Opening day 2020 offers a mixed bag for young sailors under reconstruction

Opening day for the Seattle Mariners was certainly different. For the first time since 2005, Félix Hernández was not listed for the teams’ first game, and not only was it the first game of the season in late July, but he had no fans in the stands due to COVID-19)

Initial lead doesn’t hold up for Mariners in 8-2 loss on first day against Astros

But the players and coaching staff for both the Mariners and the Houston Astros, who took the first game 8-2, made the most of it, with Mariners manager Scott Servais saying how good it was to get back on the field in a meaningful play. His team jumped to an early 2-1 lead thanks to home runs by Kyle Lewis and Kyle Seager, but a five-run fifth inning with the help of an error and a Houston home run finally sunk the Mariners.

For the Mariners, the game had a bit of everything expected to see from this young and rebuilding team in 2020, as there were Lewis and Seager’s long-ball highs, as well as the four-player MLB debut, but also some heavy bad defense minima and a shaky bullpen.

For Servais, there was a lot to get out of the game, both in positive light and with learning experiences for his very young club.

“It was a very unique experience for everyone who had no fans, but it’s great to go out again,” he said. “A number of guys out there got their major league debuts and I thought (starting pitcher Marco Gonzales) threw the ball really, really well.”

But that fifth inning was disastrous. Gonzales gave up an opening single and then got Houston wide receiver Martin Maldonado to hit a dirt ball in the hole between Seager at third base and Crawford at shortstop. Seager slid in and made the play, throwing Shed Long Jr. at second base for what would have been a double play with Maldonado running slow at first, but the shot was wide and Long was unable to hold the ball. That put runners in the corners, and while Gonzales landed another deep landing on the hole short, former MVP Jose Altuve beat JP Crawford’s pitch for an RBI single that tied the game at 2-2 and marked the end of Gonzales night. .

Relief Zac Grotz came in but struggled, giving up a RBI single to Alex Bregman followed by a three-run homer to Michael Brantley. When the inning ended, the Astros were up 6-2. Those extra outs of the double play must have been expensive.

“Certainly the fifth inning got away from us a little bit and hit some balls that we couldn’t turn into outs,” Servais said. “But there were many positives tonight. It’s great to see Kyle Lewis keep doing what he’s doing and Kyle Seager got into one, but against a club like the Astros, 27 outs, nothing more. That’s the motto for Perry Hill (infielder coach) and we gave them too many outs tonight. ”

Lewis continues to shine

The team’s 2016 first-round pick Lewis started in center field and started the night in a big way, hitting a massive home run by 2019 Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander, taking a 95 mph fastball nearly 440 feet at left center field. This comes immediately after a summer camp in which Lewis hit four homers in intra-squad action and more in live batting practice.

That didn’t take long. @ KLew_5 | #TrueToTheBlue pic.twitter.com/5Qwbkapd8x

– Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) July 25, 2020

However, it was tough for Lewis after that. Verlander struck out twice and Lewis lined up in his fourth and final at-bat in the ninth inning.

“Kyle is seeing the ball really well and he jumped on that fastball and certainly after that, he saw Verlander make an adjustment and he didn’t do that pitch again and nothing like that,” Servais said. “And that’s going to happen to Kyle. I think it will have a great year for us. He’s seeing the ball great, he’s making adjustments. “

Lewis, who made his first opening day begin to reach fourth place in the lineup, was happy to get his first hit of the season, regardless of how it happened.

“You always wonder when you’re going to get your first hit of the year, so getting it out of the way on my first at-bat was really cool,” he said.

After a six-shot first inning for Verlander, Lewis took the first pitch to try and work the count. He finally set him up for his first home run of 2020.

“I gave him the first shot just to see how he was going to attack, and then on the second shot, I thought he wanted to hit with the fastball, so I tried to be ready to hit,” he said. “I felt it would be a good opportunity to see if I could get one in the area where I could hit hard.”

Early approach for pitchers

The plan for Gonzales was to pitch 70 to 75 pitches and exceed five innings at his start, Servais said. Only one of those things happened, as Gonzales was eliminated with one in the fifth, although Seager’s aforementioned mistake about the possible double play played a role in that.

“I feel like I’ve created a bit of a mess, so obviously my competitive side wants to finish that inning and keep us close in that game, so it’s just me and who I am, so count or not, or limit or not, I want to go out there and give us the best chance to win, “said Gonzales.

Gonzales’ finish line was 4 1/3 innings, five hits, four runs (three wins), two strikeouts and one walk. It was sharp from the start before the mistake helped end his night, but it felt good overall.

“I am really satisfied with the work I did at summer camp and obviously did it during the downtime,” he said. “I feel like my timing is right, the ball is going very well and I executed a good plan tonight on both sides of the plate, so I was very happy with that.”

After Gonzales, Servais left with Grotz, Anthony Misiewicz, Carl Edwards Jr., and Yohan Ramirez, using four of his 11 bullpen members. Grotz pulled two outs and allowed two runs for Gonzales, while the other three relievers pitched innings and only Ramirez pitched an inning without scoring. Servais said he would like longer starts for some relievers from the start.

“We understand that much of our initial pitching will not be extended, so many of these games with that guy in the middle that we will get to our back end will be really important,” Servais said. “We didn’t do it tonight, but we will continue to give these guys opportunities and see how it develops.”

When Grotz came in for Gonzales, he had corner runners with one out. He hit a single to Bregman and then homered to Brantley. Servais said Grotz will still be necessary in the future.

“(Grotz) has been throwing the ball well, it just didn’t happen to him tonight. And he will have another chance and that’s what it will take, ”he said. “Everyone will have to participate. Tomorrow night we will have a small smaller group to choose from, but we will have boys and that is why we are bringing 11 (bullpen boys) so that we do not have to tax anyone or go too hard on someone at the beginning of the season. “

Learning moments

The young team looked like this on the field on Friday night with the big mistake in the fifth inning, as well as two other defensive errors.

Seager’s pitching error will draw most of the attention as the Astros ended up scoring that inning five times after that, but there were two other notable mishaps in defense.

One was when left fielder José Marmolejos, making his MLB debut, lost a flyball that resulted in a RBI double when he fell well ahead of him. Another was when Long made a good play to his left in the hole, turned and hurried the shot, causing first baseman Evan White to withdraw the bag. White tried to dive back and label the bag, which was lost. The play was considered a hit, not a throwing error.

Servais said speed of play is something that will help younger players make plays like that regularly.

“Shed made a great play, dived, got up and didn’t notice: Michael Brantley hit him (and) that Michael Brantley is not a great runner and that he had a lot of time,” he said. “So, the speed of the game and the understanding of where we are in the game, those are all experiences and you have to go through the major league level … you have to make the plays when they are out there and we will, there is no doubt.

Seattle was not a great field team in 2019, and it is unclear how much better they will fare in 2020, but Servais has improvements.

“Our defense, we have a much better defensive team than last year and it will show throughout the season. It’s just one of those nights, “he said.

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