LOS ANGELES ANGELS NOTES:
LEADING OFF: Today marks the fourth (2-1) of six games on the Angels opening road trip of the 2023 season against Oakland (2-1) and Seattle (April 3-5).
RENDON SUSPENDED: Today, Major League Baseball issued a five-game suspension and an undisclosed fine to Anthony Rendon for his actions involving a fan last Thursday in Oakland…The suspension has ultimately been reduced to four games and Rendon will begin serving the suspension tonight…The Angels will play with 25 active players during the suspension.
RIB EYE STREAK: Logan O’Hoppe has driven in at least one run in each of the Angels first three games this season…He’s the first player to do so since Mike Trout in 2017…Before Trout, it last happened in 2007 by both Vladimir Guerrero and Casey Kotchman…The only players in Angels history to have an RBI in each of the first four team games of a season are Vladimir Guerrero (2007), Don Baylor (1979) and Bobby Knoop (1964).
STARTING STRONG: Through the first three games of the season, Angels starting pitching (Shohei Ohtani, Patrick Sandoval and Tyler Anderson) has combined to post a 0.53 ERA (17 IP – 1 ER) with 16 strikeouts…The ERA is tied with Tampa Bay for the MLB lead among starters.
ANGELS RECENT RECORDS TO BEGIN SEASON
AFTER THREE GAMES: AFTER FOUR GAMES:
2023: 2-1 2023: ???
2022: 1-2 2022: 1-3
2021: 2-1 2021: 3-1
2020: 1-2 2020: 1-3
2019: 1-2 2019: 1-3
VS. SEATTLE: Today is the first of 13 meetings this season between the Angels and Mariners (six in Seattle and seven at Angel Stadium)…Last season, Halos went 10-9 against Seattle, including a 6-3 record at T-Mobile Park…Mike Trout is a career .324 (207/639) hitter vs. Seattle and is the all-time leader in career home runs against the Mariners, with 54…His 141 career runs scored vs. Seattle are second all-time, behind Rickey Henderson (145).
MOST CAREER RUNS SCORED vs. MARINERS
- Rickey Henderson – 145
- Mike Trout – 141
- Rafael Palmeiro – 140
MOST CAREER HOME RUNS vs. MARINERS
- Mike Trout – 54
- Rafael Palmeiro – 52
- Manny Ramirez – 39
THE 11 SPOT: Saturday afternoon at Oakland, the Angels plated 11 runs in the top of the third inning, marking the Halos highest scoring frame since July 2, 2016 (11 runs in the 7th inning at Boston)…It was the sixth 11+ run inning in franchise history…Gio Urhsela and Taylor Ward both had two hits in the inning, while Luis Rengifo had two walks.
A UNIQUE SAVE: Saturday at Oakland, Tucker Davidson earned his first career save after tossing 4.0 scoreless frames to finish off the Angels 13-1 win over the A’s…The 12-run victory marked the largest run differential in a save for an Angels pitcher since Chris Bootcheck (4 IP) in a 14-1 win vs. Royals on May 28. 2005.
VETERAN ROSTER: The Angels Opening Day active roster featured just one rookie: Logan O’Hoppe.
OPENING SHO: On Thursday, Shohei Ohtani made his second MLB Opening Day start as a pitcher and tossed 6.0 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and three walks with 10 strikeouts… He became the fourth pitcher in Angels history with 10+ strikeouts on Opening Day, joining Nolan Ryan (12 SO; 1973 & 1975), Andy Messersmith (11 SO; 1970) and Jered Weaver (10 SO; 2012).
BABY BACKSTOP: With his start on Thursday, Logan O’Hoppe (23 years, 49 days) became the youngest Opening Day catcher in Angels history (previous was Buck Rodgers – 23 years, 237 days in 1962)…He was the first Angels rookie catcher to start on Opening Day since Bengie Molina in 2000.
