SEATTLE MARINERS NOTES:
TONIGHT’S TILT…the Mariners continue an 11-day, 9-game road trip with the second game of a 3-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies (1-0)…the Mariners will also travel to Toronto (3 G, 4/28-4/30) and Oakland (3 G, 5/2-5/4) on the trip…tonight’s game will be televised live on ROOT SPORTS Plus with Dave Sims and Mariners Hall of Famer Dan Wilson on the call and broadcast live on Seattle Sports (710 AM) and Mariners.com with Rick Rizzs and Aaron Goldsmith.
ODDS AND ENDS…the Mariners defeated the Phillies by a 5-3 score in last night’s series opener…Seattle is 5-3 in series openers this season, with a 3-4 overall series record…Seattle is 7-9 at T-Mobile Park and 4-3 on the road this season…the Mariners are 7-4 over their last 11 games since April 12.
• Programming Note – Tonight’s game will air live on ROOT SPORTS Plus.
• The Recipe For Success – The Mariners are 10-2 (.833) when allowing 3-or-fewer runs.
• .500 – With a win tonight, Seattle would get to .500 for the third time this season (also: 1-1 on 3/31 and 8-8 on 4/16).
• Walter – In 4 starts this season, Logan Gilbert has 4 walks and 28 strikeouts…his strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.0) ranks 7th in the AL (min. 20 IP)…George Kirby (17.0 SO/BB) ranks 1st in the AL.
• Happy Birthday! – First baseman Evan White celebrates his 27th birthday today.
• Paul Is Life – Paul Sewald is 7-for-7 in save opportunities this season and is tied for 2nd-most saves in the American League.
JARRED KELENIC: AMERICAN LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE MONTH?…in 21 games this season, Jarred Kelenic is batting .342 (25×73) with 11 runs, 7 doubles, 7 home runs, 14 RBI, 3 stolen bases and 7 walks, getting on base at a .395 clip, slugging .726 with a 1.121 OPS…Kelenic leads the Majors in wRC+ (210)…Kelenic leads the American League in slugging percentage and OPS, ranking 3rd in batting average, T2nd in home runs, T4th in extra-base hits (14), T3rd in total bases (53), 8th in on-base percentage, T2nd in fWAR (1.4) and T4th in bWAR (1.2).
GIVE ‘EM KEL…Jarred Kelenic went 3-for-4 with a double and home run in last night’s win…Jarred has homered in 3 consecutive games (4/22-c) and 4 consecutive road games (4/10-c) and with a home run in his next game would become the 4th Mariners player to homer in 4+ straight games twice in the same season, joining Jim Presley (1985), Ken Griffey Jr. (1993) and Nelson Cruz (2015)…he would become the first Mariners player to homer in 5 consecutive road games since Cruz did it from Sept. 13-25, 2016…Jarred has already notched 2 separate streaks (4 G, 4/10-4/14; 3 G, 4/22-c) of homering in 3+ consecutive contests…Jarred has also already notched 2 separate streaks (5 G, 4/8-4/14; 5 G, 4/19-c) of recording an RBI in 5+ consecutive contests, becoming the first Mariners player to record multiple 5+ game RBI streaks in a season since Cruz in 2017, and the first age 23-or-younger since Alex Rodriguez in 1998…Kelenic is also the youngest player with multiple 5+ game RBI streaks within his team’s first 25 games of a season since Dale Murphy for the 1979 Braves, and is the youngest player in American League history to do it…Kelenic is the 4th player age 23-or-younger in Major League history to record 2 separate streaks of homering in 3+ consecutive contests within his team’s first 25 games of a season, joining Earl Torgeson (1947 Boston Braves), Pete Incaviglia (1987 Rangers) and Miguel Cabrera (2004 Marlins).
GEM-TWIRLING GENTS…the Mariners are tied for the 3rd-best pitching staff in the Majors by fWAR (3.9) along with Minnesota and Texas, trailing Atlanta (4.0) and Tampa Bay (4.0)…through 23 games this season, Seattle’s staff holds a 3.70 ERA (87 ER, 211.2 IP) with 8 saves, 77 walks and 211 strikeouts…the Mariners have held their opponents to 2-or-fewer runs in 8 of 23 games this season and 3-or-fewer runs in 12 of 23 games.
