CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:
SMALL BALL BOUNCEBACK
The Clevelanders avenged Thursday night’s 3-0 shutout defeat to open the 2023 campaign, pounding out 13 hits on the way to a 9-4 victory over Seattle on Friday night at T-Mobile Park…STEVEN KWAN paced the offense with 5 RBI to back a lockdown effort from the Guardians bullpen.
The Mariners chipped away at Guardians starter HUNTER GADDIS for a quartet of tallies to chase the young right-hander before the end of the 4th (3.2IP, 5H, 4R-ER, 1BB, 4SO, 70 pitches), grabbing a 1-0 lead in the 1st…two Cleveland singles and a walk set the stage for a 2nd-inning bases-loaded situation that forced advantageous chaos, as an otherwise innocuous flyout by MYLES STRAW triggered two throwing errors as the ball was returned to the infield, allowing a pair of runs to score…Kwan, who saw nearly 20% of the offense’s pitches across his 6 PA’s on the night (38 of 199), tacked on a sac fly to grab a 3-1 lead before adding a 2-run double in the 4th and a 2-run single in Cleveland’s 3-run 5th…
AMED ROSARIO & JOSH NAYLOR also tacked on RBI-singles.
Five Cleveland relievers combined to hold Seattle’s offense scoreless across 5.1 frames, piling up 9 strikeouts while allowing just four batters to reach safely (2 hits, 2 walks).
GUARDS OUT OF THE GATE
STEVEN KWAN (2-for-4, 2B, 5RBI) became the first hitter in franchise history with a 5-or-more-RBI performance within the first two games of a season since Larry Doby (2-for-5, HR, 5RBI, R, SO) on 4/16/1953…he also became the fifth leadoff hitter in MLB’s modern era to accomplish the feat, last done by Denard Span (2-for-5, HR, 5RBI) for SF on 4/4/2016.
Kwan currently leads the AL in RBI and is tied with COL’s C.J. Cron for most in MLB…he is 1st in MLB with 58 pitches seen through two games this season, 10 more than LAD’s Mookie Betts (48)…Kwan finished 18th overall in pitches seen in MLB in 2022 (2643), joining teammate JOSÉ RAMÍREZ (13th, 2742) as the two Guardians among top 25 in MLB in pitches faced…he finished 15th overall in MLB (4th in AL) in pitches per plate appearance in 2022 (4.14 pitches/PA), and currently ranks 5th in MLB (3rd in AL), averaging 5.80 pitches per plate appearance.
ANDRÉS GIMÉNEZ sits T2nd for most runs (3) in MLB with four others behind TOR’s George Springer (4)…he is the first Cleveland player with three runs scored in the first two games of a season since Jack Hannahan in 2011.
JOSÉ RAMÍREZ is one of six MLB hitters leading the league in doubles (2), including SEA’s Julio Rodríguez…he is the first Cleveland hitter to open the season with a double in each of his first two games since Victor Martinez and Trot Nixon in 2007.
Cleveland ranks T2nd in AL (T2nd in MLB) in stolen bases (3), 3rd in AL (5th in MLB) in hits (17), 2nd in AL (4th in MLB) in singles (14) and 3rd in AL (5th in MLB) in strikeouts (18) through two games.
Friday’s game marked the 1st time in club history that Cleveland tallied 9+ runs and 13+ hits with two-or-fewer extra-base hits within the first two games of a single season…the last time this occurred in MLB was by Detroit on 4/4/2007 (Cleveland Stats, Twitter).
OUR BRAND OF BASEBALL
Through two games of the 2023 season, the Guards have the most at-bats (70) of any club without a home run, ranking ahead of San Diego’s 62 (MLB Network)…Cleveland hit the 2nd-fewest home runs (127) among MLB clubs in 2022, behind Detroit (110).
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, ranking 1st in contact percentage (80.8%) and swinging strike percentage (9.1%) among MLB teams (Fangraphs)…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.
