ARLINGTON, Texas — At one point, the Seattle Mariners were on top of the world – or, at the very least, on top of the American League West. Though sporting one of the league’s most flaccid offenses they laid claim to outstanding pitching, which helped them rise to the top of the division in the first half.
After a precipitous drop throughout the summer, it was clear that Seattle’s rise was a product of smoke and mirrors as they benefited from the poor play of the two Texas teams in the division. Houston righted themselves and eventually overtook Seattle’s spot atop the West, while the Rangers haven’t been able to change their course toward respectability all season.
Now these division rivals meet trying to fend off elimination. The pitching staff that Seattle will face this weekend is far different than the one that Texas was sporting just days ago as top pitching prospect Kumar Rocker will make his debut in the opener and former Cy Young winners Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer will each make a return from injury with deGrom set to start in his first game since last April and Scherzer returning for his first outing since the end of July.
Texas Rangers (70-76, 3rd Place AL West, 7.5 GB) @ Seattle Mariners (74-72, 2nd Place AL West, 3.5 GB)
Seattle down the stretch
The biggest thing that’s changed since the Rangers last played Seattle, a sweep of Texas at T-Mobile Park back in June, is that they fired their manager Scott Servais on August 12 and replaced him with former catcher Dan Wilson. From that series in June until they fired Servais, the Mariners went 21-33 and saw a 10-game lead in the AL West become a deficit. The team went from 13-games over .500 around that point to just .500 at the time of firing.
Despite the trade deadline acquisitions of Randy Arozarena and Justin Turner, the offense for the Mariners remains dead last in batting average at .220, fourth lowest in runs scored at 591, and last in hits at 1043. These are woes that Rangers fans are certainly familiar with, a frustrating lack of offensive production despite receiving decent pitching – the problem for the Mariners is that their pitching has been far better than Texas’, which makes the lack of run support stand out even more.
Injuries to key players, such as outfielder Julio Rodriguez and shortstop J.P. Crawford have not helped matters at the dish either. Rodriguez was injured from the end of July through mid-August, while Crawford was on the IL for a couple of weeks longer than that.
Even before the injuries, the stars that Seattle was counting on hadn’t been productive, and their presence hasn’t dictated much respect. Rodriguez’ slash line on the year .259/.315/.373, is a vast drop from his last two years, while Crawford is hitting below the Mendoza line at .198/.304/.327.
Turner hasn’t been a lineup savior, slashing just .243/.354/.355 since coming from the Dodgers. Arozarena has fared marginally better (.238/.357/.392) since coming from Tampa Bay, but, like the Rangers, the cohesiveness and consistency from the lineup isn’t there which has been wasting a lot of excellent outings from their starting rotation.
Seattle also boosted their bullpen to complement their strong starting pitching. They reunited with one of their former relievers with righty JT Chargois returning after pitching well for the Miami Marlins. Righty Yimi Garcia came over from the Toronto Blue Jays and has been an excellent setup man with a high-velocity fastball and two different breaking balls.
The matchups
Game 147, 8:40 PM CT - RHP Kumar Rocker vs. RHP Bryce Miller (11-8, 3.18 ERA)
Game 148, 9:10 PM CT - RHP Jacob deGrom vs. TBD
Game 149, 8:40 PM CT - RHP Max Scherzer (2-4, 3.89 ERA) vs. RHP Logan Gilbert (7-11, 3.15 ERA)
Game 150, 3:10 PM CT - TBD vs. RHP George Kirby (11-11, 3.77 ERA)
Seattle will open the series with Bryce Miller and follow that up with Logan Gilbert and George Kirby in the last two games. Miller has been on a good roll of late, including his most recent start, throwing six scoreless against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Gilbert has given the Rangers a lot of problems this season, throwing a total of 14 ⅔ scoreless innings against them. Texas has mustered just four hits total in two starts against Gilbert. He was a hard-luck loser against the Cardinals in his previous outing, giving up just two runs in eight innings but taking the loss as the Mariners couldn’t score anything in support of the righty.
Kirby was roughed up by San Diego last time out, giving up five runs in five innings, but picked up the win last time that he faced the Rangers, allowing just one run in six innings, and has generally fared well against Texas.
Saturday’s start would have been Luis Castillo’s spot, but he is on the injured list with a Grade 2 hamstring strain. Emerson Hancock, who was in the rotation at the start of the season, or Jhonathan Diaz, who joined the team when rosters expanded this month, are the most likely candidates to take his place on Saturday.
The Rangers, meanwhile, have quite a bit of excitement and virtually an entirely new rotation coming with them to Seattle, despite the depressing series in Arizona. Heralded pitching prospect Rocker will make his Major League debut in the series opener. Rocker, 24, made his return earlier this season from Tommy John surgery and made 10 starts on the farm where his stock was raised enormously. The former No. 3 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft posted a 1.96 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 36.2 innings.
On Friday night, deGrom will make his season debut after four successful rehab starts in his return from his second Tommy John surgery. Saturday’s start will see Scherzer return to the rotation; Scherzer’s making his return from a second stint on the IL this season.
With essentially three new starters, the Rangers could pick from just about anybody that has been pitching for them the last several weeks for Sunday’s finale. It is technically Nathan Eovaldi’s turn in the rotation, but Andrew Heaney and Jack Leiter will be needing work too, unless the plan is to move one or both to the bullpen.
Both the Mariners and Rangers are coming off of brief two-game sets. The Rangers were able to stay away from their key relievers as they got swept by the Diamondbacks, which could give them a leg up if things become a bullpen battle.
All in all, the Rangers are finally in a position that they’ve waited for all year – they have too much starting pitching. That is until they don’t. For now, they’ll enjoy the buzz of some of the pieces in the rotation finally falling into place.
Which Rangers pitcher are you most excited to watch this weekend? Share your thoughts with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
