FanSided

Best hitter, pitcher, and moment of the Mariners' series vs. the Cleveland Guardians

Seattle hit their first roadblock of the season, getting outscored 13-2 against Cleveland, but as always, there was a silver lining.

By Jason Wang |
Cleveland Guardians v Seattle Mariners
Cleveland Guardians v Seattle Mariners / Alika Jenner/GettyImages
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After a close game on Monday, the Mariners looked noncompetitive in their final two games against the Guardians. Some players struggled more than others, notably the starting pitching, but there were a few that did their best to put the team in a winning position.

Mariners' Best Hitter: Ty France

.400/.500/.500, 4 H, 2B, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB

Fans have been waiting for Driveline Ty France to show up ever since the first few training videos appeared on Twitter during the offseason. France posted a relatively small sample size of just 12 plate appearances in this set, but he made the most out of his time. He hit the ball hard, averaging an exit velocity of 95.0 mph on eight batted balls. In 2023, he averaged an exit velocity of just 87.5 mph, so there might be signs that harder contact is to come in 2024.

If he wants to keep his job at first base, hard contact will be the name of the game. He's never been very fast and is far from a defensive wizard, so his offense will have to be firing on all pistons. He's yet to hit his first home run this season, but with an 18.8% barrel rate thus far, it'll come soon enough.

Honorable Mention: Cal Raleigh

.429/.500/.429, 3 H, 3 R, BB

Raleigh played in just two of the three games in the series but hit well, going 3-7. His average exit velocity was 89.9 mph, sixth highest on the team. He seemed to get quite lucky on his batted balls, since although they weren't hit very hard, his BABIP of .600 speaks to either great placement or lucky fielding results.

Regardless of whether Raleigh can continue the strong offensive output he's had over the past two years, he'll still probably be an upgrade over backup option Seby Zavala, who went 0-3 in his first appearance for the team. Aside from a decent year in 2022, Zavala has never had an OPS+ higher than 65 for a given season.

Best Mariners Pitcher: Ryne Stanek

1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 SV

One of the many new faces in the Mariners bullpen, Stanek was instrumental in getting Seattle their only win of the series. After Andrés Muñoz gave up a solo home run to Josh Naylor to bring the Guardians within one run, he finished the eighth inning and passed the ball to Ryne Stanek. Tasked with protecting a narrow lead, Stanek got Ramón Laureano to pop out, struck out Bo Naylor, and got Brayan Rocchio to flyout to end the game and earn his first save with the team and fifth of his career.

Stanek's great stuff has him poised to be another high-leverage option for the team this season. With Muñoz still learning the ropes of the closer role, Stanek is an excellent veteran option. In case you aren't familiar with his work, his four-seam fastball sits in the high 90,s while his slider and splitter both garnered whiff rates >40% last year.

Honorable Mention: Gabe Speier

It was a rough series for the rotation, but another bullpen arm was able to step up in the first game of the series. As one of the few lefties on the pitching staff, Gabe Speier is an excellent talent that got kind of unlucky last year. While his 2023 FIP was 3.35, his ERA was 3.79, so he might be even better than the numbers report him to be.

Speier entered the first game of the series in the seventh inning. After conceding a single to Bo Naylor, he retired the next three batters in order, including striking out Steven Kwan and Andrés Giménez, players who don't strike out often. He's made some major upgrades to his arsenal to potentially add a split-change and a cutter, so he'll be even more dangerous than he was last year.

Best Mariners Moment: Julio Rodriguez makes two great catches to rob Will Brennan

Everyone knows Julio Rodriguez as a dangerous hitter, winning two Silver Sluggers. He's also a speedster on the basepaths, stealing 25+ bases in his two major league seasons thus far. However, people outside of Seattle may forget that he's an elite defender. If you've been to T-Mobile Park this year or last year, you'll know that the section of seats behind center field is known as the "No-Fly Zone," and for good reason. In the second inning, Julio Rodriguez turned what would've been a double for Will Brennan into a harmless lineout.

In the fourth inning, he did it again, this time sliding laterally to make the snag.

Julio's time at the plate this season has gotten off to a cold start; he's slashed .185/.241/.222 over 29 plate appearances this year, but don't fret. He's started off slow in the past two years, but has shown an uncanny knack to go on ridiculous hitting streaks without warning.

Just like the rest of the team, patience may be required before fans start to see all of the pieces come together.

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