Seattle Mariners vs Oakland A’s: 5 Players to Watch in Japan Series
4. Marco Gonzales
This spring has really been an up and down spring for Mariners lefty Marco Gonzales. After surprising many people with his excellent 2018, Marco came into Spring Training looking to prove he wasn’t a one season wonder.
Early in camp, things looked great. He was throwing his changeup more, the curveball looked sharp, and his cutter was as good as ever. He was so impressive this spring, that manager Scott Servais gave him the Opening Day nod over veterans Mike Leake and Felix Hernandez.
Unfortunately, the past 2 outings in Arizona could charitably be described as a disaster. In his 4 starts this spring, Gonzales has been beaten to the tune of a 9.45 ERA and 2.10 WHIP. Obvious caveats about spring training numbers aside, the past two outings have been a disappointment, to say the least.
Like Haniger, Gonzales was, by all accounts, off-limits to teams this winter. Seattle liked him so much, they gave him a new contract, though he’s still ridiculously underpaid, and gave him the nod as the Opening Day starter. They are banking a lot on Marco being at least a mid-rotation arm.
Against the A’s in 2018, Marco was, for lack of a better term, pretty meh. In 15.1 innings, he posted a 4.70 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. Obviously, all the worry surrounding Marco is based on a small sample size, but the questions still remain.
If Marco can give the Mariners 6 solid innings of ball, he should keep the team in the game and give the Seattle sluggers a chance to hand the ball to the bullpen with a lead. If not, the questions will continue to surround Marco Gonzales latest turn of fortune.