Mariners Nick Vincent Cashes In During First Arbitration Year

The Mariners lean right-hander, Nick Vincent has been waiting for his chance to cash in during arbitration. In his first season in the process, Vincent tripled his previous salaries and is now making over 1.3 million dollars in 2017.

Vincent has been waiting eagerly over the past five years for his first chance to be arbitration-eligible. After exceeding his rookie status in 2013, Vincent put in solid work for the San Diego Padres before being shipped to the Mariners in time for the 2016 season.

Vincent played his most prominent role with the Mariners, tossing the ball for a career-high 60.1 frames. He also finished twice as many games than he ever had in the past, recording three saves along the way.

With Edwin Diaz filling in the closer’s role, Vincent will most likely be competing in the spring for the setup role against Arquimedes Caminero, Evan Scribner, and Steve Cishek (once he returns from injury).

Despite Vincent’s career-worst 3.73 ERA in 2016 due in large part to his seven multi-runs allowed outings -that’s the same total of multiple runs he allowed in a game for the 2015 and 2014 seasons combined- Mariners GM, Jerry Dipoto, knows how capable Vincent is.

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In 2012, 13′, and 15′, Vincent produced an ERA below 2.50, and in that 2012 rookie campaign, he had a career-best ERA of 1.71.

What makes Vincent so effective is his strikeout ability. In four of his five seasons pitched, he’s had a K/9 at or above 9.5, setting his personal-best of 10.1 back in 2014.

Furthermore, in 2016 alone, Vincent struck out at least one batter in 49 of his 60 outings and fanned multiple batters in a quarter of his appearances.

If it hadn’t been for an uncharacteristic early June outing, he would have had a streak of twenty games in a row recording a K.

With such good numbers even with an inflated ERA, Vincent is cashing in on his excellent play over the years.

Next: Scribner Is Nearly A Million Dollar Man

Now that Vincent is making over a million dollars as opposed to 500,000, the expectations will be higher for him, but all indications are that he will be able to live up to them. The Mariners just need to decide what role he’ll play in 2017.