CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:
123 YEARS OF CLEVELAND BASEBALL
The Cleveland Guardians are set to begin their 123rd season (1901-2023) this evening in Seattle…Cleveland’s Home Opener will take place on Friday, April 7 in what will mark the start of the club’s 30th season at Progressive Field.
Cleveland is 61-61 (.500) all-time on Opening Day after falling, 3-1, at Kansas City to begin the 2022 campaign…the Guardians have dropped 10 of 14, 14 of 20, and 16 of their last 24 games to begin a season dating back to 1999.
The longest Opening Day win streak in Cleveland history is 5 games, accomplished on 3 occasions: 1925-29, 1931-35, 1951- 55…Guardians longest OD losing streak is 4 years, done several times (last: 2009-12).
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Cleveland opens the season on the road tonight for the 77th time in franchise history, going 38-38 (.500) all-time in Opening Day games played away from Cleveland…77 road OD games rank 3rd in MLB modern-era and 2nd in the AL (PIT-96, BOS-79)…the Guardians’ 22 road openers since 1995 rank 2nd in MLB and 1st in the AL (SF-23)…the club has opened 6 of 7, 9 of 11 and 22 of its last 29 seasons on the road…Cleveland has outscored Opening Day opponents 317-304 in 76 road games, and has been outscored 185-165 in 46 home games
Cleveland finished with a .568 winning percentage (46-35) on the road during the 2022 regular season, which ranked 2nd in the AL, T4th in MLB.
A LATE NIGHT CUP O’ JOE
The Guardians and Mariners are set to meet on Opening Day for the 4th time in MLB history…the clubs last faced off to open up the season on March 29, 2018 in Seattle with the Mariners taking the matchup, 2-1…in a battle of Cy Young award winners RHP Felix Hernandez and RHP Corey Kluber faced off with Kluber twirling 8.0 innings, allowing 2 R/ER with 8 strikeouts but ultimately suffered the loss…prior to that, the clubs met on March 31, 1998 in a 10-9 Guardians victory, and on April 4, 1994 in a 4-3 Cleveland win.
This will be the first time since 2018 that Cleveland will open against an opponent outside of the division following a 4-year stretch (2019-2022) of opening against division foes.
CLEVELAND ALL-TIME OPENING DAY OPPONENTS
BY CLUB, 1901-2021
No. Team No. Team No. Team
30 Detroit 4 Seattle 3 Oakland
29 Chicago-AL 4 Boston 3 Toronto
14 St. Louis-AL 4 Los Angeles-AL 3 KC Athletics
6 Texas 4 Minnesota 1 Houston
5 Baltimore (1954-) 4 KC Royals 1 Wash (1960-71)
5 New York-AL 3 Milwaukee (1970-)
See pages 259-263 of the digital Cleveland Guardians Information & Record Book for complete Opening Day results and lineups.
OPENING DAY ROSTER
Cleveland officially announced the club’s season-opening 26- man roster today, breaking camp with 13 pitchers and 13 position players…OD rosters are back down to 26 spots following 2022 when teams could hold 28 players until May 1 to compensate for a shorter Spring Training…21 of 26 players on this year’s Opening Day roster appeared for the club in 2022 (13 of the 26 were on the club’s 2022 OD roster).
Cleveland has seven (7) players on a Major League OD roster for the first time in their careers: INF GABRIEL ARIAS, OF WILL BRENNAN, RHP XZAVION CURRY, RHP ENYEL DE LOS SANTOS, RHP HUNTER GADDIS, OF OSCAR GONZALEZ and LHP TIM HERRIN.
Herrin is the sole player set to make his Guardians and Major League debut…starting Opening Day, every player making their Major League debut will wear an “MLB Debut” patch on their uniform for their first game.
At 27 years and 15 days, the Guardians sport the youngest average age of any Opening Day roster in MLB…Cleveland also possesses the youngest pitching staff (avg. of 26 years, 290 days) and youngest set of position players (avg. of 27 years, 105 days) (Stats LLC.).
