CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:
OPENING DAY DUEL
The Cleveland Guardians opened the 123rd season in franchise history with a 3-0 loss to the Seattle Mariners Thursday night at T-Mobile Park, as Ty France broke a scoreless tie with a 3-run, opposite-field HR off JAMES KARINCHAK with one out in the bottom of the 8th…signaled Cleveland’s third consec. loss in a season opener, allowing exactly 3 runs in each of those defeats (’21: 3-2 loss at DET, ’22: 3-1 loss at KC)…club has dropped 11 of 15, 15 of 21 and 17 of last 25 to begin a season dating back to ’99.
Aces SHANE BIEBER (6.0IP, 6H, 0R, 0BB, 3SO, 2WP) and Luis Castillo (6.0IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 6SO) traded zeroes for 6.0 innings apiece before turning the decision over to their respective bullpens…Bieber scattered his 6 hits evenly, surrendering exactly one in each of his frames while stranding a single runner in scoring position to end four different innings…in total, Cleveland’s pitching staff held Seattle’s offense 0-for-8 w/RISP prior to the France home run (M’s finished 1-for-9 w/RISP)…TREVOR STEPHAN worked a spotless 7th, retiring the side in order…Karinchak came on in the 8th and issued a lead-off walk after a 3-2 check-swing foul tip by J.P. Crawford was errantly ruled ball four; the right-hander retired Julio Rodriguez before hitting Kolten Wong to set up the 3-run France blast on a 1-1 offering up in the zone.
Cleveland’s offense was limited to 4 hits, saving a pair of those for the 9th when the Guardians brought the tying run to the plate against closer Andrés Muñoz; club got two-out hits from AMED ROSARIO (single) and JOSÉ RAMÍREZ (double) before JOSH BELL grounded out sharply to end the contest.
OD TIDBITS
SHANE BIEBER became the first Cleveland pitcher since Bob Feller (1940, 1946, 1948) to have 2-or-more starts of 6.0+ scoreless innings on Opening Day…Marcus Stroman (2019, 2023) also accomplished the feat yesterday.
Cleveland became the first AL team since the 1976 Baltimore Orioles to have 4 reigning Gold Glove winners start on Opening Day…the St. Louis Cardinals started 5 reigning Gold Gloves winners on OD in 2022.
OD saw a total of 21 stolen bases with a 91% success rate compared to 5 stolen bases with a 56% success rate on 2022 OD… it was the most steals on Opening Day since 1907 (MLB Network)… it took 3 days of games to reach 17 stolen bases in 2022.
Thursday’s game marked the 10th time in the club history that Cleveland has been shutout on Opening Day…the Guardians were last shut out on Opening Day in 2019, 2-0, at Minnesota…the club was shut out on OD five times from 1901-2000 and has been shut out on OD five times in the 23 seasons since.
OUR BRAND OF BASEBALL
In 2022, the Guardians employed a style of baseball that utilized excellent defense, making contact and strategic baserunning that led to their success on the field.
Cleveland’s defense finished 2022 1st in the AL in UZR (34.8) and 2nd in the AL in defensive runs saved (79) and dWAR (5.5)… STEVEN KWAN (1st), ANDRÉS GIMÉNEZ (2nd), MYLES STRAW (3rd) and JOSH NAYLOR (4th) all finished in the top 5 in Outs Above Average at their respective positions in MLB… Cleveland led the majors in Gold Glove Award winners with Kwan, Giménez, Straw and SHANE BIEBER.
Despite ranking 21st in MLB in slugging percentage and 29th in home runs, the Guardians found a way to score, leading MLB in contact percentage (80.8%) and lowest swinging strike percentage (9.1%)…the bats ended the 2022 season 1st in the AL in sacrifice flies (52), T2nd in sacrifice hits (22), 2nd in singles (979) and 4th in hits (1410)…STEVEN KWAN finished in the 100th percentile of all batters in whiff percentage with teammates MYLES STRAW (99th) and JOSÉ RAMÍREZ (94th) close behind (Baseball Savant).
The Guards went from 1st to 3rd base on singles 115 times in 2022, leading all of MLB, ahead of Chicago-NL and St. Louis (both 102)…the club’s 119 stolen bases and 81.51% success rate both finished 2nd in the AL and 3rd in MLB.
