Seattle Mariners: 5 takeaways from opening week of Cactus League

4. The battle for sixth place in the rotation

The Mariners have decided to go with a six-man rotation in 2021, with Justin Dunn and Nick Margevicius competing for the precious final spot. Interestingly, both pitchers made their 2021 Cactus League debuts on Saturday in the 1-1 tie with the Oakland Athletics and their respective performances were indicative of what is predicted to be a close fight.

Each pitcher threw two scoreless innings although, if pushed, Dunn wasn’t quite as impressive. The 2016 first round draft pick loaded the bases in the first with a hit and two walks, although he should be credited for getting out of the jam; he had no further issues by following up with a 1-2-3 second inning.

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Meanwhile, Margevicius matched Dunn with his own 1-2-3 inning in the third, before giving up a walk in the fourth. When it was all said and done, Margevicius gave up no hits and threw one strikeout. (Dunn had two strikeouts on the day.)

The thinking is that Dunn has the edge in the battle for the sixth spot, given that he is right-handed and the starting rotation already has four southpaws. However, he still has work to do on his command and if this continues to be an issue, then Margevicius is more than capable of surpassing him in the depth chart.

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