Seattle Mariners news and notes from Spring Training

The Seattle Mariners will begin their Cactus League schedule on Saturday and while there isn’t a lot of news coming out now, there have been a few trinkets worth noting.

Lately, the baseball world has been focused on baseball’s new most hated team, the Houston Astros. But this week, the Mariners held their first full-squad workout and will begin their Cactus League schedule this Saturday, with the first televised game on Sunday against the San Diego Padres.

While there isn’t much value to most of the early camp notes that get passed around, there are enough bread crumbs to sweep up, forge into bits of news to pour into the collective spring training recycling bin of desperate analysis to repurpose as interesting notes. Here are a few things we are hearing out of Mariners camp:

• Perhaps the player generating the most buzz early is the Mariners top pitching prospect Logan Gilbert. The media has become enamored with the 6’6″ Gilbert and the ease of which he throws the baseball. Gilbert himself knows he has no chance to make the club out of spring training, but a solid spring can go a long way to him reaching the big leagues for more than a cup of coffee in August or September.
• J.P. Crawford has added about 10 lbs of muscle this off-season. The starting shortstop has always carried a slender physique and while that is still the case, Crawford took the Mariners’ instruction to get stronger to heart. Crawford admitted he wore down late in 2019 and is hoping his new workout regiment will be the solution to that problem.
• Kyle Seager is embracing his role as the longest-tenured Mariner and is eager to continue his leadership role with the young squad.
• Mitch Haniger arrived at camp yesterday after his second surgery in 3 weeks. No time table for his return has been established.
• Dee Gordon has not reported as he is awaiting the birth of his first child.

So, not a whole lot of significant news to report in the early days of spring which is usually a good thing. But while there may not be anything exciting at camp, actual baseball games are going to happen in a few days, and opening day is just 5 weeks away.

As Spring Training reports go, this is a pretty good one. Hopefully, it stays that way.