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Mariners series opener: Best hitter, pitcher, and moment of the Red Sox series

The Mariners split a four-game series against the Boston Red Sox but a few names managed to stand out.

By Jason Wang |
Boston Red Sox v Seattle Mariners
Boston Red Sox v Seattle Mariners / Alika Jenner/GettyImages
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It wasn't exactly smooth sailing for the Mariners in their first series of the season. They lost their home opener and clearly have some things to figure out before being a top contender within the AL West, but there are still some bright spots worth calling out.

Mariners Best Hitter - Mitch Haniger

.286/.333/.571, 4 H, 2B, HR, 3 R, 3 RBI

A familiar face in the outfield turned back the clock and made it seem like he never left. After a .631 OPS season with the Giants marred by injury and inconsistent performances, people were concerned as to whether he'd be able to contribute to a major league squad. After his first few games with Seattle, it seems the problem might have been something in the Bay Area water.

There is a potential concern about his strikeout rate as he recorded six strikeouts in this series, second to only Jorge Polanco. He's never been great at avoiding the third strike throughout his career but he usually offsets it by having one of the higher exit velocities on the team. Despite his poor slash line in 2023, his average exit velocity was still 91.0 mph, a decent chunk better than league-average.

Honorable Mention - Josh Rojas

.500/.500/.500, 4 H, R, RBI

If Rojas had seen more action, he might've continued what is currently a pretty hot streak. He saw just eight plate appearances in the four game set but was tied with Mitch Haniger for the most hits. He's yet to see extra bases but there are positive signs. Over 216 plate appearances with the Diamondbacks last year, he had a .589 OPS. After being traded to Seattle, he posted a .721 OPS over 134 plate appearances. Could he be continuing his upward trajectory?

Best Pitcher - George Kirby

6.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K

After a less than ideal start from Luis Castillo the day before, Kirby showed up in a huge way and immediately let the world know that he's a serious Cy Young contender. After allowing some traffic in the first inning, Kirby locked in and allowed just two base runners for the rest of his start. He had three innings where he retired the Red Sox in order and the peak of his powers were on display in the sixth inning where he got three swinging strikeouts.

After a ridiculous walk rate of 0.9 per nine innings last year, starting the year off with two of them seemed out of character. Nonetheless, he's just as nasty as ever after getting warmed up and seems poised to have another stellar year.

Honorable Mention - Logan Gilbert

7.0 IP, 4 H, ER, R, BB, 8 K

The day after Kirby's phenomenal performance, Gilbert followed it up with a quality start of his own. A dark horse for the Cy Young award himself, Gilbert had 16 swings and misses, mostly on his slider and splitter. He saw some chaos in the fifth inning after a double by Ceddanne Rafaela turned into a run following a fly out and groundout. Things got worse after he had two runners in scoring position but was able to strike Masataka Yoshida out swinging to escape the jam and limit the damage.

Best Moment - Julio Rodriguez walks it off for the first time in his career

In the third game of the series, Seattle found themselves in the bottom of the tenth inning down by two runs. After a Luke Raley single scored the automatic runner, a subsequent single by Josh Rojas and error by Wilyer Abreu put two Mariners in scoring position. J.P. Crawford reached on a fielder's choice and Raley narrowly avoided a tag at the plate, scoring the tying run. In stepped Julio Rodriguez to seal the deal.

It was surprisingly the first walk-off of his already impressive career and will likely be the first of many for such an incredible baseball talent. At just 23 years old, you would have to think that the numbers is going to get to double-digits at some point.

The Mariners got out of the opening series with a split, even though the anemic offense easily could've led to a much worse outcome. A 2-2 record after that showing isn't the worse place to be, and now the Mariners are set to start a series with the 3-1 Guardians in Seattle.

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