TRIDENT TEO…Teoscar Hernández hit a 2-run homer in the 6th inning last night…Teo has homered in 3 of his last 4 games…over his last 18 contests (4/4-c), he is batting .288 (21×73) with 10 runs, 2 doubles, 6 home runs and 15 RBI, getting on base at a .312 clip, slugging .562 with an .873 OPS.
SUÁREZ EXTENDS ON-BASE STREAK TO 20…Eugenio Suárez went 1-for-4 with a double last night, extending his on-base streak to a career-high 20 games (4/2-c)…the 20-game streak is tied for 3rdlongest active streak in the Majors and surpasses his previous-high 19-game on-base streak (9/8/2019-7/24/2020 w/CIN)…overall this season, Geno is batting .261 (23×88) with 9 runs, 4 doubles, 2 home runs and 15 RBI in 23 games.
BULLPEN BULLIES…the Mariners have 4 relief pitchers who rank in the top-50 in fWAR among relief pitchers: Matt Brash (0.5 fWAR), Trevor Gott (0.3), Gabe Speier (0.3) and Paul Sewald (0.3), tied for most relievers in the Majors with Baltimore and Cincinnati…overall this season, the Mariners bullpen is 4-5 with 19 holds, 8 saves and a 3.21 ERA (32 ER, 89.2 IP) with 44 walks (8 intentional) and 96 strikeouts in 23 games this season…Justin Topa and Penn Murfee have also been key pieces out of the bullpen, with Topa tossing 9.0 innings with no earned runs and 9 strikeouts in 9 appearances, and Murfee posting a 1.93 ERA (2 ER, 9.1 IP) wiht 10 strikeouts across 11 appearances.
J.P. THE ON-BASE MACHINE…J.P. Crawford reached base twice last night, going 1-for-3 with an RBI, walk and stolen base…over his last 12 games (4/11-c), J.P. has gotten on base at a .500 clip, reaching safely 20 times (9 hits, 11 walks) in 40 trips to the plate…during that span, the Mariners shortstop is batting .310 (9×29) with 9 runs scored, 3 doubles, 2 RBI and 11 walks, slugging .414 with a .914 OPS.
MANNY, BONE & NEGRÓN…the Mariners have the 2nd-best defense in the Majors this season according to Baseball Savant’s Outs Above Average…Seattle’s 8 OAA trails only Arizona (11), ranking ahead of New York-NL (7) and San Diego (6)…Eugenio Suárez (4 OAA) is tied for 2nd-most in the Majors, while Ty France (2), J.P. Crawford (1), Teoscar Hernández (1), Jarred Kelenic (1) and Julio Rodríguez (1) all rank positively in the metric.
AS YOU MAY KNOW…the Mariners have received contributions up-and-down the lineup this season,
but…DID YOU KNOW?…that Seattle’s 7 qualified batters with an OPS+ of at least 100 leads the
Majors?…the 7 Mariners with an above-league average OPS+ are Jarred Kelenic (American Leagueleading 213 OPS+), Ty France (123), Teoscar Hernández (113), J.P. Crawford (111), Julio Rodríguez
(106), Eugenio Suárez (105) and Cal Raleigh (102)…the Phillies currently rank 2nd in the Majors with 6
players…the most qualified batters with an above-league average OPS+ for the Mariners in a season is
6 players, which has been accomplished 3 times: 1997, 2003 and 2007.
TONIGHT’S MARINERS STARTER – RHP LOGAN GILBERT
ABOUT LOGAN GILBERT…
• The 25-year-old right-handed pitcher is scheduled to make his 5th start of the season…he will also make the 61st start of his MLB career and 2nd career start against the Phillies.• 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 4th start of the regular season against Milwaukee on 4/18, tossing 6.0 innings and allowing 4 runs on 5 hits (2 HR)
with 8 strikeouts.
AMONG MARINERS GREATS…with his 8 strikeouts in his last outing Logan passed Randy Johnson for the 3rd most strikeouts through a pitchers first 60 Mariners starts with 330…he trails only Félix Hernández (351) and Erik Hanson (349).
