Seattle Mariners Set To Take on the Chicago Cubs

One of the beauties of interleague play is the opportunity to see the Mariners take on opponents they would never get to otherwise. This year, they will host the Chicago Cubs for the first time in 6 years.

In 2017 and 2018, the Mariners and Cubs were in very similar places. Both had veteran teams and both didn’t go crazy in free agency, instead, relying on what they had on hand and using the trade market to add pieces. Of course, the Cubs made the playoffs those years and you know what happened to Seattle.

But this off-season, the Mariners verged off that path and begun a “re-imagining” of their roster in an effort to get to where the Cubs had been by 2021. But after breaking their long-running World Series drought, the Cubs have found how difficult it is to truly build a dynasty in MLB today.

The Cubs have been good the last 2 seasons, but look nothing like the squad that won a World Series in 2016. That being said, Chicago still has a talented team and after a slow start, they enter this series having won 7 of their last 10 games. Seattle is 5-5 in their last 10.

As with any series, pitching matchups are always worth watching. This series offers two intriguing matchups. In game 1, the Cubs will send one-time AL West foe, Cole Hamels to the mound. Hamels enters the game off to a great start. He is 3-0 with a 3.16 ERA, a 0.99 WHIP, 8.6 K/9.

The Mariners will counter with Felix Hernandez, who is coming off his best start in a long time. In his last outing, he held the Padres to 1 run over 7 innings. In this start, we will see if Felix can replicate the successful formula he used against San Diego.

In game two, the Cubs will send Tacoma native Jon Lester to the bump. Lester is also off to a good start, posting a 2.37 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 19 innings. But his 1.21 WHIP and 4.14 FIP suggest we could see some regression soon.

Seattle will counter with staff ace Marco Gonzales. Gonzales has been great in 2019, posting a 2.80 ERA and a 3.09 FIP. Gonzales is looking for his 6th win this year and is on a nice run. In his last 5 spots, he has a 2.14 ERA and is allowing just a .593 OPS.

The pitching matchups are fun, but whenever you talk Mariners, you have to talk about the offense. It will be interesting to see what version we get to watch in this 2 game series: the one that scored 19 runs in games one and two against the Rangers? Or the one that has scored 1 run in each of their last two games.

The Cubs bullpen has struggled like the Mariners but is slightly better at least so far. The two offenses have been pretty good in 2019, but the Cubs still have stars like Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, and Anthony Rizzo.

This matchup may be as simple as the Cubs are playing good ball right now and the Mariners aren’t. But at least on paper, this is a matchup that should provide for some close, competitive games.