Mariners: Spring Training Preview

Seattle’s busy offseason will spark interesting Spring Training competition.

February 19th marks the start of Spring Training for the Seattle Mariners as pitchers and catchers report for the new season. The Mariners‘ pitching staff last year was, with the exception of Felix Hernandez, inconsistent at best but new GM Jerry Dipoto has been busy in the offseason acquiring new arms, strengthening the staff around young guns like Taijuan Walker.

Now equipped with five solid starters after the pick ups of Wade Miley and Nathan Karns, the Mariners coaching staff will be watching the rotation battle closely to decide who will be taking the mound to start the 2016 season. Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma and Miley are veterans who will likely secure the top 3 rotation spots. This will provoke an interesting competition between the youngsters Walker, Karns and James Paxton for the final 2 spots.

“The fact that I think we have minimally six, and perhaps up to eight or nine legitimate candidates for the Major League rotation is excellent. The fact that our fifth or sixth starter may be physically as gifted as most people’s two or three, that’s exciting to me,” Dipoto said.

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On the offensive side of the team, there are a couple key players, as well as new prospects, whose performance will be closely monitored in Spring Training.  

Robinson Cano limped out of the gates last season, enduring his worst offensive start of his career. Cano was able to finish the last 82 games hitting .330 with 17 home runs, looking more like the big contract player he is. That being said, he had double hernia surgery this offseason, so it will be interesting to see how he fares in Spring Training.

Dipoto will surely have his fingers crossed for it to pay off

Newly acquired Korean player Dae-Ho Lee is one of the most promising pick ups to me. Lee hit 31 homers and 98 RBI in his last season in Japan. Standing at 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighing 280 lbs, Lee is a big man with a big bat. The Seattle front office,not willing to risk too much on the foreign slugger, gave him a minor league deal, but keep a close eye on the numbers he produces early on.

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Other names that will draw attention in Spring Training include Adam Lind, Leonys Martin, Chris Iannetta, Nori Aoki and Boog Powell. All of these players were acquired this offseason in some interesting trades and Dipoto will surely have his fingers crossed for it to pay off.  Overall, this revamped Seattle team has high hopes for an organization due for a successful season.