The Guardians roster features only four players age 30-or-older:
C CAM GALLAGHER (30 years, 114 days), 3B JOSÉ RAMÍREZ
(30 years, 194 days, 1B JOSH BELL (30 years, 228 days) and C
MIKE ZUNINO (32 years, 5 days)
TITO THREE TIMES
TERRY FRANCONA begins his 11th season at the helm for the Cleveland Guardians after being voted as AL Manager for the third time in his career in 2022 (also 2013 and 2016), guiding the youngest roster in the Major Leagues to an AL Central Division-winning record of 92-70…he became the first manager in MLB history to lead a team with 17+ rookies who made debuts to a division or league title.
The Cleveland Guardians enter 2023 carrying the American League’s 2nd-best record over the past decade, also 4th-best in the Majors, as the club’s .557 (845-671) winning pct. since 2013, trails only the Los Angeles Dodgers (.613, 931-588), New York Yankees (.565, 858-660) and St. Louis Cardinals (.559, 848-668)…Cleveland’s last 10 seasons (2013-22) have been highlighted by four A.L. Central titles (2016-18, 2022) and six MLB Postseason appearances, while the club has played a combined total of just 19 regular season games outside of Postseason contention in that span.
I’VE BEEN HERE BEFORE
JOSÉ RAMÍREZ is expected to appear in Cleveland’s Opening Day starting lineup for the 8th time in his career, as he has been penciled in every year since 2015 with the exception of 2016 when he made his season debut in the club’s second game of the year as the starting left fielder…would be starting in his 7th consecutive opener, the longest such streak by any player for Cleveland since Carlos Santana started 7 straight from 2011-17…will mark his 6th straight start at 3B, as his starts in 2015 and 2017 came at SS and 2B, respectively…becomes just the 6th player in franchise history to start 6 different openers at 3B, joining Ken Keltner (11, 1938-44; ’46-49), Bill Bradley (10, 1901-10), Brook Jacoby (8, 1984-90; ’92), Al Rosen (7, 1950-56) & Max Alvis (6, 1963-68).
TONIGHT’S STARTER
57 SHANE BIEBER RHP
BIEBER FEVER IS 4 REAL
» Following another solid campaign in 2022, the 27-year-old is slated
for his fourth career/consecutive Opening Day start after toeing the
slab for the club’s first games of 2020, a 2-0 shutout win vs. KC; 2021,
a 3-2 defeat at DET and 2022, a 3-1 loss at KC.
» After 2021 was cut short due to injury, Bieber put together a
formidable 2022 season, going 13-8 and reaching 200.0 innings
pitched in 31 starts…his 2.88 ERA (64ER/200.0IP) was the 2nd-best
ERA he’s posted in his career (1.63 ERA in Covid-shortened 2020
season)…he finished 3rd in the American League in innings pitched
and 7th in ERA.
» Bieber is one of three pitchers to start on Opening Day for the
Guardians in the last decade, joining Justin Masterson (2013-14) and
Corey Kluber (2015-19)…with his start Thursday, Bieber becomes
the fifth pitcher in franchise history to start at least four consecutive
opening days (Stan Coveleski, 1917-21; Bob Feller, 1946-49; Gaylord
Perry, 1972-75; Corey Kluber, 2015-19)…Bieber and Kluber are now
the only consecutive pitchers in club history to start on 4 straight
Opening Days.
OPENING DAY SHANE
In 3 previous Opening Day starts is 1-1 with a 1.62 ERA (3ER/16.2IP) while walking 4 and striking out 30…has the two highest single game strikeout totals on Opening Day over the past three seasons (14 in 2020, 12 in 2021)…he is the only pitcher in MLB history to throw 14 strikeouts with 1-or-fewer walks on Opening Day…in the 2022 season-opener, the ace went 4.2 innings, allowing 2R/1ER with 4 strikeouts in a 3-1 loss at Kansas City.
