The Mariners lost another tough one in the later innings in today’s spring training game against the Angels, who staged a three-run comeback in the ninth inning to snatch victory away from the Mariners, who now stand at 3-7 on the spring.
Angels starter George Klassen looked tough today in his three-inning sample, busting fastballs up to the plate at an average of 97.5 mph, paired with a changeup that was his actual whiff-getting weapon: all four of his whiffs (and therefore all four of his strikeouts) came on the changeup. You might have read about Klassen in our writeup of the Angels’ farm system; John’s analysis of Klassen is there are questions if he’ll be a starter or reliever due to his limited repertoire and occasional command outages. Three spring training innings isn’t enough to judge, but we’ll certainly see him in some form when facing Anaheim this season.
Two Mariners did get to Klassen: Patrick Wisdom ambushed a first-pitch fastball for a well-struck solo home run in the second inning, and two batters later Rhylan Thomas dropped the barrel on a slider for a turn-and-burn pull solo homer.
The Mariners couldn’t hold that lead, however. Bryan Woo was good-not-great in his second outing of the spring, with four punchouts of his own over 2.1 innings. The first two innings went smoothly, but he opened the third inning with a walk followed by a single off the bat of Bryce Teodosio and then used up the remainder of his pitch count for the day on a nine-pitch battle with Chris Taylor that ended up with Taylor striking out chasing a fastball off the plate. Michael Rucker, called in to polish off the inning, couldn’t keep his inherited runners from scoring, eventually walking off the mound to a 2-2 tie.
The Angels went ahead in the following inning. Casey Legumina got into another lengthy battle with an Angels hitter, eventually walking Kyren Paris on ten pitches. He then fell behind Jeimer Candelario, who is apparently an Angel now, 3-1 before serving up a 93 mph fastball right in the lefty loop zone for a two-run homer to make the game 4-2. No, Casey! Don’t do that, Casey! It’s an unfortunate step back for Legumina, who has looked better this spring, but as they say, growth isn’t linear.
Seattle got one of those runs back in the fourth; Brent Suter walked J.P. Crawford and Ryan Bliss doubled him over to third (the crowd was very unhappy with third base coach Carlos Cardoza’s refusal to send J.P. home; friends, this is spring training). 19-year-old Colt Emerson then came up with a sacrifice fly off the 36-year-old Suter, a fact that amuses me and also feels very appropriate for a player who, as Ryan Divish says, was “a 27 year old when he came out of the womb.”
The Mariners were able to tie things up in the fifth thanks to Brendan Donovan, doing his best Josh Naylor impression by walking, stealing second, and then taking third on a wild pitch from Ryan Zeferjahn, which I spelled right on the first try, thank you. Brian O’Keefe walked and moved to second when Zeferjahn hit Jakson Reetz with a 92 mph sinker, and Patrick Wisdom singled to bring home both the tying and go-ahead run.
The second line added another insurance run in the sixth. Rhylan Thomas singled off old friend and Tacoma teammate Tayler Saucedo and moved to second on a wild pitch before scoring on a Spencer Packard single, making it 6-4 Mariners.
It wasn’t pretty but the bullpen held the line <— a line from another, more fun recap I was writing before Michael Morales, after barely escaping the eighth inning, went back out for the ninth and gave up a double followed by a walk, forcing Dan Wilson to call on one of his “jicky” (Just In Case) players in Reid Easterly, who is someone I didn’t know was a Mariner until today. Maybe faced with a clean inning Easterly would have gotten out of the jam, but as it was, he immediately gave up a game-tying double followed by a go-ahead single. The Mariners had one last chance—Carson Taylor hit a two-out double and Cole Young worked a walk behind him—but Brock Rodden popped out to end the game.
Pitching Pile Update:
Today’s clear winner was Cole Wilcox, who pitched a sterling 1-2-3 inning and looked dominant, needing just nine pitches, eight of which he threw for strikes—a big development for a player whose bugaboo has been command. Wilcox spammed his off-speed today: six of those nine pitches were the slider/sweeper (although only one a sweeper, per Statcast); the other three were sinkers. It seems like each of Wilcox’s innings has been stronger than the last; I’m very intrigued by him and what he does next.
Robinson Ortiz technically worked a scoreless inning, but it should be noted he got bailed out by a dazzling double play from Will Wilson at third base, who handled a very sharply-hit ground ball (105.5 EV) on a tricky hop for a seamless double play. While Brennan Davis has sucked up most of the post-hype-prospect redemption-arc attention, I am intrigued by Will Wilson, who soothes the ache somewhat of losing the surehanded Ben Williamson at third (although the Rays are apparently using Williamson as a utility infielder, playing him at second, third, and short this spring).
Fringe Friends Update:
Speaking of Brennan Davis, he had another loud single today. You know how they say “it just sounds different off his bat”? I experienced that firsthand with Davis, as the contact he made on a single that came off the bat at 111 mph was so loud in the press box I literally gasped out loud like I was in a telenovela. On a team that is pretty well settled as far as position battles go, following the Brennan Davis storyline is one of the most fun things about this spring.
Cole Young Appreciation Post:
Cole Young played the back half of this game in order to give Ryan Bliss a chance to play at second, which is a little like your teenage cousin being forced to sit at the kids’ table, but Young handled it well. He worked a walk to extend the ninth inning with yet another polished plate appearance, and he also showed off what’s becoming a theme this spring of improved infield defense. Hobby horse alert: you will be seeing something on the site soon about Young’s improved (re-proved?) defense. Look at the ground he covers on this bunt!
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