IN THE DUGOUT: Phil Nevin is in his first full season as Angels Manager after serving as the Interim Manager for the final 106 games of the 2022 season…A Fullerton, CA native, Nevin signed a one-year contract on Oct. 5 for the 2023 season.
WELCOME TO THE RENAISSANCE: With Anthony Rendon, Hunter Renfroe & Luis Rengifo hitting 4-6 in the Angels Opening Day batting order, it was the first lineup in franchise history to feature three straight players who have the same first three letters of their last name…The last MLB occurrence was by Detroit on July 20, 2015 (Victor Martinez, J.D. Martinez, Jefry Marte).
SETTING THE ROSTER: Wednesday, the Angels made a series of transactions to set the final Opening Day roster at 26 players…LAA selected the contract of INF Jake Lamb and placed C Max Stassi (10-day; left hip strain), INF Jared Walsh (10-day; headaches & insomnia), RHP Chris Rodriguez (15- day; right shoulder surgery in 2021), RHP Griffin Canning (15-day; left groin strain) and RHP José Marte (60-day; right elbow stress reaction) on the injured list.
THE NEW GUYS: Angels Opening Day roster featured eight players new to the organization in 2023: LHP Tyler Anderson, INF Brandon Drury, RHP Carlos Estévez, INF Jake Lamb, LHP Matt Moore, OF Brett Phillips, OF Hunter Renfroe and INF Gio Urshela.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER – LHP REID DETMERS
• TODAY’S GAME: Making season debut today…Fifth start of 2022 vs. Rangers…Made Opening Day roster for second consecutive season…Is in third Major League season with Angels.
• LAST TIME OUT: Took a no-decision in final Spring Training start on March 28 vs. Dodgers at Angel Stadium… Worked 2.2 innings and allowed three earned runs on six hits with three walks and four strikeouts.
• SPRING RECAP: Totaled six starts during Spring Training and went 2-1 with a 3.60 ERA (20 IP – 8 ER) and 27 strikeouts…The 27 strikeouts led the Cactus League and ranked tied for second in the Majors…Ranked third in the Cactus League in ERA, WHIP (1.20) and opponent batting average (.219).
• VS. SEATTLE: In three career games against the Mariners, is 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA (14.2 IP – 4 ER) and 12 SO… Last season, won both of his two starts against Seattle and pitched to a 1.38 ERA (13 IP – 2 ER) and 10 SO.
• AT T-MOBILE PARK: Is making third career appearance (all starts) at the ballpark…Won only outing last year, on Aug. 6, 2022 (Game 2) (7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO).
• 2022 IN REVIEW: Totaled 25 starts for Angels in 2022 and went 7-6 with a 3.77 ERA (129 IP – 54 ER) and 122 strikeouts…Among A.L. rookies (min. 100 IP), ranked second in opponent batting average, third in ERA, strikeouts and WHIP (1.21) and tied for third in wins…Did not allow a home run in 17 of 25 starts…Held opponents homerless through final 39.0 innings of season and yielded just two HR in final 71.0 innings pitched…Entered 2022 rated by Baseball America as the top prospect in the Angels organization, the top left-handed pitching prospect in all of baseball and the #27 overall prospect in the game.
• THE NO-HITTER: Pitched the 12th no-hitter in Angels history (10th individual no-hitter) on May 10 vs. Tampa Bay…Allowed just two baserunners (one walk & one reached on error)…Second Angels rookie to throw a no-hitter, joining Bo Belinsky (May 5, 1962 vs. Baltimore)…At 22 years, 306 days, Detmers was the youngest MLB pitcher to throw a no-hitter since Anibal Sanchez (22 years, 191 days) for the Marlins on Sept. 6, 2006…Additionally, was 10th MLB pitcher to throw a no-hitter within his first 11 career games.