BATTLE OF THE BULLPENS
Through two games in 2023, the Mariners bullpen ranks T1st in innings pitched (8.2), while the Guardians rank 4th in MLB (7.1IP)…the Guards bullpen also leads MLB in strikeouts (11) and ranks 6th in average against (.120, 3-for-25).
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)
TONIGHT’S STARTER – #43 AARON CIVALE RHP
TONIGHT’S START
Makes his regular season debut this evening in the third game of this 4-game series at Seattle…2023 marks his 5th season in the Major Leagues and 4th campaign in Cleveland’s starting rotation… finished 2022 with a 1-3 record and 5.88 ERA (34ER/52.0IP) on the road…this is his first start since facing New York-AL in Game 5 of the ALDS (0.1IP, 2H, 3R/ER, 1BB, 1SO, 1HR, 26 pitches).
CAREER VS. SEATTLE
This will be his 4th career start against Seattle…has a 1-2 record with a 3.86 ERA (9ER/21.0IP) in his prior 3 starts…faced the Mariners once in 2022, suffering the loss after giving up 4 R/ER in 6.1 innings in a 4-0 defeat on August 28 at Seattle.
Has toed the rubber twice at T-Mobile Park, amassing an 0-2 record with a 6.23 ERA (9ER/13.0IP)…has given up 4 home runs in those starts.
Set a career-high in strikeouts against Seattle on August 28, 2022, fanning 11 batters over 8.0 shutout innings.
Is 4-3 with a 3.67 ERA (20ER/49.0IP), 8 walks, 51 strikeouts and .188 opposing batting average across 8 career G/GS against the AL West.
2022 RECAP
It was a tale of two halves for the 27-year old in 2022…thru his first ten starts, Civale had a 2-5 record with a 7.04 ERA (36ER/46.0IP) as batters put together a .301/.364/.522 slash line against him…Civale was allowing 10.96 H/9 and 2.93 BB/9 during that span…the right-hander turned it around in his final 10 starts, posting a 3-1 record with a 3.00 ERA (17ER/51.0IP) and a 0.86 WHIP, limiting opponents to a .198/.232/.326 slash line while striking out 53 and walking 7 (7.57 SO/BB) in those starts…over that stretch, he ranked highly among AL pitchers (min. 50.0IP) in WHIP (2nd), opp. OPS (6th, .559) and opp. batting average (6th, 1.98)…Cleveland went 7-3 in his final 10 starts…earned the win in Cleveland’s AL Central-clinching 10-4 victory on Sept. 25 at TEX (5.0IP, 3H, 2ER, 7SO).
LOWEST WHIP AFTER JULY 8, 2022 AL PITCHERS (min. 50.0IP)
Player (Team) WHIP IP
Justin Verlander (HOU) 0.77 71.2
Aaron Civale (CLE) 0.86 50.0
Nestor Cortes (NYY) 0.89 73.1
Shane Bieber (CLE) 0.89 103.1
Civale struck out hitters at a higher rate than at any point in his career in 2022…posted career highs in SO% (24.1%), SO/9 (9.09) and SO/BB (4.45).
Found himself on the Injured List on three separate occasions… missing time from May 25-June 21 with left glute soreness, July 14-August 10 with a sprained right wrist and September 2-20 with right forearm inflammation.
THE ARSENAL
He utilized 7 different pitches in 2022, but primarily used a cutter, curveball and sinker approach, mixing in a 4-seam fastball periodically…threw his cutter 34.8% of the time, the highest of any of his pitches.
The curveball is his putaway pitch with batters hitting .124 with 58 strikeouts in 105 at-bats ending with the curve…the pitch averaged 65.8 inches of drop (11 more inches than average)…his curveball is in the 95th percentile of spin rate (Baseball Savant).
