Seattle Mariners: 5 takeaways from opening week of Cactus League

We take a look at some of the standout moments from the early stages of the Seattle Mariners’ 2021 Cactus League campaign.

The timing of Kevin Mather’s comments and subsequent resignation arguably couldn’t have come at a worse moment for the Seattle Mariners. The franchise is at an exciting and promising stage of their complete overhaul, but you had to wonder about the potential fallout and setback caused by Mather.

While Mather’s comments won’t be forgotten anytime soon, the good news is the Mariners have given their fans plenty to talk about with the start of spring training games. Here are five takeaways from the first week of Cactus League play:

1. Record-setting start to spring training

The Mariners started their 2021 Cactus League campaign with an exciting walk-off 5-4 win over the San Diego Padres and followed this up with a 6-1 loss to the Cleveland Indians. However, it’s been nothing but ties since, at least heading into Sunday’s game with the Los Angeles Angels.

The M’s have recorded four ties since the defeat by the Indians. In the process, they set a club record for consecutive ties in spring training.

Prior to this latest streak, the Mariners had recorded three consecutive ties on four occasions during Cactus League play. Interestingly, the streaks all took place within the last 10 years, in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2019.

To provide further context, Seattle had just seven ties in total between their initial season in 1977 and 2002. Since then — entering Sunday’s tilt with Los Angeles — they have 38 ties in spring training games.

NEXT: AN EXTREMELY RARE PLAY