What is the story about?
Good morning folks! I hope you’re all having a pleasant Saturday.
The Mariners partied on Friday night, taking down the Astros in an offense-happy affair 9-6.
Believe it or not, Cole Young remains the Mariners’ top position player so far by fWAR. Do you believe in his performance so far? On the one hand, he’s looked very mature as a 22-year old and is playing stellar defense. On the other, he’s got jut a .294 xwOBA.
In Mariners news…
- In case you missed it, the Ichiro statue unveiling went wrong when the statue’s bat broke during the big reveal.
- Major League Baseball introduced a new all-access YouTube series called “Chasing 162” which will follow Julio Rodríguez and Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong in their chase to stay healthy all season long.
- Aaron Goldsmith talked about how Randy Arozarena being in a contract year could make things difficult for the Mariners when they call up Colt Emerson.
- John Trupin dug into what’s going on mechanically with Cal Raleigh and why he’s bullish that the Big Dumper can turn it around.
- Over at ESPN, David Schoenfield also took a look at what’s going on with Raleigh through the first two weeks of the season.
- Max Ellingsen continued his countdown of the Mariners’ top prospects by writing up the team’s No. 3 farmhand, right-hander Ryan Sloan.
- Lance Brozdowski dug into another trick the Mariners are trying with their pitchers.
Around the league…
- The Athletics have placed designated hitter Brent Rooker on the injured list with an oblique strain, ending his 213-game streak of games played.
- Shohei Ohtani broke the all-time on-base streak for a Japanese-born player, surpassing Ichiro with his 44th in a row.
- The Penner Sports Group, which is the majority owner for the Denver Broncos, has purchased a 40% stake in the Colorado Rockies.
- With the Kansas City Chiefs recently having left town for Kansas, city officials are considering issuing $600 million in stadium bonds to keep the Royals around.
- Former Mariner Mike Ford has joined the Rays front office, seemingly ending his playing career.
- Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman has seemingly mastered his pre-pitch setup, putting him in prime position for the best defensive season of his career.
- April stats are weird, and a lot of factors go into them being weird.