CIVALE’S PITCH ARSENAL
Pitch Type % MPH SO Opp BA
Cutter 34.8 86.4 20 .286
Curveball 27.5 75.9 58 .124
Sinker 21.9 91.3 13 .266
4-seam Fastball 8.8 90.7 5 .346
Split Finger 3.6 85.5 0 .500
Slider 1.8 81.6 0 .500
Sweeper 1.5 79.0 2 .375
SEATTLE MARINERS NOTES:
TONIGHT’S TILT…the Mariners play the third game of a 4-game series (1-1) against the Cleveland Guardians tonight…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…the game will also be televised live on FS1 with Adam Amin and Eric Karros on the call.
ODDS AND ENDS…the Mariners dropped last night’s contest to the Guardians by a 9-4 score…Seattle falls to 1-1 on the season…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 J-Rod Show – The first 20,000 fans at T-Mobile Park tonight will receive a Julio Rodríguez AL Rookie of the Year Bobblehead…Julio last night went 2-for-5 with a run scored, 2 doubles and a run batted in.
• 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).
• #1 For Wong – Kolten Wong registered his first hit in a Mariners uniform last night, an RBI single in the 1st inning that scored Julio Rodríguez.
• The Bullpen – Seattle’s bullpen is 1-0 with 1 save and a 1.04 ERA (1 ER, 8.2 IP) with 3 walks and 4 strikeouts through 2 games of action this season.
• Final Four – Ty France’s San Diego State Aztecs take on the Florida Atlantic Owls in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament…the Final Four game tips today at 3:09 pm PT.
SPEIER RECALLED; RAY PLACED ON 15-DAY IL…today the Mariners recalled left-handed pitcher Gabe Speier (spy-urr) from Triple-A Tacoma…left-hander Robbie Ray was placed on the 15-day Injured List (left flexor strain)…Speier was claimed off waivers by the Mariners from Kansas City on Nov. 9, 2022 and the left-hander shined in 9 spring appearances with Seattle, recording 13 strikeouts and no walks across 8.2 innings of Cactus League action…Ray, who tossed 3.1 innings in his season debut last night, threw 91 pitches (51 strikes) in his start…Ray led the Mariners with 212 strikeouts last season, which ranked 4th in the American League.
TEAM DEBUTS…Cooper Hummel and Trevor Gott each made their Mariners debuts last night…Hummel went 0-for-3 but reached base via hit-by-pitch, also recording a stolen base…Gott tossed 1.1 innings in relief, allowing 3 runs (0 earned runs) on 4 hits on 35 pitches (24 strikes)…Teoscar Hernández, Kolten Wong and Tommy La Stella all made their Mariners debuts in the starting lineup on Opening Day…when AJ Pollock first appears in a game with Seattle, it will mark his team debut.
CAL HITS THE BALL HARD…Cal Raleigh’s double in the 3rd inning last night registered a 111.7 mph exit velocity (Baseball Savant)…for the second game in a row, Raleigh registered the hardest-hit ball of the game…on Opening Day, his single up the middle at 109.9 mph was the hardest-hit ball of the game…Raleigh’s 111.7 mph double yesterday was the hardest-hit ball of any batted ball across the Majors on Friday.
FLEX-IBLE…Chris Flexen made his season debut last night, tossing 4.0 innings out of the bullpen…he allowed just one run on 4 hits, walking 3 and striking out one batter on 66 pitches (39 strikes)…in 65 games with the Mariners (2021-c), Flexen has either started (53) or finished (12) all 65 games that he’s appeared in.
HOMESTAND HIGHLIGHTS…while tonight vs. Cleveland (Julio Rodríguez Bobblehead Night) is sold out, tickets remain available for tomorrow, Sunday, April 2 (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 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 today.
FAMILIAR FACES…20 of the 26 players on the Mariners Opening Day roster had 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 STARTER – RHP LOGAN GILBERT
ABOUT LOGAN GILBERT…
• The 25-year-old right-handed pitcher is scheduled to make his season debut…he will also make the 57th start of his MLB career and 4th areer start against the Guardians.
• Selected by Seattle in the 1st round (14th overall) of the 2018 MLB First-Year Player Draft; signed by Mariners scout Rob Mummau.
