What is the story about?
Good morning everyone and happy Friday!
The Mariners dropped the series finale to the Padres last night, completing San Diego’s sweep in the first leg of the 2026 Vedder Cup. The team heads back home to open a new series tonight against the first-place Texas Rangers.
As we’re now 20 games into the season, which AL West team are you the most afraid of moving forward? The Rangers are in first place, though the Angels are seeing a rejuvenated Mike Trout, the A’s are an up-and-coming team that might be
more competitive than expected, and the Astros are…also there.
In Mariners news…
- Max Ellingsen concluded the countdown of the Mariners’ top prospects by taking a look at No. 1 prospect Colt Emerson.
- The ESPN staff went behind the scenes on how the Ichiro statue was built and revealed.
Around the league…
- Padres right-hander Nick Pivetta is set to miss “weeks and maybe months” as he deals with a flexor strain in his right elbow.
- Former Mariner Justin Turner signed a deal with the Tijuana Toros of the Mexican Baseball League.
- Ben Clemens dug into the breakout of Twins right-hander Taj Bradley. It’s not every day a pitcher gets better after leaving the Rays, after all.
- Charlie Wright at MLBTR wonders if after all of this time, Mike Trout is back.
- Michael Baumann at Fangraphs provided an analysis of the extensions-for-young-players trend and wonders what kind of impact it will have on the sport.
- Eno Sarris at The Athletic updated his rest-of-season starting pitcher rankings. ($)
