Mariners Month in Review: May

TEAM NOTES…the Mariners finished May with a record of 10–18 (.357)…went 2–6 in series, 3–6 in day games and 7–12 at night…went 5–8 at T-Mobile Park and 5–10 on the road.

ODDS AND ENDS

• Hello Seattle — 5 players made their Mariners debuts in May…Stuart Fairchild on 5/4 at HOU, Mike Ford on 5/13 at NYM and Steven Souza Jr. on 5/13 at NYM, while George Kirby on May 8 vs. TB and Danny Young May 9 vs. PHI made their MLB debuts.
• 3 Stint Mariner — Roenis Elías (2014–15, 2018–19 and 2022) became just the 5th player to have 3 different stints with the Mariners, joining Mike Blowers, Raúl Ibañez, Norm Charlton and Jeff Nelson.
• Long Balls — The Mariners offense clubbed 31 home runs in May, led by Julio Rodríguez and Eugenio Suárez who each had 6…the 31 home runs combined to travel 12,259 feet (2.32 miles) led by Rodríguez’s 450-foot homer on May 1 at Miami.
• No Runs for You! — The Mariners pitching staff combined to shutout their opponents twice in May…May 28 vs. Houston and May 31 at Baltimore.
• The Return of K Lew — Kyle Lewis made his first appearance for the Mariners since May 31, 2021 when he made his season debut on May 24…played in 4 games in May batting .267 (4x15) with 2 HR and 3 RBI.

• Penn in the ‘Pen — Penn Murfee lead Mariners relievers in ERA (1.35) and appearances (13) while not allowing a hit in his first 7.2 innings to begin his career (4/29–5/9) which is the longest hitless streak to begin a career in Mariners history.

THE J-ROD SHOW…among AL rookies with at least 30 plate appearances in May, Julio Rodríguez ranked among the league leaders in virtually every offensive category, including 1st in hits (34), T-1st in HR (6), 2nd in RBI (17), 4th in average (.309), T-1st in stolen bases (5) and 1st in wRC+ (156)…has tallied 9 multi-hit games and 6 games with 3+ hits during the month of May, becoming the first player age 21 or younger to tally at least that many 3+ hit games in a calendar month since Baltimore’s Manny Machado tallied 7 in May 2013.

FRANCE OFF…Ty France continued his impressive April performance into May, ranking among the AL leaders in average (6th, .355), hits (3rd, 39) and wRC+ (9th, 174)…overall batted .355 (39x110) with 2 HR and 15 RBI with a .427 OBP and a .473 SLG…France finished the month hitting safely in 12-consecutive games (5/18–5/31), the longest hitting streak of his career, while also recording 12 multi-hit games in the month.

HIP HIP JORGE!…George Kirby the Mariners top pitching prospect according to both MLB.com and Baseball America made his MLB debut on May 8 vs. Tampa Bay, tossing 6.0 scoreless innings with 7 strikeouts…7 strikeouts in a MLB debut are tied for the 2nd most in Mariners history and tied for the most in a Major League debut in 2022…overall went 1–1 with a 3.46 ERA (10 ER, 26.0 IP) with 28 strikeouts and 3 walks over his first 5 MLB starts…among rookie pitchers with at least 3 starts in May, Kirby’s SO/BB of 9.33 is almost double of the next closest player (Daulton Jefferies-OAK with 5.33)…Kirby is also the youngest pitcher (24 years, 116 days) in the Majors this season to record back-to-back starts of 8+ strikeouts on May 24 and May 31.

FEEL THE GOOD VIBES…Eugenio Suárez hit 6 homers in May, tied for the team lead (also: Rodríguez) including registering the only multi-homer game by a Mariner this season when he hit 2 on May 6 vs. TB…overall was productive on both sides of the ball in May, owning a 114 wRC+ and 2 outs above average (Baseball Savant) while compiling a fWAR of 0.6.

GILBERT’S GOT IT GOING ON…Logan Gilbert continued the form that saw him win AL Pitcher of the Month in April, going 2–2 with a 3.44 ERA (14 ER, 36.2 IP) with 38 strikeouts and 14 walks in 6 starts in May…he closed out the month tossing 7.0 innings in 3 consecutive starts from May 17–28, which is the longest streak of his career, having never done in back-to-back starts prior to the streak…Gilbert matched his career high of 9 strikeouts in back-to-back starts on May 11 vs. PHI and May 17 at TOR…is one of only 7 AL pitchers in 2022 to record consecutive starts of 9+ strikeouts.

OFFENSE vs. DEFENSE…the Mariners ranked 10th in the Majors and 5th in the AL in May with a wRC+ of 111…overall this season the Mariners rank 4th in the Majors and 3rd in the AL with 24 defensive runs saved.

ROBBIE STRIKEOUTS…Robbie Ray struck out 42 batters in May, which led the Mariners and ranked 3rd in the AL behind Dylan Cease-CHW (48) and Gerrit Cole-NYY (45)…Ray struck out a season-high 10 batters twice, May 10 vs. PHI and May 25 vs. OAK…Ray also struck out 8+ batters in 4-consecutive starts from May 10–25 which is tied for the 2nd longest streak in the AL this season.

ON THE MARCO…Marco Gonzales was tied for the team lead in innings pitched (36.2, also: Gilbert) and ERA (3.44, also: Gilbert) in May…overall went 2–3 with a 3.44 ERA (14 ER, 36.2 IP) with 15 strikeouts and 13 walks…recorded consecutive starts of 6.0+ innings and 1 run allowed on May 13 at NYM and May 18 at TOR while matched up against Max Scherzer against the Mets and Kevin Gausman against the Blue Jays.

MiLB PLAYERS OF THE MONTH…Right-handers Connor Jones and Bryce Miller were named Mariners Minor League Co-Pitchers of the Month, while infielder Robert Perez Jr. was named the Mariners Minor League Player of the Month…Perez batted .258 (25x97) with a .987 OPS while tallying 7 doubles, 10 homers and 26 RBI in 26 games in May…Jones allowed only 2 earned runs over 26.2 innings pitched in May including 25.2 consecutive scoreless innings while also tossing a no-hitter on May 26 vs. Amarillo (7.0,0,0,0,3,8)…Miller tossed 26.2 innings allowing only 4 earned runs with 34 strikeouts and only 5 walks in 5 starts (4 with Everett, 1 with Modesto).