• Spent 3 seasons at Stetson (FL) University, 2016-18…in 2017, was ASUN Pitcher of the Year and ASUN 1st-Team All-Conference.
• Was named the 2022 Mariners Most Valuable Pitcher by the Seattle Chapter of the BBWAA.
LAST TIME OUT…ND in last start of the regular season against OAK on 9/30, tossing a career-high 8.0 innings allowing just 1 run on 3 hits (1 HR) and 2 walks with 4 strikeouts.
PLAYOFF PERFORMER…made 1 start in the playoffs, on 10/11 at HOU in Game 1 of the ALDS…ND after allowing 3 runs on 5 hits (1 HR) and 2 walks with 5 strikeouts over 5.1 innings.
PITCHER OF THE MONTH…was named AL Pitcher of the Month for April 2022, the first time he has won the award… marks the first Mariners winner since James Paxton in July, 2017 and the 14th different player to win the award (19th instance).
MONTH OF MARVEL…his 0.40 ERA (1 ER, 22.1 IP) in April 2022 was the lowest ERA in a month in Mariners history, surpassing Mark Langston’s 0.50 ERA (3 ER, 53.2 IP) in September 1988 (min. 20.0 IP).
THE KING AND I…became the 3rd fastest Mariners starter to 300 career strikeouts when he struck out Vimael Machin on 9/30/22 vs. OAK…it took Gilbert just 56 starts to reach the milestone…only Félix Hernández (51 GS) and Erik Hanson (53 GS) reached the milestone in fewer games.
FIRST 50…made his 50th career start on 8/26/22, going 16-10 with a 4.01 ERA (120 ER, 269.0 IP) with 261 strikeouts…his 261 strikeouts are the 5thmost over a pitchers first 50 career starts in Mariners history, trailing Félix Hernández (295), Erik Hanson (279), Hisashi Iwakuma (266) and Taijuan Walker (263).
FROM WEAKNESS TO STRENGTH…tossed 6.0+ innings in 18 starts in 2022, after accomplishing the feat just 6 times in 24 starts in 2021…the Mariners were 12-6 in 2022 when Gilbert tossed at least 6.0 innings.
QUALITY AND QUANTITY…recorded quality starts in 7-consecutive starts from 5/17-6/19, which tied Robbie Ray for the longest streak by a Mariners starter in 2022…marked the Mariners longest quality start streak since James Paxton had 9-consecutive quality starts from 6/27-8/10/17…Gilbert’s 16 total quality starts in 2022 were the 3rd-most on the team, trailing Ray (18) and Marco Gonzales (18).
TRIPLE SEVENS…tossed 7.0 innings in 3-consecutive starts dating from 5/17- 5/28/22…3 consecutive starts of 7.0+ innings marked the longest streak in his career, having never done it in consecutive starts prior to the streak…became the first Mariners pitcher with 3-consecutive starts of 7.0+ innings since Marco Gonzales had 4 consecutive from 9/11-9/29/19.
TURN IT UP TO 11…struck out a career-high 11 batters on 9/19/22 against Los Angeles-AL…bested his previous career-high of 9, which he had done 6 times, most recently on 9/6/22 vs. CWS
HE’S LIKE THE ROCKET, MAN…became just the 2nd pitcher in AL history to strike out 15-or-more batters while allowing no more than 1 walk and no more than 1 earned run over his first 3 starts of the season, joining Roger Clemens (1991) via Stats Perform.
A NIGHT TO REMEMBER…Logan Gilbert (#28) and Jarred Kelenic (#4) made their MLB debuts on May 13, 2021 vs. Cleveland, becoming the highest ranking duo to debut in the same game since MLB.com began prospect rankings in 2011…there have only been 2 other instances where multiple top-100 prospects debuted for the same team in the same game…on July 23, 2013, outfielders Jake Marisnick (#70) and Christian Yelich (#13) both debuted for Miami…on Sept. 21, 2016, outfielders Manuel Margot (#45) and Hunter Renfroe (#92) both debuted for San Diego.
