5 takeaways from the first month of Mariners baseball in 2023

The first month of Mariners baseball in the 2023 season is complete.

The club entered the spring with high expectations after ending its two-decade postseason drought last fall but has had a back-and-forth start the first five weeks of the season.

Seattle sits at 12-16 and in fourth place in the American League West, behind the Rangers, Astros and Angels.

Here are five takeaways from the Mariners’ start in late March and throughout April:

KELENIC’S STELLAR START

The breakout performance from Jarred Kelenic has been perhaps the brightest spot for Seattle’s offense so far.

The 23-year-old outfielder was a first-round pick by the Mets in 2018 and a key pickup for the Mariners in their blockbuster trade with New York later that year, becoming a top prospect in Seattle’s system.

But, Kelenic hit .168/.251/.338 across his first 558 career plate appearances in 2021 and 2022, splitting time between Seattle and Triple-A Tacoma, and entered this season expected to share time with A.J. Pollock in left field.

Kelenic’s impressive start at the plate, though, quickly earned him everyday playing time.

Through 26 games, Kelenic is slashing at .308/.366/.615 with 14 runs scored, seven doubles, seven home runs, 14 RBI, five stolen bases and nine walks to 28 strikeouts.

He has recorded at least one hit in 19 games this spring, has seven multi-hit games and posted a 10-game hitting streak in early April. He has reached base safely in all but two appearances.

Kelenic leads the Mariners in hits (28), batting average, slugging percentage and OPS (.981) and is tied for the team lead with the seven homers.

He also entered the week ranked among the top 20 qualified batters in MLB in home runs (tied-ninth), batting average (tied-20th), slugging percentage (sixth) and OPS (10th).

ROTATION AS ADVERTISED

Seattle’s pitching has, arguably, kept the Mariners’ young season afloat. Ace Luis Castillo headlines the rotation, aided by stellar months of April from George Kirby and veteran Marco Gonzales.

Castillo began the campaign on Opening Day with a gem and allowed a single run in his first three starts.

Kirby has lived up to expectations following a breakout rookie season in 2022. The 25-year-old right-hander is fresh off a career day in Philadelphia where he posted eight innings of one-run ball and seven strikeouts. Seattle’s offense provided no run support, though, which tagged Kirby with a loss.

As a collective, Seattle’s rotation boasts a top-10 earned run average (3.80) in the majors. Mariners starters have walked just 38 batters this year — second-best in MLB — and opponents are batting .237, which ranks eighth.

Kirby’s Thursday gem was followed by a quality start from Castillo on Friday and seven scoreless innings Saturday from spot-starter Easton McGee — though the Mariners lost both games.

Castillo, the rotation’s rock, boasts a 1.82 ERA, which ranks fifth in MLB.

Logan Gilbert’s raw numbers (1-1, 4.23 ERA) fail to paint a full picture for the 25-year-old right-hander, whose start includes promising strikeout and walk rates, per Baseball Savant. Opposing hitters are finding fewer barrels on Gilbert’s offerings than ever before, down to a career-low 36.5 hard hit percentage in 2023.

Gonzales lasted at least five innings in each of his first four April starts before Toronto poured eight runs onto the lefty’s three-inning-long outing.

The rotation has suffered a major loss, though. Lefty Robbie Ray, who figured to play a commanding role in Seattle’s rotation again this season, will miss the remainder of 2023 to undergo a flexor tendon repair. He appeared just once on March 31 and exited in the fourth inning with arm tightness.

Call-ups appear imminent for top prospects in Seattle’s minor league system. Top-five prospects, Emerson Hancock (No. 4) and Bryce Miller (No. 2), both right-handers, seem poised for debuts in 2023.

With long-term priority, manager Scott Servais said the organization continues to work through “the best course of action” to fill Ray’s absence.

OFFSEASON ADDITIONS UPDATE

The Mariners’ offense — including their offseason additions — will continue to look for consistency as the season progresses.

Seattle’s first move to boost the lineup was in November when the Mariners added outfielder Teoscar Hernandez in a trade that sent pitchers Adam Macko and Erik Swanson to the Blue Jays.

