The 10 pitchers that dominated the Mariners in 2023

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Sometimes, a pitcher just has your number. Continuing on with the hitting articles that came out earlier this offseason, we move now to take a look at the pitchers who dominated the Mariners in 2023. This one was a bit different to sort, as you want to make sure to find out who did well, but they needed to either strike the Mariners when it mattered, or have sustained success.

So, sorry Clayton Kershaw, I don't count your single 4 IP start on here. There are a handful of guys who went 5-6 IP and didn't give up a run against the Mariners, but I'm not going to count them either. Michael Lorenzen could have an argument to be on here, as could Michael Kopech, but they walked a ton of people, so I don't think that cuts it for this list.

Same goes for relievers who only had a couple of apperances against the Ms. 2 IP and 3 Ks, nope, not good enough. The one I almost threw on here was Jacob Webb, but another reliever did even better and gets the nod as the most dominant reliever against the Mariners this season. Let's get to it and take a look at the pitchers that dominated the Mariners in 2023.

Mets: Kodai Senga: 7 IP, 1.29 ERA, 5 H, 2BB, 12 K

The Ghost Fork. It seemed like we were close... well, maybe we just thought we were close, to getting Senga to the Mariners last offseason. He was dominating this season, striking out over 200 hitters en route to a sub-3 ERA and actually being one of the few Mets to play well. He did just that against Seattle, tying a season-high for K's with 12 and throwing his 4th best game of the year with a Game Score of 73.

Nationals: Patrick Corbin: 7 IP, 0.00 ERA, 5 H, 0 BB, 9 K

This outright makes me angry. Corbin is one of the worst pitchers in baseball. Over the last 3 seasons, he has a 5.75 ERA, a 1.543 WHIP, and 50 losses. The Mariners decided to let Corbin have his second best start in three years against them, unable to do anything against the lefty who literally only has a job because of how much the Nationals are paying him. It's a joke, and might just be the most despicable performance by the Mariners all season.

Rays: Zach Littell: 9 IP, 1.00 ERA, 5 H, 1BB, 6 K

Surprise, surprise, the Rays are good. Littell threw twice against the Mariners, holding them in check both times. Only a single run was charged to Littell, and he had the Mariners looking befuddled every time they came up to the plate. It wasn't nearly as dominant as the Rays divisional rival, though.

Blue Jays: Kevin Gausman: 13 IP, 2.77 ERA, 11 H, 1 BB, 22 K

Sure, the Mariners scored a handful of runs (4) against Gausmann, but they spent more time looking silly than anything else. 22 K in just 13 innings is wild. That's a K rate of 15.23. That's something you would see from a top-of-the-line strikeout artist as a reliever. Not a starter. Gausman does strike out a lot of hitters, but sitting down over half the outs recorded is just embarrassing for the Mariners.

Twins: Kenta Maeda: 12.2 IP, 2.13 ERA, 9 H, 2 BB, 17 K

Two of Maeda's best 9 starts this year came against the Mariners, and they came just five days apart as well. He would strike out 9 through 6.1, allowing two runs but just three hits. Then, he would go 6.1 again, striking out 8 this time, allowing six hits, walking two, but limiting the damage in allowing just one runner to cross the plate.

Athletics: Mason Miller: 7 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0 H, 4 BB, 6 K

The Mariners were no-hit by Mason Miller through seven innings, managing four walks as their only means of getting on base. Fortunately for the Mariners, the Athletics bullpen still had to pitch, and they came back for a 2-1 win in Bryce Miller's debut outing, where he struck out 10. It was a fantastic Miller matchup, but still a poor performance by the Mariners at the plate.

Rangers: Jose Leclerc: 5 appearances, 6.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 3 H, 0 BB, 11 K

This might be the best performance on here. Leclrec threw against the Mariners five times, and they weren't able to do a darn thing against him. He faced 23 batters, struck out nearly half of them, and allowed just one double and two singles. The Mariners couldn't touch Leclerc, which fits in with his career against them that has seen the Mariners post a .188/.303/.297 slash line against the Rangers reliever.

Rangers: Jordan Montgomery: 13.0 IP, 0.69 ERA, 10 H, 4 BB, 11 K

The Rangers just seemed to have the Mariners number this year. Montgomery faced the Mariners in back-to-back outings in September, outdueling Logan Gilbert (3.21 ERA in those starts) shutting the Ms down when it mattered most. The Mariners actually came back in the second game, but when Montgomery was on the mound, they just couldn't do a thing. He wasn't even their best pitcher against us, either.

Rangers: Jon Gray: 14.0 IP, 0.65 ERA, 6 H, 1 BB, 13 K

Gray did better than Montgomery in every fashion. They won both starts, he put fewer runners on base, he struck out more Mariners, and even went a bit deeper, throwing 7 innings in each game. Gilbert and Castillo did well against him, as the Mariners lost these games 2-0 and 2-1, but when you throw Leclerc after Gray, the Mariners would've done just as good not even showing up.

Astros: JP France: 11 IP, 1.64 ERA, 10 H, 2 BB, 12 K

I think this one, outside of the stupid Patrick Corbin one, is the one that hurts the most. Not because of who he is, but because it's the Astros. The lone redeeming factor? The Mariners actually won both games, as the magnificent 7-run 8th inning was during the first outing and a stellar Bryce Miller outing led the way in the second game en route to a 2-0 win for the Mariners.

I'm all flustured by the time I'm finishing this up. Re-living all these awful performances has put a terrible taste in my mouth. Let's get back on track, and the next article in the series will look at the pitchers that the Mariners dominated this season. That sounds like a much better experience to re-visit.

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