After an impressive run last season, the Seattle Mariners are looking forward to ending the longest playoff drought in the big leagues and look to get a leg up on the Houston Astros in a season-opening AL West series. Both teams are contenders for the division title and will look to make an early statement. Seattle tweaked its roster with an improved defense and more speed, but they still have the boppers that contributed to the 223 home runs last season.
This series will be contested from Monday, April 3, 2017 through Thursday, April 6, 2017 at Minute Maid Park in Houston.
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Pitching Matchups
The opener will pit two of the best pitchers in the AL who each had sub-par seasons in 2016. The return to form of both is vital to their team’s success in 2017. Felix Hernandez dealt with injuries last season and started just 25 games. He did post an 11-8 record with a 3.82 ERA, however, he struggled in two starts against the Astros, losing both with an 8.10 ERA. He’ll be opposed by 2015 Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel, who went 9-12 with a 4.55 ERA last year.
Hernandez reported to training camp in better shape after a grueling offseason workout program and was tossing pills during the spring. He’ll be tough to beat early in the year and gives the M’s an advantage in the opener.
Hisashi Iwakuma takes the bump against Lance McCullers in Game 2 of the series. Iwakuma led the M’s with 16 wins last season and has a respectable 3.26 ERA in eight career starts at Minute Maid Park. McCullers missed the final two months of 2016 with an elbow problem and the Astros need the fireballer at the top of the rotation. When healthy, McCullers is a gem. He went 6-5 with a 3.22 ERA last season and also missed time at the beginning of the year.
James Paxton looks to build off a solid 2016 after a mid-season call up. He’ll face Charlie Morton in the third game of the series. Signed during the offseason, Morton will make his first start in a year. He tore his hamstring last April while on the hill for the Phillies. Drew Smyly is scheduled to get the ball for Seattle in the finale, but the lefty experienced some discomfort in his pitching arm late in the spring and it’s possible he could be scratched. Joe Musgrove will get the nod for the ‘Stros after a solid spring. He was 4-4 with a 4.06 ERA in 10 starts across 11 games last season.
Upgrades
The Mariners made several offseason moves to strengthen their defense and the acquisitions of Mitch Haniger and Jarrod Dyson are significant improvements to the outfield. The AL West has some spacious parks in Houston, Arlington, Oakland and Seattle and the added speed and athleticism of those two, along with Leonys Martin, should help cut down a few runs and aid the pitching staff.
There should be plenty of offense in this series with the bats on both teams and a defensive gem along the way could help in getting a win or two. The M’s also want to diversify their offense and not rely on the long ball as much. But big seasons from Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager, who combined to hit 112 of the team’s dingers last season, would be welcomed.
Bullpen Differences
The Mariners are hopeful Edwin Diaz is their closer for the long haul. The flame thrower returns for his first full season in that role after registering 18 saves and fanning 15.3 batters per nine innings. It was a small sample size and the M’s are putting the job in the hands of a kid who just turned 23 and was an anonymous starter at the Double A level to start 2016. It’s a different animal now that he’s the guy to start the year and we’ve seen guys fail countless times when put in this position.
And more concerning for the M’s is the bridge leading to Diaz. Former closer Steve Cishek was penciled in as the main set-up man and he’s currently on the disabled list. That leaves an assortment of players to pick up the slack, among them are Nick Vincent, Evan Scribner, Casey Fien and Dan Altavilla. Not a group that strikes fear into opposing hitters and certainly not the Astros lineup. Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman and Co. could be salivating over the chance to face the M’s pen, and there’s a good chance that’ll happen often during the four-game series.
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