• IMMACULATE: On July 31 vs. Texas, in the 2nd inning, pitched the third immaculate inning in Angels history after striking out Ezequiel Duran, Kole Calhoun and Charlie Culberson on nine pitches…He joined Nolan Ryan (July 9, 1972 vs. Boston) and Garrett Richards (June 4, 2014 at Houston) as the only Halos pitchers to accomplish the feat…Also set a career high in that game with 12 strikeouts.
• CLASS OF 2020: Was Angels first round selection (#10 overall) in the 2020 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Louisville…Was the second player from the 2020 Draft to reach the Major Leagues, following White Sox first rounder LHP Garrett Crochet (11th overall pick).
• FUTURES GAME: Participated in the 2021 MLB Futures Game during the All-Star Break at Coors Field and struck out both of his two batters faced.
• RUNS IN THE FAMILY: Reid’s father, Kris Detmers, played six seasons in the minors…Also a left-handed pitcher, Kris, was drafted in the 22nd round of the 1993 Draft by St. Louis. He played seven professional seasons, reaching Triple-A Memphis in 1999.
• CAREER NOTES: Native of Nokomis, IL…Was Angels first round selection (10th overall) in the 2020 First-Year Player Draft out of the University Of Louisville…Participated in the 2021 MLB Futures Game during the All-Star Break at Coors Field and struck out both of his two batters faced.
SEATTLE MARINERS NOTES:
TONIGHT’S TILT…the Mariners open a 3-game series against the Los Angeles Angels today…Seattle began the regular season with a 4-game series against the Cleveland Guardians (1-3)…tonight’s game will be televised live on ROOT SPORTS with Aaron Goldsmith and Mike Blowers on the call and broadcast live on Seattle Sports (710 AM) and Mariners.com with Rick Rizzs and Dave Sims.
ODDS AND ENDS…the Mariners dropped the opening series against the Cleveland Guardians (1-3)…Seattle has lost 3 in a row after winning on Opening Day…Seattle last season went 51-42 (.548) in the first half and 39-30 (.565) in the second half of the season…they went 46-35 (.568) at T-Mobile Park and 44-37 (.543) on the road…they went 34-22 (.607) in one-run games and 11-5 in extra innings…they went 27-24 in series openers.
• Happy Birthday – Mariner catcher Tom Murphy turns 32 years old today…he has never appeared in a game on his birthday during his Major League career.
• Bark at the Park – Tonight’s game marks the first Bark at the Park Ticket Special of the 2023 season.
• Follow France – Ty France leads Mariners batters with a 183 wRC+ so far this season…France has hit safely in 3 of 4 games to begin the 2023 season, batting .375 (6×16) with 3 runs scored, 1 double, 1 home run, 3 RBI and 1 walk, while reaching base at a .412 clip and slugging .625 with a 1.037 OPS.
• Final Four – Ty France’s San Diego State Aztecs will take on the UConn Huskies in tonight’s NCAA Mens Basketball Championship at 6:20 pm PT.
• Gotcha – Cal Raleigh threw out Josh Bell yesterday to record his first caught stealing of the season…Raleigh led the American League in runners caught stealing last year with 25, trailing only J.T. Realmuto-PHI (30) for the Major League lead.
• The Bullpen – Seattle’s bullpen is 1-0 with 1 save and a 1.54 ERA (3 ER, 16.2 IP) with 6 walks and 9 strikeouts through 4 games of action this season.
• The Skipper – Mariners manager Scott Servais is in his 8th season at the helm…going into tonight, Scott’s 529 wins as Seattle skipper rank 2nd in franchise history to Lou Piniella (840 wins).
LEADING OFF…Julio Rodríguez hit his first leadoff home run of the season in yesterday’s game on the first pitch he saw…it was Julio’s 7th leadoff home run of his career – his 3rd on the first pitch…Julio ranks 2nd in Mariners history with 7 leadoff home runs, trailing only Ichiro Suzuki (37)…since the beginning of the 2022 season, Julio’s 7 leadoff HR rank tied for 3rd-most in MLB (also: Kyle Schwarber & Mookie Betts), trailing only Jose Altruve (12) and George Springer (9).