EARLY SEASON SUCCESS…holds a career 2.00 ERA (45.0 IP, 10 ER) in March/April, tied for the lowest ERA in the Majors among active starting pitchers with at least 8 games started in March/April (also: Zac Gallen-ARI)…in March/April, Gilbert has allowed 34 hits, 11 runs (10 ER), 8 walks and 4 home runs while striking out 50…opponents are batting .206 (24×165) against him.
STRIKEOUT STREAK…in each of his first 4 starts this season Gilbert has recorded at least 6 strikeouts…this marks the first time in his career that he has pitched 4 straight games with 6+ strikeouts…the active 4-game streak is tied for the 2nd longest streak among starting pitchers in the Majors this season with 4 other players…he trails only Pablo López-MIN and Shane McClanahan-TB who each have a 5-game streak.
ON A ROLL…Logan’s 28 strikeouts so far this season ranks second among Mariners starting pitchers…he trails only Luis Castillo (34)…his 28 strikeouts is a new career-high in March/April…his career-high for most strikeouts in a month came in 2022 when he had 41 strikeouts in Sept/Oct.
VS. NATIONAL LEAGUE…is making his 7th career start against interleague opponents…holds a 3-2 record with a 3.21 ERA (33.2 IP, 12 ER) with 14 walks and 35 strikeouts…interleague opponents are batting .200 (25×125) against Gilbert.
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).
INNINGS EATER…ranked 9th in the AL in innings pitched last season with 185.2…he ranked second among Mariners starting pitchers trailing only Robbie Ray (189.0)…Gilbert threw 6.0+ innings in 18 starts last year.
QUALITY AND QUANTITY…has recorded two quality starts this season…had 16 quality starts in 2022 the 3rd most among Mariners starting pitchers and tied 16th in the AL with Dylan Cease-CHW and Shohei Ohtani-LAA …he trailed only Marco Gonzales and Robbie Ray who each had 18.
TURN IT UP TO 11…recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts on 9/19/22 at Los Angeles-AL…earned his 13th win of the season and pitched 6.0 innings while giving up 4 hits, 1 run, and 1 walk.
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 5th-most over a pitchers first 50 career starts in Mariners history, trailing Félix Hernández (295), Erik Hanson (279), Hisashi Iwakuma (266) and Taijuan Walker (263).
THE KING AND I…became the 3rd fastest Mariners starter to 300 career strikeouts when he struck out Vimael Machín 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.
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.
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
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES NOTES:
GAME #24 RECAP: The Phillies fell to the Seattle Mariners, 5-3, at CBP in South Philly … Starter Bailey Falter (L, 0-4) allowed 4 runs (3 ER) in 6.0 innings on 6 hits with 0 walks and 7 strikeouts … Offensively, Nick Castellanos had 2 hits to raise his OBP for the year to .382 … Yunior Marte and Andrew Vasquez made scoreless appearances in relief of Falter.
REMEMBER THE FIGHTINS: After starting the year 0-4 and being outscored 37-12 (-25) through their first four games (3/30-4/3), the Phillies have gone 11-9 with a +13 run differential in their 20 games since (4/4-current) … Philadelphia has won four of their last six (since 4/19), six of their last nine (since 4/16) and seven of their last 11 (since 4/14).
BEDLAM AT THE BANK: Through 11 games at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies are averaging 39,718 in attendance per game which ranks 4th among all clubs in MLB behind only the Dodgers (49,418), Padres (40,343) and Cardinals (39,881) … Of Philadelphia’s first 11 games at home, six have been sellouts … Philadelphia’s 436,893 in total attendance is the highest at this point in a season since 2012 when each of the first 11 games were sellouts with a total attendance of 498,461 at CBP.
JUST. SCORE. FOUR.: This season, the Phillies are 10-3 in 13 games when they score at least four runs … Conversely, they are 1-10 in 11 games when they score three runs or fewer … Dating back to the start of last season, the Phillies are 81-26 (.757 win %) when they score four or more and 17-62 (.215 win %) when they score three or fewer.
