Key Takeaways From Mariners’ 14-1 Blowout Win vs. White Sox
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Kansas City, MO, USA. 7th June, 2024. Seattle Mariners outfielder Victor Robles (10) takes a swing during a regular season game against the Kansas City Royals. David Smith/CSM/Alamy Live News [/caption]
Spring Training is finally — mercifully? — coming to an end, and while the Seattle Mariners have not had much success in terms of wins and losses, they had arguably their best effort against the lowly Chicago White Sox on Saturday in a 14-1 shellacking of the worst team in baseball. There was plenty of good to focus on, but unfortunately, the main takeaway might be a potential injury to one of the most important players on the roster.
Here’s a look at the top takeaways from Saturday’s blowout victory.
Victor Robles leaves with injury to right hand
Robles was enjoying another strong game; going 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored. Unfortunately, the afternoon ended on a dour note taking a pitch off his hand.
Robles left immediately, and the Mariners have already announced that the 27-year old will undergo imaging on the hand. Even if the pitch was a slider — thank goodness it wasn’t a heater — there’s obviously the potential for a significant injury when being hit in that or any other area.
The good news, however, is that the Mariners do believe that Robles has avoided a serious injury. Manager Dan Wilson told reporters that the team was “optimistic” about his status going forward, and while teams have a tendency to be, well, optimistic in injury news, it’s definitely better than hearing something on the opposite end of the spectrum.
The Mariners need Robles to be a quality option at the top of their lineup, so losing his services for even a short amount of time to begin 2025 would be a less-than-ideal situation.
Luis Castillo continues his solid spring
It was another solid, if not spectacular, outing for Castillo. The 32-year old right-hander allowed one run over his 5 1/3 innings, and he struck out three against the two walks. He did allow six hits, but Castillo was able to work around his jams outside of an RBI single allowed to Lenyn Sosa in the first inning. He now has a 3.00 ERA over his 18 innings in Arizona over his five starts with an 11/5 K/BB ratio in that timeframe.
Castillo had an up-and-down 2024 campaign, and if the Mariners are going to compete for an AL West title — and do damage in the postseason if/when they do take home the division — they’re going to need more consistency from the right-hander. He sometimes gets lost in the shuffle because of how good the other young hurlers are on the staff, but there’s still an awful lot to like.
The bullpen was also solid Friday. Brandyn Garcia, Drew Pomeranz, Tayler Saucedo, and Jesse Hahn combined to go 3 2/3 innings while allowing no runs, one hit, and striking out three against zero walks. Pomeranz has had a couple of clunkers in his spring outings, but the stuff has looked good, and there was a time he was among the best relievers in baseball. The question is if he’s done enough to earn a spot on the roster to begin the season, but he’s at least made that decision difficult for Seattle.
Dylan Moore still shaky, Ryan Bliss keeps hitting
Outside of the bullpen, the one real battle still ongoing this spring is who will be the starter at second base to open the season. That competition is at least partially due to the struggles of Moore, and to his credit, he did pick up a hit and has been playing better as of late. His other two at-bats were not successful, and he’s had to get hot to get his slash to...136/.208/.250.
Bliss, on the other hand, went 1-for-2 with a run scored and is now hitting .324/.342/.486 during the spring. It’d be a mistake to just go by the numbers in determining who will be J.P. Crawford’s double-play partner, but it’s hard to ignore how good Bliss has looked and how much Moore has scuffled. Moore is going to have a role regardless, but at least in my eyes, Bliss has earned the starting gig, even if he may not have a long leash.
Donovan Solano impresses against southpaw
Solano’s signing was not met with a ton of fanfare for a wide variety of reasons, but the veteran infielder has had a strong showing in the Cactus League, and it continued Saturday. Solano doubled, homered, and drove in three runs in the blowout, and he now has a formidable slash of .303/.361/.455.
It’s worth noting noting that Solano not only played third base in this contest with Luke Raley getting the start at first, but that he hit third in the contest. It shouldn’t be a surprise at all if the infielder hit in the middle of the order against left-handers, which is both compliment to Solano but also a question as to how some of the other options handle southpaw hurlers.
Solano is not a star nor anything close, but there’s plenty of reason to believe he’s going to help Seattle in 2025.
J-Rod is driving the baseball and I’m happy
It’s burying the lede, but it was a big game from the middle of the order, and that includes Julio Rodríguez. The 24-year old wunderkind drove in his first run with a walk, but he picked up his second, third, and fourth RBI on this swing of the bat.
Julio Rodriguez - Seattle Mariners (4)* pic.twitter.com/IdlEbaus5B— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) March 22, 2025
That’s the fourth homer of the spring for Rodríguez, and he’s now slugging .600. Yes, it’s spring training. Yes, he’s only batting at a .289 clip. Yes, it’s fair to still wonder if Rodríguez is ready to make that leap from really good player to bonafide superstar based on his occasional scuffles over his last two seasons. It’s just nice to see him driving the baseball. With all due respect to Robles and the pitching staff and a few other hitters, there’s no one more important to the Mariners than Rodríguez. Here’s hoping he can carry this over into the regular season.
Randy Arozarena also homered, and has looked fantastic all spring. That’s also good. You’re welcome.
Mariners get Michael Hobbs in trade with Mets
The Mariners made a minor move — literally and figuratively — shortly after the game, acquiring Michael Hobbs from the Mets for cash considerations.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Hobbs, you’re not alone. But, there’s reason that Seattle had interest in him, despite the need for organizational depth. The right-hander was a 10th round selection by the Dodgers in 2021 MLB Draft, and was taken in the minor-league portion of the Rule 5 draft by the Mets in December. He was effective in 2024 with a 2.97 ERA at Double-A Tulsa with a 52/30 K/BB, and he owns a 3.18 ERA over his 113 MiLB appearances over four seasons. His funky delivery makes it hard for hitters to pick up the baseball against, but also makes it difficult to throw strikes with a career BB/9 ratio of 5.2.
The Mariners have done wonders with this kind of arm before, and while you shouldn’t expect Hobbs to be a contributor this summer, it’s not out of the question. No harm, no foul in these types of deals.
