For the third consecutive year, the Yankees have begun the season by sweeping their first series of the calendar. This year’s opening series was a tour de force of pitching, as Yankee hurlers held the Giants to just one run across all 27 innings of their time in the Bay. Now they head up to the Emerald City looking to keep the good times rolling against a quality club who they went 5-1 against last year. The Mariners remain a stout test as a team similarly stacked with talent on the mound, while
also boasting electrifying hitters at the top of their lineup (see my colleague Jeff’s preseason preview for more).
The M’s got one monkey off their back in 2025 by winning their first division title in 24 years and coming closer to a World Series berth than any other time in franchise history, falling in a heartbreaking seven-game ALCS crusher when they dropped the final two contests in Toronto. The only MLB team to never win in a pennant has its fans dreaming of a Fall Classic in Seattle. We’ll get an early look at them to see if the M’s are worth the hype.
Monday — Ryan Weathers vs. Luis Castillo (9:40 pm)
Ryan Weathers is set to make his Yankees debut in the series opener after turning heads with his stuff in spring training. The former first-round draftee has always had the pedigree of a star pitcher but has rarely been able to stay on the field consistently enough to prove it. His spring starts showed that he can be susceptible to the big inning, but the southpaw also has the raw stuff to work his way out of jams if he keeps his confidence. Weathers is probably the biggest wild card on the entire pitching staff—an All Star-caliber breakout season and high-ERA flameout both feel equally possible.
Luis Castillo came to Seattle a few years ago as an ace and Trade Deadline splash, and he was soon extended through 2027 in a widely-acclaimed deal. However, the intervening years he’s spent with the Mariners have seen him slip outside the elite tier of starters. Don’t get the wrong idea: a combined 3.50 ERA across three seasons while logging 30 or more starts in each of them is plenty valuable, but Castillo’s repertoire always seemed to promise a yet higher ceiling. The 33-year old’s strikeout rate has steadily slipped over that period, and he has always been vulnerable to the home run ball, but he has a strong track record of success against the Yankees: a 2.74 ERA in seven prior starts.
Tuesday — Max Fried vs. Logan Gilbert (9:40 pm)
Fried’s first turn on the bump Wednesday night was a display in how he can still dominate without his best stuff. The lefty’s command was not at its sharpest, yet he still pitched into the seventh inning while allowing just three baserunners. On paper, he matches up well with a lefty-heavy Mariners’ lineup—though of course Julio Rodríguez and the switch-hitting Cal Raleigh will enjoy the platoon advantage.
Fried opposed a Logan on Opening Day, so appropriately enough he’ll face another Logan in his second start. Righty Logan Gilbert took his turn as staff ace in 2024, when he led The Show in starts (33), innings (208.2), and WHIP (0.887). An unfortunate flexor strain suffered last April sidelined him for a month and change, allowing Bryan Woo* to emerge as the new ace in his stead. That injury was a rare occurrence for the tall righty—he had finished in the top ten among AL starters the previous three campaigns. This year, Gilbert is back at the top of the rotation—solving him will be no easy task. He went 5.1 in his season debut against Cleveland the other day, holding the Guardians to three runs on five hits and no walks.
*The Yankees will not see Woo in this series since he did not start on Opening Day. Despite being Seattle’s best starter in 2025, he was limited by season’s end due to a pectoral injury and the Mariners appear to be finding ways to give him extra rest during the first month of 2026, holding him out until last Saturday and taking advantage of early-season offdays.
Wednesday — Cam Schlittler vs. George Kirby (4:10 pm)
This isn’t your average getaway day game, as two more extraordinarily talented hurlers will take the hill in the series finale. Cam Schlittler had about as good an opening start as anyone could have hoped for, especially since he was still on a fairly strict pitch limit. He made it all the way into the sixth inning, allowing just one hit and striking out eight Giants. This time he’ll face the team he squared off against in his MLB debut last year—in which he allowed three runs on four hits while collecting seven punchouts across 5.1 frames.
George Kirby missed all of last April before returning in May; and he got flattened in his first two starts. Those two games and a few other scattered blowups helped to distend a season that was actually pretty standard excellence from Kirby, an All-Star in 2023. Take his ERA in the summer months: 3.18 in June, 3.07 in July, and 3.52 in August. Fully healthy this year, Kirby was more impressive than Gilbert in his opening start, limiting the Guardians to a run on two hits over six innings.