PHILLY SPECIAL: Since Rob Thomson took over as manager on June 3, 2022, the Phillies have played 65 games at Citizens Bank Park (41-24 record) – they have scored 343 runs in those 65 games (5.28 runs per game) and are slashing .272/.338/.473 with an .811 OPS … Among all major league clubs at home since June 3, 2022, the date Thomson took over, the Phillies rank 1st in runs per game (next: COL, 5.24), SLG (next: ATL, .464) & OPS (next: COL, .795), 3rd in AVG and 4th in OBP … Under Thomson at home, the Phillies have a +67 run differential (343-276) and a 14-4-2 series record … Philadelphia’s .631 winning percentage at home since Thomson took over ranks 4th in the National League behind Atlanta (.723), the Dodgers (.681) & the Mets (.639) and 7th in MLB.
MARSH MADNESS: Phillies center fielder Brandon Marsh enters tonight’s game slashing .357/.444/.729 with a 1.173 OPS that leads major league baseball (next: LAD’s Max Muncy, 1.129 OPS) … Marsh has reached base safely in 21 of his 22 games played this season, including each of his last 20 (since 4/3 at NYY) … Since being acquired by the Phillies via trade from the Los Angeles Angels for Logan O’Hoppe at least year’s deadline, Marsh is slashing .312/.365/.550 with a .915 OPS that ranks 9th among 202 MLB players with 200+ plate appearances in that span … Marsh’s .550 SLG since joining the Phillies ranks 6th in MLB behind only Mike Trout (.657), Aaron Judge (.637), Jose Altuve (.569), Muncy (.551) and Bo Bichette (.550).
FOUR TO GO FOR 400: In Saturday’s 4-3 win over the Rockies, Craig Kimbrel tossed a scoreless 9th inning (1 SO) and picked up his 396th career save … Kimbrel’s 396th career save came in his 719th game – the only two pitchers in MLB history to reach 400 saves in 800 or fewer career games were Hall of Famers Mariano Rivera (400th SV in 697th career G) and Trevor Hoffman (400th SV in 706th career G) … Billy Wagner currently ranks 3rd-fastest in MLB history as he reached his 400th save in his 813th career game.
STRIKE ONE, STRIKE TWO, GOOD LUCK: In Sunday’s 9-3 win over the Rockies, LHP Jose Alvarado worked a scoreless 8th inning (1.0 IP, H, 2 SO) … Dating back to Sept. 13, 2022, Alvarado has made 17 appearances – he has multiple strikeouts in 15 of those 17 games and has multiple strikeouts with 0 walks in 14 of those 17 … Alvarado, who has faced 36 batters this season, has 20 strikeouts and 0 walks … Since his last walk on Sept. 21, 2022 vs TOR, Alvarado has faced 55 batters and has struck out 32 of them (58.1% SO rate) with 0 walks.
WHIFF BROTHERS: Out of 394 qualified pitchers in MLB, six pitchers rank in the 99th percentile or above in whiff rate and the Phillies have two of those six in their bullpen … LHP Gregory Soto ranks in the 100th percentile in whiff rate and LHP Jose Alvarado ranks in the 99th percentile … Soto has a 48.8% whiff rate (80 swings, 39 misses) on all pitches and Alvarado has generated a 45.3% whiff rate on his offerings (75 swings, 34 misses) … More specifically, Alvarado’s cutter has a 64.0% whiff rate which ranks 4th among any single pitch by any pitcher in MLB this year, behind only Felix Bautista’s splitter (66.7%), Brandon Woodruff’s changeup (66.7%) and Andrew Chafin’s slider (64.7%) … Soto’s slider has a 63.6% whiff rate which ranks 5th in MLB, behind Alvarado’s cutter.