A CRISP LID-LIFTER
Cleveland’s first official time of game under MLB’s new Pace of Play rules came in at 2 hours, 14 minutes last night in Seattle, this after the club saw an average time of game of 2:30 across 30 Cactus League contests this spring (exhibition vs. WBC Team Mexico excluded)…the Guardians and Mariners lid-lifter matched Tampa Bay’s opener vs. Detroit for the shortest contest played on Thursday when the avg. TOG across MLB registered at 2:45…the Guardians 2022 opener in Kansas City came in at 2:49 on the way to a 3:01 average time of game for the year…marked Cleveland’s fastest Opening Day since 2005 (L, 1-0 at CWS, 1:51).
BATTLE OF THE BULLPENS
Cleveland and Seattle’s bullpens set the standard in the MLB in 2022, consistently locking down the late innings…the clubs combined to have 6 relievers who finished top 25 in ERA in MLB… Cleveland had EMMANUEL CLASE (2nd, 1.36), SAM HENTGES (15th, 2.32) and TREVOR STEPHAN (25th, 2.69)…Seattle’s Erik Swanson finished 5th (1.74), Andres Munoz finished 18th (2.49) and Paul Sewald finished 23rd (2.67).
2022 MLB BULLPEN RANKINGS
TEAM ERA OPP. AVG K%
CLE 3.05 (5th) .209 (3rd) 26.4 (6th)
SEA 3.33 (6th) .207 (2nd) 26.6 (5th)
YOUTH MOVEMENT
At 27 years and 15 days, Cleveland sports the youngest average age of any Opening Day roster in MLB (Stats LLC)…the Guards possess the youngest pitching staff (avg. of 26 years, 290 days) and youngest set of position players (avg. of 27 years, 105 days).
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).
TONIGHT’S STARTER – 70 HUNTER GADDIS RHP
GADDIS’ MLB CAREER
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2022 0-2 18.41 2 2 7.1 15 15 15 3 5
Career 0-2 18.41 2 2 7.1 15 15 15 3 5
GADDIS’ MINOR LEAGUE CAREER
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2022 8-6 4.01 24 23 121.1 90 57 54 41 158
Career 13-20 3.90 57 53 251.2 197 138 109 76 338
HUNTER HAPPY TO HELP
Gaddis was added to the Guardians pitching rotation after TRISTON McKENZIE suffered a right major teres strain in his final spring start vs. Cincinnati on March 26…he is scheduled to make his 3rd career start at the Major League level, following two spot starts in 2022 vs. Houston and vs. Chicago-AL (more below).
The 6-foot, 6-inch, 250-pound right-hander was originally a 5thround selection by Cleveland in the 2019 MLB Draft out of Georgia State University (Atlanta, GA).
IS THE THIRD TIME THE CHARM?
Gaddis became the 13th Clevelander of the 2022 season to make his MLB debut for the Guardians on Aug. 5 vs. Houston at Progressive Field (3.1IP, 7H, 8R/ER, 2BB, 2SO, 2HR, 79 pitches)… after retiring the first three batters of his Major League career, he ran into trouble…a Trey Mancini solo shot in the 2nd, an RBI-single by Yordan Alvarez & grand slam from Mancini in the 3rd, and a Jose Altuve RBI-double in the 4th put Cleveland in an 8-1 deficit.
Gaddis made a second spot-start with the Guardians on Sept. 15 vs. Chicago-AL at Progressive Field (4.0IP, 8H, 7R/ER, 1BB, 3SO, 5HR, 92 pitches)…after beginning with a 1-2-3 inning for the second straight start, the White Sox broke the game open via the long ball…Gavin Sheets and Andrew Vaughn tallied back-toback home runs in the 2nd, Yoan Moncada went deep in the 3rd, Yasmani Grandal went yard in the 4th, and Elvis Andrus hit one over the wall in the 5th…the five home runs allowed were the most allowed by a Cleveland pitcher since April 18, 1969 (Luis Tiant)
SEATTLE MARINERS NOTES:
TONIGHT’S TILT…the Mariners play the second game of a 4-game series (1-0) against the Cleveland Guardians tonight…left-hander Robbie Ray takes the mound for Seattle in the second game of the season…Seattle will also welcome the Los Angeles Angels (3 G, 4/3-4/5) to T-Mobile Park on the homestand…the game 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…in last night’s 3-0 Opening Day victory, the Mariners offense tallied 3 runs on 7 hits, going 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and 5 left on base…the Mariners pitching staff allowed no runs on 4 hits in last night’s 3-0 win…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.
