Wild Facts Wednesday: The Mariners Newcomers stand out

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MINNEAPOLIS, MN – APRIL 08: Robbie Ray #38, one of the newcomers for the Mariners, delivers a pitch against the Minnesota Twins in the first inning on Opening Day at Target Field on April 8, 2022 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images) /

Every week in baseball there are always some weird things that happen. Whether it is a position player pitching (Jesus Sucre was the best by far) or a player having some unfortunate luck at the plate; it is guaranteed that something interesting or weird is going to happen.

In part, it’s what makes baseball fun and exciting. Even though they have been playing the game for 130+ years, there still seems to be events every year that happen for the first time. We aren’t going to see them every week, but we are going to see some wild and weird things happen.

With that, I have decided to analyze what happens each week and report the findings of my research. For my new series here on Sodo Mojo, I will be giving a few weird facts or stats that I have found from the past week of Mariner baseball. Fortunately with “Chaos Ball”, I’m sure to find some interesting statistics and facts each week. This week’s focus was on some of the newcomers: Robbie Ray, Jesse Winker, and Eugenio Suarez.

Apr 5, 2022; Goodyear, Arizona, USA; Seattle Mariners infielder Eugenio Suarez celebrates with teammates in the dugout after hitting a home run against the Cincinnati Reds during a spring training game at Goodyear Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /

Eugenio Suarez came over alongside Jesse Winker from the Reds this offseason. The Mariners sent off a mix of prospects and MLB guys in the deal (Justin Dunn, Jake Fraley, Brandon Williamson, and Connor Phillips), and most people around the league felt like the Mariners easily won the deal.

Suarez has quiet power. Not that it sneaks up on people, but that there are very few who realize that from 2018-2021, he led the entirety of major league baseball in home runs!

Eugenio “Good Vibes Only” Suarez had an interesting first week as a Mariner. That power showed up in the series in Minnesota… sort of. Luck was typically not on his side, especially at the plate (as seen below).

Speaking of bad luck, Suarez really got the short end of the stick in Minnesota when he hit a ball 442 ft to dead center field that would have been an HR in any other park in the MLB.

Eugenio Suarez vs Bailey Ober#SeaUsRise

🦄 IT'S A UNICORN 🦄

Flyout 💢

Exit velo: 106.7 mph
Launch angle: 33 deg
Proj. distance: 442 ft

This flyout would have been a home run in every park except Target Field. That's gotta sting.

SEA (0) @ MIN (5)
🔺 2nd pic.twitter.com/E93DXGRICn
— Would it dong? (@would_it_dong) April 10, 2022

Hopefully, the luck for Suarez gets better over the coming weeks! Next, we will be checking in with Jesse Winker.

Mar 17, 2022; Peoria, AZ, USA; Seattle Mariners outfielder Jesse Winker during spring training workouts at Peoria Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /

Jesse Winker has had a reasonably interesting week so far like some of the other newcomers with the Mariners. At the plate, he has not been extremely effective hitting the ball, but it has actually been what he has done without hitting the ball that is very telling. So no, we do not need to worry about Jesse Winker Though he has only 2 hits in his 18 plate appearances, it is important to remember that it is not always about the hits!

Adam Frazier and Jesse Winker have combined for 8 BB and 0 K in 43 PA so far
— Gary Hill Jr. (@GaryHillJr) April 12, 2022

Another interesting fact that I found was how successful Winker has been at the plate over the last 162 games. Being in the top 6 with the names that are in this group is phenomenal. Let’s not overreact to his lack of hitting in the first 4 games.

Highest OPS over last 162 games played:

1.054 Mike Trout
1.026 Bryce Harper
1.005 Juan Soto
.997 Vlad Guerrero Jr.
.971 Brandon Belt
.950 Jesse Winker
.944 George Springer
.943 Corey Seager
.940 Fernando Tatis Jr.
— Jeremy Frank (@MLBRandomStats) April 12, 2022

Those are some incredible names to be grouped with. Winker rakes, and he went 1-3 with two more walks in the series opener against the White Sox. It sure would be nice to see them drive some runs in, especially in support of the next guy on the opening edition of weird Wednesdays.

Apr 8, 2022; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Robbie Ray (38) delivers a pitch to Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton (25) during the first inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Nick Wosika-USA TODAY Sports /

Robbie Ray has been a valuable addition to the Mariners pitching staff. Anytime you can add in someone to the staff who received Cy Young votes, it’s a big upgrade. Even moreso when you are adding the guy that actually won the award!

A wild fact about Ray is that he is the 1st pitcher in Mariners history with tight pants to toss at least 7 IP while allowing 1 run or less on Opening Day (I joke I joke). But he was phenomenal!

Robbie Ray is the 4th pitcher in Mariners history to toss at least 7.0 IP while allowing 1 run or less on Opening Day.

🔹Robbie Ray (2022)
🔹Félix Hernández (5 times, last: 2015)
🔹Randy Johnson (1993)
🔹Mike Moore (1983)
— Mariners PR (@MarinersPR) April 8, 2022

There are a couple of things that stand out about what Ray did. That Randy Johnson only did it once, and that the Mariners wasted Felix Hernandez. The fact that the King did it five times is incredible and probably lost on a lot of people.

dark. Next. Matt Brash is something special in first start against White Sox

Overall, Ray is showing exactly why he won the Cy Young award last season and why he is one of the best of the newcomers. Thanks for reading the first edition of Wild Stats Wednesdays! Please feel free to tweet wild stats to me @jasonsmarr10 on Twitter or to our @sodomojoFS page so I can include them in next week’s edition!

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