HOT START…Julio Rodríguez has recorded multiple hits in a career-high tying 3 consecutive games (also: 3 G, Aug. 19-21, 2022)…during the current 3-game stretch, Julio is hitting .429 (6×14) with 2 runs scored, 2 doubles, 1 home run and 2 RBI…with 6 hits through the first 4 games of the 2023 season, Julio has already matched his hit total for the first 12 games of the 2022 campaign.
DOMINATE THE ZONE…George Kirby began his Major League career with a 7.79 SO/BB ratio over the first 20 starts of his career…it was the highest mark in MLB history through a player’s first 20 starts, ranking ahead of Roy Oswalt-HOU (7.65 in 2001)…Kirby also threw 24 consecutive strikes to begin his outing on Aug. 24 vs. Washington, the most-consecutive strikes to start a game in the pitch tracking era (1988-c), surpassing 21 consecutive strikes by Joe Musgrove on Aug. 30, 2018 vs. St. Louis with Pittsburgh…overall, Kirby finished the season with a 6.05 SO/BB ratio as 1 of 7 pitchers in MLB with a 6.00+ SO/BB ratio (min. 20 GS)…he was joined by Aaron Nola-PHI (8.10), Kevin Gausman-TOR (7.32), Max Scherzer-NYM (7.21), Corey Kluber-TB (6.62), Lance Lynn-CWS (6.53) and Justin Verlander (6.38).
HOMESTAND HIGHLIGHTS…tickets still remain for the final three games of the current homestand…tonight is the first Bark at the Park Ticket Special of the season…April 3, 4 and 5 are all Mariners Value Games…to purchase tickets for an upcoming game at T-Mobile Park, visit Mariners.com/Tickets.
THE BATTERS…the Mariners 26-man roster includes 13 position players: catchers Tom Murphy and Cal Raleigh, catcher/outfielder Cooper Hummel, infielders J.P. Crawford, Ty France, Tommy La Stella, Eugenio Suárez and Kolten Wong, outfielders Teoscar Hernández, Jarred Kelenic, AJ Pollock and Julio Rodríguez and infielder/outfielder Sam Haggerty…outfielder Taylor Trammell (right hamate fracture) and infielder/ outfielder Dylan Moore (left oblique muscle strain) begin the season on the 10-day Injured List.
THE PITCHERS…the Mariners active 26-man roster has 13 pitchers: right-handers Matt Brash, Diego Castillo, Luis Castillo, Matt Festa, Chris Flexen, Logan Gilbert, Trevor Gott, George Kirby, Andrés Muñoz, Penn Murfee and Paul Sewald and left-handers Marco Gonzales and Gabe Speier, who was recalled on Saturday.
TONIGHT’S STARTER – RHP GEORGE KIRBY
ABOUT KIRBY…
• 25-year-old right-hander is making his first start of the season…he is also making his 26th career start, and 5th career start against the Angels.
• Selected by the Mariners in the first round (20th overall) of the 2019 MLB First-Year Player Draft; signed by Mariners scout Ty Holub.
• Played 3 seasons (2017-2019) at Elon University (NC), going 19-8 with a 3.30 ERA (88 ER, 240.0 IP) in 45 games (34 GS) with the Phoenix.
• Became the first rookie in MLB history to record a save in the postseason in his first career relief appearance.
• Graduated from Rye HS (Rye, NY) where he was named to the all-metro, all-state, all-section and all-league baseball teams 3 times.
LAST TIME OUT…L#5 in last start of the regular season on 10/3/22 vs. DET…allowed 4 runs on 6 hits (1 HR)and 3 walks while striking out 5…the homer snapped a streak of 14-consecutive starts without giving up a long ball.
