Mariners: 4 takeaway from opening series split with Minnesota Twins

4) Mixed results for the young talent:

There is no denying the Mariners have committed heavily to their youth movement. This is evidenced by having the second-youngest position player group in the Majors in terms of average age as of Monday.

Most of the attention on the young talent is focused on Rodriguez, Jarred Kelenic and Logan Gilbert. This is understandable, as they each have a ceiling of turning into superstars.

We’ve already touched on Rodriguez and the impact of his inaugural Major League hit. He also recorded his first walk and subsequently his first stolen base during Monday’s series finale in Minnesota, albeit in a losing cause.

However, the reality is the 21-year-old mostly struggled at the plate during his first four games in the Majors. In 15 plate appearances, he produced a slash line of .071/.133/.143.

Early struggles are a frequent occurrence for young players making their first foray into Major League baseball. However, the truth is a lot of people were convinced Rodriguez would not suffer the same challenges, especially after his superior performances during spring training.

If anyone can relate, it’s Kelenic, who went through a similar situation last season. However, he finally came to life in September and it was expected to represent the beginning of something special.

Unfortunately for everyone concerned, the 22-year-old has regressed and started the 2022 campaign in a similar way to last year. Through 13 plate appearances — including 11 at bats — he has just one hit and struck out five times.

Kelenic has managed to force two walks and steal one base but overall, it does lead to the question of how long the Mariners give him and Rodriguez to work through things and get on track? Yes it’s early days, but you don’t want to leave it too long before sending them down and risk negatively impacting their confidence.

Finally, Gilbert was hoping to build on a promising rookie season, which included a 2.70 ERA, 31 strikes and just eight walks in six starts during September. It’s fair to say his first appearance in 2022 was a success.

After initially taking time to warm up, the 24-year-old was excellent during his five innings on the mound. He allowed just three hits and one earned run, while also striking out seven and giving up just one pass.

In theory, Gilbert could have returned to the mound for one more inning. This wasn’t going to happen though, sitting on 85 pitches and with Servais still wanting to bring him along slowly.

What would have pleased the Mariners particularly about Gilbert’s performance, was the variety of pitches used. Whereas last season he relied mostly on his fastball and slider, he mixed in the curveball and changeup with more frequency on Saturday.

Other Mariners’ notes & statistics:

• France became just the fifth player in Mariners history to reach base safely in each of his first four plate appearances to begin a season. (Steve Henderson in 1983, Edgar Martinez & Mike Cameron in 2001 and Tim Beckham in 2019.)
• Seattle is now 5-0 all-time on opening day versus Minnesota.
• Due to the early-season 28-man roster limit for Major league teams, the Mariners took the opportunity to start three different catchers in the opening three games for the first time in franchise history. (Cal Raleig, Tom Murphy and Luis Torrens.)
• Seattle is the first ball club to open a season with back-to-back one-run wins since the San Francisco Giants in 2018.
• Monday’s 4-0 loss was the Mariners’ first night game of 2022; last season they went 57-49 in 106 night games.
• With his two homers in the Minnesota series, Haniger is now on 98 with Seattle and one behind Ichiro Suzuki for 15th on the all-time home run list.
• The Mariners lead the AL with 18 walks through the first four games of the regular season; Jesse Winker is tied for second in the Majors among players, with five walks.
• On Monday, Sergio Romo became just the 53rd player in MLB history to reach 800 career games; he pitched an inning and allowed just one hit and no runs, while also striking out two batters.
• Chris Flexen was Seattle’s best starting pitcher last year, but is off to a poor start in 2022; in just 4.1 innings he allowed five hits, three earned runs and three walks.
• Last season the Mariners ranked last in batting average, 28th in OBP and 26th in slugging percentage; so far in 2022 they rank 28th, 24th and 27th respectively in these categories.

All statistics are correct following the completion of games on April 11, 2022

Quote of the series:

“I think he and I are going to have quite a few conversations towards the end of games as [the season] goes along, and I look forward to it.”

Servais talking about Ray convincing him to be allowed to pitch one more inning after completing six.

What is your main takeaway from the series versus the Twins? Further, is there anything in particular which surprised you, whether it be positive or negative? Let us know in the comments section below.