On Opening Day in 2020, Bieber started his Cy Young campaign with 14 strikeouts across 6.0 innings of work in a 2-0 win vs. Kansas City, setting a club record for most punchouts on OD (prev. Gary Bell, 12 SO in 10.1 IP on April 19, 1960 vs. DET)…became the second pitcher in club history to record 14+ SO in a game while working 6.0-or-fewer innings, joining Sam McDowell, who did it on Sept 18, 1966 at Detroit (6.0IP, 14SO)…Bieber fell just one strikeout shy of the MLB record on Opening Day set by Camilo Pascual in 1960; Bieber’s 14 K’s were the most in any MLB Opening Day start since Randy Johnson (14) in 1996 and most in MLB history for a scoreless Opening Day start.
MLB OPENING DAY STRIKEOUT RECORDS
SO Pitcher Date Game
15 Camilo Pascual 04/18/1960 WAS vs. BOS
14 Shane Bieber 07/24/2020 CLE vs. KC
14 Randy Johnson 03/31/1996 SEA vs. CHW
14 Randy Johnson 04/06/1993 SEA vs. TOR
14 Don Drysdale 04/12/1960 LA vs. CHC
After striking out 12 batters over 6.0 innings in a 3-2 Opening Day loss at Detroit in 2021, Bieber joined Bob Feller (10SO in 1939 & 1946) as the only pitchers in club history with multiple starts of 10-or-more strikeouts on OD and is one of only twelve pitchers in MLB history to ever accomplish the feat…also joined Nolan Ryan (2), Randy Johnson (2) and Bob Gibson (2) as the only four arms to record 12-or-more SO in multiple OD starts, becoming the first pitcher in the Modern Era (since 1900) to turn the trick in consecutive Opening Day starts (Elias).
SEATTLE MARINERS NOTES:
TONIGHT’S TILT…the Mariners welcome the Cleveland Guardians to T-Mobile Park for game one of a 4-game series to begin their 47th season…Luis Castillo, who makes his third career Opening Day start, takes the mound as the 18th different Opening Day starting pitcher in franchise history…the Opening Day contest will be televised live on ROOT SPORTS with Dave Sims and Mike Blowers on the call and broadcast live on Seattle Sports (710 AM) and Mariners.com with Rick Rizzs and Aaron Goldsmith on the call.
ODDS AND ENDS…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.
• The Skipper – Mariners manager Scott Servais enters his 8th season at the helm…Scott’s 528 wins and .512 winning percentage as Seattle skipper both rank 2nd in franchise history.
• Hey Everybody! – For the first time ever, the Mariners are scheduled to play all 29 opponents this season. • Spring Recap – Seattle went 14-13-3 in 30 Cactus League games…116 different players (64 position players, 52 pitchers) appeared in a 2023 spring game with the Mariners.
OPENING DAY…the Mariners are 28-18 (.609) all-time on Opening Day, 2nd-best record in the Majors behind only the New York Mets (.656/40-21)…the Mariners have won each of their last 2 Opening Day games and 4 of their last 5 since 2018…tonight marks the 29th time the Mariners will open at home (18-10 at home on Opening Day)…it marks the 4th time in franchise history that Seattle will face Cleveland on Opening Day (1-2 against Cleveland on Opening Day)…the Mariners open the season on a Thursday for the 5th time in franchise history (also: 1981, 1995, 2018, 2021)…Seattle has recorded a 1-run victory in each of its last 2 and 3 of its last 4 Opening Day wins.
HOMESTAND HIGHLIGHTS…Opening Day and Saturday, April 1 vs. Cleveland (Julio Rodríguez Bobblehead Night) are both sold out…tickets remain available for Friday, March 31 vs. Cleveland (College Night), with the first 10,000 fans through the gates receiving a Mariners-themed crossbody bag…Sunday, April 2 is Kids Opening Day, with all kids 14-and-under receiving a Luis Castillo t-shirt…Monday, April 3 is Bark at the Park Ticket Special, while 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 ROSTER…the Mariners 26-man Opening Day 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 Robbie Ray…the 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.