PLAYOFF KIRB…made two appearances in the postseason…earned the save in Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series at Toronto, his first professional save…also started in Game 3 of the AL Division Series vs. Houston, tossing 7.0 scoreless innings with 5 strikeouts…became just the 2nd player in franchise history to throw at least 7.0 shutout innings in the postseason, joining Luis Castillo (10/7 at TOR, G1 ALWCS)
AUGUST ROOKIE OF THE MONTH…was named Rookie of the Month for August 2022, after going 4-0 with a 2.15 ERA (7 ER, 29.1 IP) with 34 strikeouts and 3 walks in 5 August starts…he led AL rookies in fWAR (1.4), ERA, wins, WHIP (1.13) and SO/ BB ratio (11.33)…becomes just the 3rd Mariners pitcher to win Rookie of the Month joining Michael Pineda (April 2011) and Rafael Soriano (Aug. 2003), and the 2nd Mariner to win the award this season (also: Julio Rodríguez, May and June).
NO DINGERS HERE…did not allowed a home run in 14-consecutive starts from 7/2-9/28/22, which was the longest streak in the Majors in 2022…the 14-start streak without allowing a home run was a franchise record passing Erik Hanson (12, 9/20/89-5/23/90)…he went 75.0 innings without allowing a long ball.
WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE TOUGH GET GOING…was the fourth-most valuable pitcher in the AL from 7/2/22-the end of the regular season according to Fangraphs WAR, amassing 3.1 fWAR…in 12 starts after allowing a career-high 7 runs to the Orioles on 6/27/22, Kirby went 5-1 with a 2.09 ERA (15 ER, 64.2 IP) with 74 strikeouts and 8 walks from 7/2-9/17/22…the Mariners went 9-3 in those games.
A HISTORIC SEASON…his 6.05 strikeout to walk ratio is the highest in a rookie season in MLB history since the start of the Modern Era (1900-
c.), ranking ahead of Chris Paddack-SD (4.94) in 2014 (min. 25 GS).
MARINERS ROOKIES…among Mariners rookie pitchers who have made at least 15 starts as a rookie, he ranks among the leaders in ERA (5th, 3.39),
SO/9 (2nd, 9.2), SO (5th, 133), WHIP (4th, 1.208) and SO/BB (1st, 6.05).
BY GEORGE!…his 7.79 SO/BB ratio through his first 20 starts is the highest mark in MLB history, ranking ahead of Roy Oswalt-HOU (7.65
in 2001) (excludes openers).
GOING ON STRIKE…began his outing on 8/24 vs. Washington by throwing 24-consecutive strikes, the most to start a game since the pitch tracking era (1988-current), passing the 21 thrown by Joe Musgrove on 8/30/18 vs. STL with PIT.
WALK LESS, LISTEN MORE…did not allow more than 1 walk in each of his first 22 career starts, the longest streak to begin a career in MLB
history…it was the 2nd-longest streak to begin a season in MLB history trailing the 27 done by Carlos Silva-MIN in 2005.
CAN WHIFF WITH THE BEST OF ‘EM…struck out 123 batters over his first 22 career starts, which is the 3rd-most through a players first 22 career starts in Mariners history, trailing only Michael Pineda (137) and Felix Hernandez (136)…Kirby is also tied for the 3rd fastest Mariners pitcher (18 starts) to 100 career strikeouts, trailing Hernandez and Pineda, who both reached the milestone in 17 starts.
WATCH ME WHIFF…induced 223 swings-and-misses in 2022 according to Baseball Savant, which was the T6th-most among MLB rookies and T3rd-most among AL rookies…trailed only Joe Ryan MIN (312) and Reid Detmers-LAA (267) in the AL.
K STANDS FOR KIRBY…career-high-tying 9 strikeouts on 8/24/22…reached the mark 3 times in 2022…he was one of 4 Mariners pitchers with 9+ strikeouts in 2022, joining Robbie Ray (season-high 12 SO), Luis Castillo (season-high 10 SO) and Logan Gilbert (season-high 11 SO).
