Seattle Mariners: 5 things to know about Nick Margevicius

Find out more about the Seattle Mariners’ newest pitching addition, as we share five facts about 23-year-old Nick Margevicius.

As spring training fast approaches, one of the main questions surrounding the Seattle Mariners is who their fifth starter will be in the rotation? In this respect, they now have another option to consider.

As reported by Greg Johns of MLB.com, on Friday the Mariners claimed Nick Margevicius off waivers from the San Diego Padres. To make room for him on the 40-man roster, relief pitcher Reggie McClain was designated for assignment.

Understandably, M’s fans will be wondering what they have in Margevicius. We break down the latest pitching addition, by sharing five facts about him:

1) Born in North Royalton, Ohio, Margevicius attended Saint Ignatius high school in Cleveland. He then went on to play his college baseball at Rider University.

His best season came as a junior, when he went 6-4 with a 2.89 ERA in 14 appearances (including 13 starts). He also had 79 strikeouts and a 1.24 WHIP, all coming in 87.1 innings of action.

2) As a result of his success as a junior, Margevicius was named First Team All-MAAC. His achievements also persuaded him to declare early for the draft.

He was picked 198th overall in the seventh round of the 2017 MLB draft by the Padres. This made him the highest-selected Rider student-athlete since Ken Kramer went in the fourth round in 1988.

3) Margevicius is regarded as a finesse pitcher, who has two pitches he primarily relies on. The first is his 89 mph fourseam fastball, which has been described as “straight as an arrow”.

His other main pitch is a 81 mph slider, which has two-plane movement and results in more groundballs than the average pitcher’s slider. On occasion he will throw in a 79 mph changeup and 71 mph curveball.

4) Margevicius made his Major League debut straight out of spring training last year and impressed early. He pitched five innings in his first start against the San Francisco Giants, striking out five and giving up just three hits and one earned run in a 3-2 loss.

His second start saw him again pitch five innings, this time allowing just one hit, one earned run and a walk in a 5-3 win against the St. Louis Cardinals. The fine start to the year continued with his first official career win against the Giants, allowing five hits, but again just one earned run, while recording six strikeouts and no walks.

5) Unfortunately for Margevicius, his form then began to fall away and he finished 2019 with a 2-6 record, while recording a 6.79 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, 42 strikeouts and 19 walks. He pitched 57 innings in total, as he started 12 games and appeared 17 times overall in the Majors.

In fairness to him, he made the leap to the Majors after having never pitched above High-A. It is understandable for anyone to struggle after such a jump, but his early success in the Majors shows promise the Mariners decided to take a (low-level) risk on.

What is you opinion of the addition of Margevicius? What do you make of the Seattle Mariners’ recent moves in general? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.