Radio jubilee, Mariners win spring training 5-4

Today, I couldn’t be happier to hear a game that didn’t matter at all. The end result was a suspense, a 5-4 victory for the Seattle Mariners over a San Diego Padres club starting almost their entire A team, which was arguably the most improved in the MLB this winter. The result will not be in many records, but the game was just as important. It was a winter return for players and fans, and an even longer return for some of the uniforms. Although a limited number were actually present, many more could at least hear Rick Rizzs and Mike Blowers welcome back. Against all odds, the game brought a lot of excitement to the top of the idyllic setting.

Without a TV broadcast, the existing clips came from the club, the media and participants. As such, today’s recap (and many of the spring caps) will have a more pointy style, key points.

• Marco Gonzales started and went 1 ^two⁄₃ innings, ending at the top of the manager’s duplicate fiat, as allowed this spring. The Fathers would invoke power once again, later in the game. Marco reportedly took his subsequent Zoom press on a T-shirt that indicated that few in the club had forgotten the comments of former team president and CEO Kevin Mather.

• The other pitchers of the day, in sequence, were RHP Kendall Graveman, RHP Keynan Middleton, LHP Anthony Misiewicz, RHP Wyatt Mills, RHP Will Vest (Rule-5), RHP Casey Sadler and RHP Paul Sewald (NRI). Gonzales was the only pitcher to issue a free pass, and there was special praise from those present to Vest, who made a 1-2-3 “debut” with a pair of eliminations.
• Vest also gained this foundation that helped UTIL Sam Haggerty to show some defensive brilliance.

• No pitcher, it seems, was hurt today, and no one seemed terribly out of his element, so the overall result can only be described as a success for me in that facet of the game.
• Rick Rizzs and Mike Blowers seemed appropriately elated to be back in the yard to broadcast, sharing some possibly new (or at least new for me) anecdotes. Rizzs noted that he called up the game in which Mike Blowers got his first hit in the big league, a 12-2 blowout from the Blow’s Yankees over the 1989 Mariners, in which he eliminated M’s reliever, Jerry Reed, twice. Rizzs also shared a hilarious story from his first spring training, setting up his radio broadcast at the top of the concession stand after being told that there was no stand. I missed you, Rick.
• Some Mariners players participated in games for the first time in almost a year or more. Tom Murphy started behind the sign, having lost the entire 2020 season with a broken foot. Mitch Haniger hit second, hit and scored a run, in his first action in the game since mid-2019. Both were reportedly in good health after the game too.
• Haniger was replaced by Jarred Kelenic at the top of 4th place, in a fun surprise for everyone involved. Kelenic hit a single on the right field on his first hit and ended day 1 to 2 with a walk that would become a big afternoon.
• The rest of the lineup was close enough to be Opening Day nine in a month, and looked relatively sharp against holder Adrian Morejón do Padres and a series of depth / quad-A arms. The pitch was hardly classy for the Friars, but it was still AAA representative or of better quality for younger players.
• One of those younger players was Evan White, whose development will be key in 2021, as he seeks to make more contact in his second season in the major league. He applied a laser and went back after a 1-2 count before being released for the day.

• Cal Raleigh had a good time behind the plate in Murphy’s relief, and although we literally have no video of him doing anything, he threw out the Padres’ quick prospectus, Tucupita Marcano, in an attempt to steal in the 9th round. Raleigh has been praised for improving his reception to help take the pressure off his baton, but his ability to control the racing game has been a question mark. Something to watch!
• Most of M’s attack came from the starters, who jumped to a 4-1 lead in three innings. The matches went 5 to 15 with five walks and a base stolen by Dylan Moore. Substitutes were Donavan Walton, Kelenic, Braden Bishop, Jack Reinheimer, Julio Rodríguez, Haggerty, José Marmolejos, Raleigh and Taylor Trammell, who combined for just 4-to-19 with two free passes and one shot.
• The crescendo came at the bottom of the ninth in the same way, with the parade of ex-Mariners of the Fathers passing from Taylor Williams to Nabil Crismatt and finally landed on Parker Markel to begin the final frame. After two quick K’s, Jarred Kelenic had a chance to make a thousand funny headlines across the country. Instead, a four-step walk, followed by a Bishop’s EdP. Jack Reinheimer also took a walk after falling behind 0-2, putting Julio (ooooooooooooooooooooooo) in a position to deliver.

He had a plan. He delivered.

February fun ends when April arrives. But the talent can only match the personality of many of M’s current and future players and, until Tuesday, the last taste M fans have of their club is what may be coming.