled in his first plate appearance last night…he comes into his 3rd season as the only player to win Silver Slugger Awards in each of his first 2 seasons since the award was first given out in 1980…the 23-year-old has also made the AL All-Star Team in each of his first 2 seasons…the 2022 AL Rookie of the Year followed up his sensational debut season with a stellar sophomore campaign, totaling 37 doubles, 32 home runs, 103 RBI and 37 stolen bases…Julio became the 4th player to join the “30/30 club” at age 22-or-younger, joining Alex Rodriguez-SEA (1998), Mike Trout-LAA (2012) & Ronald Acuña Jr.-ATL (2019).

BIG DUMPER…Cal Raleigh hit 30 home runs last season, becoming the first Mariners catcher with a 30+ homer season and breaking his own team record for most homers by a catcher in a season (27 HR in 2022)…Cal was also a force behind the plate, becoming the first to lead MLB catchers in homers and catcher caught stealing (24) in a season since Mike Piazza-LAD in 1993.

APPROACHING 1,000…the Mariners have now had 991 different players appear in a game for the franchise after RHP Cody Bolton, C/DH Mitch Garver, INF Jorge Polanco, OF Luke Raley, INF Luis Urías and RHP Austin Voth all made their Mariners debuts in last night’s game.