Hernandez, a former All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger, has appeared in every game for Seattle so far this season — including 25 in right field and four at designated hitter — and is slashing at .209/.248/.427.

He ended a 1-for-18 start to the season with a pair of home runs in a win over the Angels in early April in his first of seven multi-hit games last month. Hernandez is tied for the team lead with seven home runs — which also ranked tied for ninth in the majors entering the week — and has 16 RBI.

Second baseman Kolten Wong, who the Mariners traded for in December — in a deal that sent outfielder Jesse Winker and infielder Abraham Toro to Milwaukee — hit 5-for-53 (.094) in his first 17 games with Seattle but has found more success at the plate in the past week.

In his past five games, Wong is 7-for-17 with a double and two multi-hit games, including a three-hit performance against the Cardinals.

Veteran outfielder Pollock and infielder Tommy La Stella, who both signed with Seattle in January, have often filled Seattle’s DH role.

Pollock is hitting .118/.164/.275 in 17 appearances — including eight games in left field and nine at DH — and also had a two-homer game against the Angels last month,but has four hits across 44 plate appearances since. La Stella is slashing at .190/.292/.238 in 12 games as a DH and pinch hitter.

DESIGNATED BATS COLD

Seattle intended to rotate its roster through the DH slot, allowing for healthy at-bats from the non-everyday core, but that strategy didn’t result in much production in March and April.

Seattle ranks last in the majors in DH production, now universal in MLB since the NL adopted the position in 2022.

Of 104 combined plate appearances entering Monday, Seattle’s designated hitters are slashing .106/.192/.170 with 10 hits and three RBI — all which rank last in the majors.

The struggles are a function of recent team-wide hitting woes, having been shut out twice in the past four games.

A club accustomed to dominating one-run games — Seattle led the majors in one-run wins in both 2021 and 2022 — suddenly resides at the bottom of that leader board, looking up. The Mariners are 3-9 in one-run games and suffered four consecutive losses from April 26-29, all decided by one.

Situational hitting remains the key to unlock an offensive revival. Sunday proved it, as shortstop J.P. Crawford tied the game with a ninth-inning, run-scoring single down to his final strike. Cal Raleigh unloaded two homers, including a game-winning missile to right field in the 10th.

“We’re used to coming through in those spots, and it hasn’t happened … yet,” Servais said. “It will.”

A nagging core injury to utility man Dylan Moore exacerbates Seattle’s lineup issues. Outfielder Taylor Trammell could be the spark the Mariners need, after launching a grand slam in the first at-bat of his season debut Sunday after returning from the injured list.

BULLPEN STILL STEADY

A pivotal piece of the Mariners’ run to the postseason last fall, Seattle’s bullpen — which returned several primary contributors — has been steady early on this spring.

Seattle’s relievers entered Monday ranked sixth in the majors with a 3.00 ERA across 27 games, allowing 47 runs (35 earned) across 105 innings.

The bullpen’s collective 113 strikeouts rank 10th in MLB and their six home runs allowed are the second-fewest in the majors so far this season, though their 48 combined walks rank tied for 26th. Opponents are batting .220 against Mariners relievers, which ranks 11th.

Paul Sewald has a team-leading seven saves, and 11 scoreless outings in a team-high 15 innings across 15 appearances. Sewald’s 19 strikeouts rank tied for eighth in the majors.

Matt Brash entered Monday as the MLB leader in strikeouts among relievers with 26 across 13 innings in 16 outings.

Penn Murfee has added 14 strikeouts and allowed only two earned runs in 14 appearances.

Newcomers Trevor Gott (14 innings pitched, 12 strikeouts), Gabe Speier (11 1/3 innings pitched, no runs allowed, eight strikeouts) and Justin Topa (11 innings pitched, 11 strikeouts) have also been consistent contributors.

The Mariners have been without key late-innings reliever Andres Munoz since early April, when the 24-year-old right-hander was placed on the 15-day IL with a right deltoid strain.