A CHECK UNDER THE HOOD (h/t Statcast): OF Cristian Pache has increased his average launch angle on balls in play from 3.8% last year to 16.5% this season … C J.T. Realmuto leads MLB (since 2022) in Statcast’s new metric, Catcher Caught Stealing Above Average – Since 2022, Realmuto has 16, more than 2nd (Martin Maldonado – 7) and 3rd place (Gabriel Moreno – 6) combined … Realmuto (1.81 seconds) and Garrett Stubbs (1.85 seconds) have the two fastest pop time averages of all catchers in MLB this year to second base (min. 1 attempt) … RHP Taijuan Walker is throwing his splitter at a career-high rate of 33.0% (previous: 27.6% in 2022) and has debuted a sweeper that he is throwing 14.3% of the time … Brandon Marsh ranks in the 84th percentile in arm strength among all MLB position players and his 90.2 MPH average on 58 throws from center field rank 5th among qualified center fielders.
BULLISH ON THE PEN: Over the last nine games (since 4/16 at CIN), the Phillies bullpen has totaled 27.0 innings pitched with only 3 ER allowed (1.00 ERA), with 32 strikeouts and four walks (8.00 SO/BB ratio), while averaging 14.8 pitches per inning … During this span they have allowed 0 home runs and held the 103 batters they have faced to a .425 OPS … Over their first 15 games of the season (3/30-4/15), the bullpen posted a 7.19 ERA (45 ER, 56.1 IP) with 60 strikeouts to 41 walks (1.46 SO/BB ratio) while averaging 19.7 pitches per inning.
TONIGHT’S STARTER – TAIJUAN WALKER • RHP #99
2023: 2-1, 3.80 ERA Career: 56-51, 3.89 ERA
LAST START: 4/19 at CWS: W, 6.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO … Walker vs Clevinger … The Phillies defeated the White Sox, 5-2, on a getaway day in Chicago … Trea Turner (3-5, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI) fell a triple shy of the cycle and the bullpen combined for 2.1 innings of scoreless relief behind Walker.
TONIGHT’S START:
• To the Left: Walker has allowed only 3 hits to the 33 LHH he has faced this season (3-27, .111 AVG) and 1 XBH (2B) …Among the 108 RHP in MLB to face at least 30 LHH, his .111 OPV AVG is 6th-lowest (lowest: Graham Ashcraft, .049)… LHH are batting 17 points lower than RHH against him in his career (.230 vs .247)
• Doing the Splits: Walker has used his splitter 33.0% of the time in 2023, by far the highest rate of his career (previous: 27.6% in 2022) … He has thrown it more often than any other pitch (127 times, next: 4-seam 86 times) and has surrendered only 1 XBH (3B) on it
• From the Ground Up: Walker’s 60.0% ground ball rate is T-3rd highest among all ML pitchers (min. 20.0 IP), trailing only Framber Valdez (65.5%) and Alex Cobb (62.5%)
• Out to SEA: Walker is making his first career start against SEA, the team that drafted him in the 1st round (43rd overall) in the 2010 MLB Draft … He spent the first 7 years of his pro career (and first 4 years of his ML career) with SEA, and returned to them for a stint in 2020 … The only other team he has never faced in ARI, who he played for from 2017-19
• Hit Me: Opponents have batted just .208 (11-65) against Walker this season … He has not allowed more than 5 hits in any of his 4 starts this season
• Three’s Company: Walker is 2-0 with a 2.65 ERA (5 ER, 17.0 IP) and just 1 HR allowed in his last 3 starts … He has pitched at least 6.0 IP and allowed 2 runs or fewer in each of the last 2
• vs AL West: 13-12, 4.41 ERA (96 ER, 196.0 IP) in 38 games (35 starts)
• vs Interleague: 11-7, 3.81 ERA (55 ER, 130.0 IP) in 23 starts
HOME:
• 2023: 0-0, 3.86 ERA (2 ER, 4.2 IP) in 1 start
• Career: 24-21, 3.81 ERA (189 ER, 446.0 IP) in 81 games (79 starts)
• CBP: 1-1, 5.02 ERA (16 ER, 28.2 IP) in 6 starts
2023 SEASON:
• Made his season and Phillies debut on 4/3 at NYY after signing a 4-year contract with the club in December
• Pitched for Team Mexico in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, making one start in Pool Play against Great Britain … He threw 4.0 scoreless IP with 2 baserunners allowed and recorded 8 of his 12 outs via strikeout
