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Mariners depth chart: 2 players moving up and 2 moving down
The Mariners have wrapped up their first road trip of the season, and head back to Seattle with a 3-3 record in Cleveland and Chicago. Part of me wonders if they could've gone undefeated on the trip (two extra inning losses and a blown 7-run lead), but that's an article for another time, and one that may need a drink in hand to deal with.
Instead, I want to look at the Mariners depth chart, and how some of their players have been doing so far this season. There have definitely been some struggles early, but there has also been success. What i wanted to try was finding two Mariners who have been doing well and deserve more playing time, and two that have been struggling and could use another day off.
It can be sort of hard to do early in the season. A hot game can bump up your average and give an unrealstic idea of how well someone is actually hitting. The same can be said the other way for someone out of the bullpen. Giving up a three-run homer could greatly increase your ERA, even if all your other outings were spotless.
Let's jump in and start with two players who deserve more ABs so far for the Mariners.
2 Mariners moving up on the depth chart
Jarred Kelenic is the first, and obvious, answer to this. Dude has been crushing the ball and hitting it to all fields. He's shown power to the left-center gap, and massive, insane, awe-inspiring power to center field. Literally, my guy went to a spot that hardly any mortals have ventured into. It might be time to move him up in the order and see if he can keep up that production from a spot in the top 4. It's early, obviously, but if he can keep some semblance of this going, it's going to be massive.
Jarred Kelenic just went 482 to dead center at Wrigley. The breakout is finally happening. pic.twitter.com/F1u6Muc658
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 12, 2023
So many fans were ready to give up on Kelenic, but not me. I've been beating his drum all offseason, fully Stan-ing for Jarred and defending the youngsters honor. He's only 23, has very limited experience, and struggled from trying too hard to be good. With some spotlight off of him with the emergence of Julio, we are starting to see flashes of that top-5 prospect that so many people were hoping for.
With Munoz out, it seems like Trevor Gott might be the one who is falling into position to shut opponents down in the 8th inning, second-in-line at the ends of games to Paul Sewald. Already with 7 appearances, Gott has gone 8 innings while allowing just one earned run, walking no one, and striking out 7. The Mariners need help late, and Gott is pushing Gabe Speier and Penn Murfee (both with about 5 IP and 0.00 ERAs) for prime hold positions.
2 Mariners moving down on the depth chart
This one is kind of cheating, but I don't care. Diego Castillo and Matt Festa have been struggling so far, with respective ERAs of 9.64 and 10.80. Thats still just 9 ER in 8 combined innings, but it has been far from helpful for a team that prides itself on its bullpen and is normally involved in a lot of close games. Festa is the one that is more concerning to me, as he has walked six batters through just 3.1 IP. An ERA of 2.70 would be great. A WHIP of that same number is mind-boggling and seems like a mistake.
Guess what? Time to sort of cheat again. The Mariners are carrying three players that can play catcher, and two of them are doing awful. Cooper Hummel and Tom Murphy seem to have forgotten how to hit a baseball, going a combined 3-34 with 14 Ks, 1 BB, 2 runs, and 0 RBI. If we could just get one of them to hit, it would be easy to say to bench the other.
Maybe once Dylan Moore or Taylor Trammell come back we can relegate them both to the bench, playing only in the relief of Raleigh instead of regular days in the lineup as OF fill-ins or to DH. For now, they are insta-outs near the bottom of the lineup, and it limits the damage that the dangerous top of the order can do as they come back around.
What do you think? Is there anyone else on the team that should be seeing less playing time? Who would you have replace them? Here's hoping that some of the early struggles will be resolved as the team heads back to Seattle.