FAMILIAR FACES…20 of the 26 players on the Mariners Opening Day roster appeared in a game for the Mariners last season, including 12 of 13 pitchers…the 6 players new to the organization are RHP Trevor Gott, C/OF Cooper Hummel, INF Tommy La Stella, INF Kolten Wong, OF Teoscar Hernández and OF AJ Pollock…the longest-tenured Seattle player is Marco Gonzales (team debut: Aug. 6, 2017)…the youngest player on the team is Julio Rodríguez (22 years, 91 days old)…the oldest player on the team is AJ Pollock (35 years, 115 days old).
THE COACHING STAFF…Mariners manager Scott Servais (#9) enters his 8th season at the helm…Scott’s 528 regular season wins are 2nd-most in franchise history…Trent Blank (#40) transitions from Bullpen Coach & Director of Pitching Strategy to Major League Coach & Director of Pitching Strategy…Stephen Vogt (#13) joins the Mariners as Bullpen & Quality Control Coach…returning to Seattle’s coaching staff in the same roles as 2022 are Third Base Coach Manny Acta (#14), Hitting Coach Tony Arnerich (#57), Hitting Coach & Director of Hitting Strategy Jarret DeHart (#88), Infield Coach Perry Hill (#6), First Base Coach Kristopher Negrón (#45), Major League Field Coordinator Carson Vitale (#39) and Pitching Coach Pete Woodworth (#32)…Batting Practice Pitcher Nasusel Cabrera (#89) and Bullpen Catcher Fleming Báez (#66) also return to the staff, while Bullpen Catcher Justin Novak (#95) joins the staff.
J-ROD: AWARD TOUR…Julio Rodríguez took home several honors in 2022 for his stellar rookie campaign… he was named the BBWAA American League Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year, becoming the 5th Mariners player in team history to win the award, joining Alvin Davis (1984), Kazuhiro Sasaki (2000), Ichiro Suzuki (2001) and Kyle Lewis (2020)…Julio also won a Silver Slugger Award, becoming the 2nd Mariners rookie to win (other: Ichiro, 2001)…in addition to winning AL Rookie of the Year, a Silver Slugger Award and making the 2022 AL All-Star team, Julio also won MLB Rookie of the Year (Baseball America), AL Rookie of the Year (The Sporting News), AL Outstanding Rookie (MLBPA) and Seattle Male Sports Star of the Year among other awards.
GLOBAL GAME…four countries outside the U.S. are represented on the Mariners Opening Day roster (7 players): Dominican Republic (4): Diego Castillo, Luis Castillo, Teoscar Hernández and Julio Rodríguez, Canada (1): Matt Brash, Mexico (1): Andrés Muñoz and Venezuela (1): Eugenio Suárez.
WINNING WAYS…the Mariners put together a winning month in 5 of 6 months in 2022 (11-10 in April, 16-13 in June, 18-7 in July, 17-10 in August and 18-14 in Sept/Oct.)…dating back to the start of 2021, Seattle has put together a winning month in 10 of its last 12 months.
TONIGHT’S STARTER – RHP LUIS CASTILLO
ABOUT CASTILLO…
• The 30-year-old right-hander is set to make his 1st start of the season and 1st against the Guardians this season…he is also making his 149th Major League start and 7th career start against Cleveland.
• Has been named an All-Star in 2019 and 2022.
• Originally signed as an international free agent by the San Francisco Giants on 12/23/11.
• Made MLB debut on 6/23/17 vs. Washington (w/ Cincinnati)
• Signed a 5-year contract extension with the Seattle Mariners on Sept. 24, 2022 after being acquired in a trade with Cincinnati on July 30, 2022.
LAST TIME OUT…W#8 in last start of the regular season against OAK on 10/1/22…allowed just 1 run on 2 hits and 1 walk while striking out 8.
PLAYOFF PERFORMANCE…made 2 postseason starts…earned the win in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series at Toronto…tossed 7.1 scoreless innings allowing 6 hits while striking out 5…was tagged with the loss in his final start of the postseason on 10/13 at HOU in G2 of the ALDS…allowed 3 runs on 5 hits (2 HR) while striking out 7.