• Electric Factory – Seattle’s Opening Day victory was played in front of a sellout crowd of 45,268 fans.
• Team Debuts – Teoscar Hernández, Kolten Wong and Tommy La Stella all made their Mariners debuts last night…when Cooper Hummel, AJ Pollock and Trevor Gott first appear, they will make their Seattle debuts.
• The Skipper – Mariners manager Scott Servais is in his 8th season at the helm…going into Friday night, Scott’s 529 wins as Seattle skipper rank 2nd in franchise history to Lou Piniella (840 wins).
• Hitters – Ty France went 3-for-4 on Opening Day…Eugenio Suárez went 1-for-3 with a double…J.P. Crawford, Jarred Kelenic and Cal Raleigh all tallied base hits…Kelenic registered a stolen base.
• Hey Everybody! – For the first time ever, the Mariners are scheduled to play all 29 opponents this season.
MARINERS CONTINUE OPENING DAY SUCCESS…the Mariners Opening Day victory last night extended their Opening Day winning streak to 3…Seattle is 5-1 over its last 6 opening games since 2018 and 15-4 over its last 19 opening games since 2005…the Mariners improved to 29-18 in 47 openers in franchise history…their .617 winning percentage all-time on Opening Day is 2nd-best in the Major Leagues, trailing only the New York Mets
(.661/41-21)…Seattle also improved to 19-10 in opening games at home.
LA PIEDRA ‘ROCKS’ IN SEASON DEBUT…Luis Castillo tossed 6.0 scoreless innings last night in the Mariners 3-0 Opening Day win over the Guardians…Castillo became the third Mariners pitcher to throw 6.0+ scoreless innings in an Opening Day start, joining Randy Johnson (1995) and Félix Hernández (3x, 2007, ’13, ’18)… Castillo is the only pitcher in Mariners history to throw 6.0+ scoreless innings on Opening Day with no walks… Castillo became the fifth pitcher in Major League history to throw 6.0+ scoreless innings with no walks in both a postseason game and an Opening Day game, joining Greg Maddux, Clayton Kershaw, David Price and Kyle Hendricks.
‘PITCH’ED UP RIGHT WHERE THEY LEFT OFF…Seattle’s pitching staff combined for 9.0 scoreless innings with just 4 hits allowed, no walks and 9 strikeouts…Luis Castillo (6.0 IP, 1 H, 6 SO), Matt Brash (1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 SO), Paul Sewald (W, 1.0 IP, 1 SO) and Andrés Muñoz (SV, 1.0 IP, 2 H) all appeared…it marked the 4th time in franchise history (others: 1995, 2007, ’13) that Seattle recorded an Opening Day shutout victory…it marked just the 34th time in Major League history, and first time in Mariners history, that a pitching staff threw a shutout with no walks on Opening Day and the first time since the Cubs did it in 2020.
HOMESTAND HIGHLIGHTS…while Saturday, April 1 vs. Cleveland (Julio Rodríguez Bobblehead Night) is sold out, tickets remain available for tonight, 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 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 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 Robbie Ray.
FAMILIAR FACES…20 of the 26 players on the Mariners roster appeared in a game for Seattle 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 on Opening Day)…the oldest player on the team is AJ Pollock (35 years, 115 days old on Opening Day).
TONIGHT’S MARINERS STARTER – LHP ROBBIE RAY
ABOUT RAY…
• The 31-year-old left-hander is set to make his 1st start of the season and 1st against the Guardians this season…he is also making his 226th career Major League appearance (222nd start) and 5th career appearance (4th start) against Cleveland.
• Named the 2021 American League Cy Young Award winner, receiving 29 of 30 first-place votes.
• His 212 strikeouts in 2022 were the most in a players first season with the Mariners in franchise history.
• Veteran of 9 MLB seasons with Detroit (2014), Arizona (2015-20), Toronto (2020-21) and Seattle (2022).
• Drafted by the Washington Nationals in the 12th round of the 2010 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Brentwood HS (Brentwood, TN).
• Signed a 5-year contract with Seattle on Nov. 30, 2021.
LAST TIME OUT…L#12 in last start of regular season on 10/2/22 vs. OAK…allowed 6 runs (5 ER) on 8 hits (3 HR) and 3 walks with 3 strikeouts…made 3 postseason appearances on 10/8 at TOR, 10/11 at HOU and 10/15 vs. HOU.
