3 Takeaways From Mariners’ 11-5 Cactus League Win Over Diamondbacks
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Seattle Mariners outfielder Dominic Canzone makes contact during a spring training game against the Los Angeles Angels. Credit: Dominic Canzone/Instagram [/caption]
The first weekend of Cactus League play is officially in the books and the Mariners wrapped things up on a strong note, topping the Diamondbacks by a score of 11-5 with plenty of positives to go around. Let’s go over the biggest takeaways from the game.
Mixed bag in Emerson Hancock’s spring debut
Hancock arrived to camp a seemingly reinvented pitcher earlier this month and that was at times noticeable during his 1.2 innings of work this afternoon, particularly when he threw what Baseball Savant registered as a slider. This was a much different-looking offering than Hancock’s usual slider, however, clocking in at an average of 3.3 MPH lower than his average slider in 2024 with 103 more RPM of spin and an additional four inches of horizontal break. Perhaps this was a glimpse of the new sweeper Hancock has been workshopping, one of three new pitches he added to his arsenal over the course of the offseason. He unleashed it only a handful of times against Diamondbacks hitters, but it’s something to keep an eye on the next time he takes the bump.
Overall, Hancock surrendered one earned run on three hits with a pair of strikeouts. His changeup was the star of the show, despite being thrown just six times; one was the best pitch he threw the entire afternoon, which was barely fouled off by Josh Naylor, while another induced a foul tip into the glove of Mitch Garver for strike three against Adrian Del Castillo. Hancock worked around a fielding error by J.P. Crawford and a single off the bat of Randal Grichuk to keep Arizona off the scoreboard in the first, but while he notched both of his strikeouts in the second inning, a ground-rule double by Jake McCarthy and an RBI single by Ildemaro Vargas during the frame ended Hancock’s day shorter than he and the Mariners were hoping for.
Lots of loud contact from Mariners role players
The Mariners kicked off their offensive explosion in the bottom of the second inning, tallying six runs on seven hits. Arguably the most impressive hit of the bunch belonged to Ryan Bliss, who rocketed a ball 412 feet to dead-center field at an exit velocity of 106.4 MPH for an RBI double. According to Baseball Savant, the smash would have been a home run in 16 out of 30 MLB ballparks—an eye-popping display of power from the 5-foot-7 second baseman. Dominic Canzone and Mitch Garver preceded Bliss with a pair of hard-hit singles, coming in at near identical exit velocities of 106.5 and 106.4 MPH, respectively. Canzone later padded the stat sheet of his 2-for-3 day with an RBI double, a 106.1 MPH shot off the bat into the right field corner, while Garver added another hard-hit single and a walk to finish his afternoon 2-for-2.
In all, the Mariners put up 18 hard-hit balls with nine coming from their starting lineup. Austin Shenton, who came in for Tyler Locklear, had two to his name and found grass with both. Blake Hunt checked in with a 107.7 MPH double to score a run while Samad Taylor continued his hot start to the spring with a 102.1 MPH single that also put a run on the board.
Good day for the Mariners’ reliever “pile”
Sunday provided a decent look at a few of the notable relievers the Mariners brought in via waivers, small trades, or minor-league contracts this winter. Casey Legumina was the first of the group to throw, spinning a clean inning that saw him record two whiffs, one with his slider and the other with his four-seam fastball, which Del Castillo swung through for a strikeout. Shintaro Fujinami was next to take the bump and within a few pitches he more or less put the full “Fujinami Experience” on display, striking out Grae Kessinger swinging and then nearly taking Gabriel Moreno’s head off with a 96.6 MPH sinker the following pitch. Fujinami eventually disposed of Moreno then walked Alek Thomas before racking up his fourth and final whiff with a strikeout of Grichuk to end the inning. Adonis Medina also made an appearance but only deployed his changeup once, instead switching between his sinker and slider for eight of his nine pitches. The sinker helped Medina log all three outs of his clean inning of work, including two whiffs against Kessinger, who struck out on one of them. Josh Fleming tossed a scoreless inning as well, allowing one hit.
Dauris Valdez and Luis F. Castillo were exceptions to the success of Seattle’s bullpen, unfortunately. Castillo gave up a pair of runs on three hits and a walk while Valdez threw 25 pitches and failed to put the Diamondbacks away in the ninth. Valdez struggled mightily with his control, throwing 12 balls to just 13 strikes, and was eventually lifted for Stefan Raeth. Only two of Valdez’s 13 strikes were not either fouled off or put in play.
