Marco Gonzales' Reemergence Effects Mariners' Present, Future

The Mariners' development system has its strengths, most of all in cultivating pitching. We've all seen Logan Gilbert and George Kirby take the next step. Matt Brash thrived once the team moved him to a bullpen role. Many of the top prospects are also pitchers, such as Bryce Miller, Emerson Hancock, Prelander Berroa, and Bryan Woo. With most of this wave of talent months not years away from making an impact at the major league level, it begs to ask the question, "What does this mean for Marco Gonzales?"

Marco Gonzales isn't the fifth starter

The crafty lefty came into the season in the "best shape of his life." We know he came in with something to prove, considering a subpar 2022 by his standards. He also must be feeling the pressure of those quality arms performing well in Arkansas. Additionally, the team is in a different place this season—where they can't punt winnable games (see Chris Flexen).

Many people felt Gonzales' role on the team was as a fifth starter, and that was an obvious assumption considering the gap in pure stuff between him and the other starters. But with Flexen's struggles, we can say the 30-year-old southpaw is locked into the fourth spot.

Marco Gonzales is embracing analytics

Anyone who has watched Gonzales throw knows his recipe for success is locating his pitches and playing the yo-yo game with a hitter's timing. The great thing is five starts in; you can see some adjustments to his approach that are putting him in a position to provide quality innings. There is a good chance the Mariners' analytics department crafted a plan for his 2023 season. The first is less reliance on his 89-mph fastball and more quality curves and changeups.

We saw the same adjustments from a similar Mariner southpaw when faced with Father Time and hitters catching up to a middling fastball.