Takeaways From Mariners Split-Squad Action Against D-Backs, Angels
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CLEVELAND, OH - JUNE 19: Seattle Mariners pitcher Bryan Woo (22) pitches during an MLB game against the Cleveland Guardians on June 19, 2024 at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Image of Sport) [/caption]
For the first time since 2016, the Mariners double-dipped in some Cactus League action under the lights on Thursday night. Seattle split its Arizona-based camp into two squads, sending one to face the Diamondbacks in Scottsdale while keeping the other in Peoria for a matchup with the division-rival Angels.
Just a little over three hours and a combined 18 innings later, the Mariners finished the night with a 5-5 tie with the Angels and an 11-4 loss to the Diamondbacks. These were the biggest takeaways from both affairs.
Bryan Woo’s sweeper steals the show
Woo was dominant in his 2.1 innings of work against the Angels, tallying six strikeouts in the seven outs he recorded on the night. He set the tone early, disposing of Taylor Ward on three consecutive fastballs before shredding through Christian Moore and Ryan Noda to end the first frame. His next inning out, he got J.D. Davis swinging on a filthy slider at the bottom of the strike zone before finding himself in a bit of trouble with the next two batters.
Unlike Davis, Matthew Lugo was able to connect on a Woo breaking ball at the knees and converted it into a double, while Mickey Moniak reached safely on a fielder’s choice by Woo, who made an errant throw in attempt to get the lead runner out at third. Nevertheless, the Mariners’ young righty immediately bounced back in a duel with Jo Adell, who’s a career 3-for-3 versus Woo with two home runs in regular season play. Woo went right after Adell and induced a swinging strike two on a sweeper before punching out the former top prospect on what was initially ruled a ball, but the ABS challenge system revealed that Woo’s two-seamer beautifully painted the upper inside corner of the zone. Woo then stamped out the Angels threat with a three-pitch strikeout of Scott Kingery, his final of the game.
Woo’s night ended with a seven-pitch at-bat against Chuckie Robinson that resulted in a walk and a hard-hit lineout off the bat of Ward. His fastballs played a large role in his outing as always, but for what feels like the first time in his young career, Spring Training or otherwise, neither offering was his most-deployed pitch. Instead, it was the sweeper, which Woo unleashed 12 times and registered a pair of whiffs on five swings, two called strikes, and a Stuff+ score of 105, the highest of any pitch he threw, per Thomas Nestico’s model. Interestingly, the sweeper was also his second-most used pitch in his first appearance of the spring on February 28. Could this be a hint that Woo is set to dig a bit deeper into his bag of tricks in 2025?
Bryan Woo struck out 6 across 2.1 IP as he shutdown the Angels today
Woo utilizes his extreme low slot delivery to get an incredibly shallow approach on his fastballs which defies my tjStuff+ model. Interesting to note, he threw his sweeper a lot more than usual pic.twitter.com/hqDBzH61O8— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) March 7, 2025
Gregory Santos makes his spring debut
Santos was unable to see his first inning of the spring through, but not necessarily of any fault of his own. Taking over in the top of the fourth inning of the Mariners’ game against the Angels, he kicked things off with a four-pitch strikeout of Davis, dotting up the edge of the inner-third of the plate on a 98.2 mile-per-hour sinker. Lugo then reached on a booted groundball by the otherwise surehanded Ben Williamson and later advanced to third while attempting to steal second on a short throw out of the hand of Mitch Garver from behind the dish. Santos notched his second strikeout looking on the same play as Garver’s mishap, freezing Moniak on a 96.3 MPH heater. His one mistake of the night came against the subsequent hitter, Adell, who roped a hanging sinker over the heart of the plate into center field for an RBI single, ending Santos’ night as he eclipsed what appeared to be his 15-pitch limit. In all, he totaled 11 strikes on 16 pitches with a mostly effective sinker.
Other notes
It was a tough night with very few noteworthy moments for the Mariners squad that faced the Diamondbacks. Leo Rivas returned to the lineup for the first time since February 24 and immediately made his presence felt with a hard-hit single against Arizona starter Merrill Kelly. Samad Taylor continued his hot start to the spring with a pair of hard-hit balls as well, including one that found a patch of grass at 101.1 MPH off the bat and drove in Seattle’s first two runs of the contest.
Meanwhile back in Peoria, Miles Mastrobuoni’s push for the Opening Day roster resumed as he smacked a double that registered at 104.5 MPH off the bat against Kyle Hendricks. Additionally, Garver made up for his rough night behind the plate, which also included a passed ball in addition to his throwing error, as he launched a Connor Brogdon sinker just off the middle inner-third of the plate for a two-run blast, his second homer of the spring. Lastly, Jorge Polanco made his second Cactus League appearance but went 0-for-3 with a pair of groundouts and a flyout.