FOR OPENERS…is making his 3rd career Opening Day start and his first with the Mariners, becoming the 18th different pitcher to start on Opening Day in franchise history.
PREVIOUSLY ON OPENING DAY…tossed 5.2 innings allowing just 1 run on 2 hits and 3 walks with 8 strikeouts against Pittsburgh in his first career Opening Day start in 2019 with Cincinnati…allowed 10 runs (8 ER) on 8 hits (1 HR) and 2 walks with 0 strikeouts over 3.1 innings on Opening Day in 2021.
OFF TO A GOOD START…his 77 strikeouts through his first 11 Mariners starts are the most in Mariners history through a pitchers first 11 starts, ranking ahead of Cliff Lee’s 76 and Robbie Ray’s 74 strikeouts through their first 11 Mariners starts.
THE STONE WAS ROLLING…began his start on 9/7/22 vs. Chicago-AL by striking out the first 7 batters he faced, setting a franchise record for most strikeouts to begin a start, passing Michael Pineda (5 on 7/9/11 at LAA)…the 7 strikeouts also tied the AL record for most strikeouts to begin a game (done 4x, last: Blake SnellTB, 6/3/18 vs. SEA).
A PERFORMANCE FOR THE AGES…ND on 8/9 against New York-AL in his home debut after being acquired by the Mariners on 7/30/22…tossed 8.0 scoreless innings allowing just 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7 on 110 pitches, 72 for strikes…marked the 5th time in his career he has thrown 8.0+ innings, and just the 2nd time he has tossed 8.0+ scoreless innings (also: 9/21/18 at MIA)…induced 20 swings-and-misses, the third most he has induced in a game this season.
MAIDEN VOYAGE…struck out 8 in his first start with the Mariners on 8/3 at New York-AL…8 strikeouts are tied for the 3rd-most in a Mariners debut (also: Cliff Lee), trailing Andy Benes and Enrique Romo who struck out 9…Benes and Castillo both made their Mariners debuts on Aug. 3, after being acquired by the Mariners at the trade deadline.
NOW THAT’S QUALITY…recorded 8-consecutive quality starts from 6/28-8/15/22, a career-best streak (previous: 5, 2x (8/14-9/5/21 and 6/15-7/6/21 w/CIN)…tossed a quality start in each of his first 3 starts with Seattle (8/3-8/15).
AMONG THE GAME’S BEST…after he made his season debut on 5/9/22, Castillo ranked among the MLB leaders in ERA (26th, 2.99), strikeouts (16th, 167), batting average against (20th, .212/118×557), SO/9 (16th, 10.0) and fWAR (T10th, 3.7).
LA PIEDRA…tossed 7.0 innings and allowed 1 run in 3-consecutive starts from 7/3- 7/14/22, striking out 22 batters over the 3 starts…3-consecutive starts of 7.0+ innings while allowing no more than 1 run was tied for the longest streak in the Majors with 7 other pitchers…marked the 1st time in his career he has tossed 7.0+ innings in 3-consecutive starts.
WHIFF ARTIST…since 2017 (the season Castillo made his MLB debut), Luis has induced 2,109 swings-and-misses, 7th-most in the Majors over that span…he leads all pitchers since 2017 with 894 whiffs on his changeup, ranking ahead of Lucas Giolito-CWS (701) and Kyle Hendricks-CHC (691).
SEASON-HIGH PUNCHIES…struck out a season-high 11 batters on 6/28 at Chicago-NL over 6.0 scoreless innings (with CIN)…marked the 2nd-time he struck out 10+ in 2022, and the 14th time in his career…induced 23 swings-and-misses according to Baseball Savant, tied for the 6th-most he has induced in a game in his career (most: 26, 2x 7/15/19 and 8/5/19).
HEY NOW, YOU’RE AN ALL-STAR…was named to his second All-Star team last season (also: 2019)…tossed a scoreless inning with 2 strikeouts at Dodger Stadium in last year’s Mid-Summer Classic.
