With the Seattle Mariners’ opening day matchup against the Boston Red Sox less than a week away, the regular season is drawing nearer and nearer.
Seattle Mariners Notebook: Why are the offensive statistics so high?
What have been some of the more exciting discoveries and advancements throughout spring training for the M’s, who have been diligently working in Arizona in anticipation of the regular season? Justin Hollander, general manager of the Mariners, dug into that with Wyman and Bob of Seattle Sports.
“I think the group of bullpen arms that we’ve talked about has been really interesting overall, but Jackson Kowar went down with Tommy John,” Hollander stated regretfully. “They’ve got a lot of strikes, and their material is excellent. I believe that throughout the last week or so, the velocity, as evidenced by the stuff and strikes, has been pretty good.
The majority of the players in that group are rookies vying for roster places.
With Seattle’s flamethrowing reliever Andrés Muñoz, who has been the team’s best bullpen arm for the past two years, that is definitely not the case.
Muñoz has continued to make an impression this spring, which Hollander finds very encouraging.
“Muni looks amazing, in my opinion, both physically and in terms of what’s coming out of his hands right now,” Hollander remarked. “It resembles midseason shape.”
Hollander pointed out that Muñoz’s arrival at camp in perfect health might have been a factor. He didn’t have a typical summer following the 2022 campaign due to foot surgery, but this year he was able to enjoy one.
“He arrived at camp looking like a midseason player. Hollander remarked, “He looks amazing.” He seems to be moving much more smoothly. Much of the work we do in the background is visible. Muni is moving with more force than he did the previous year, so I’m pretty happy with where he is at.
In terms of hitters, Dominic Canzone, an outfielder who was acquired by the Mariners from the Arizona Diamondbacks in July of last year, may be the bat that has surprised fans the most this spring.
“Everyone has probably noticed that he is more physically strong, and the at-bats, at-bat quality, and pitch selection that we have seen from him this spring training have been significantly different from what we saw when he initially joined the Mariners,” Hollander remarked. And we were aware that we would need to address it, and I believe he did a fantastic job doing so.
There’s another outfielder that merits consideration and conversation.
“We are happy to have Mitch Haniger back in our uniform, but I wouldn’t say it’s a surprise because we know him so well,” Hollander remarked.
In the previous offseason, Haniger signed a free-agent contract with the San Francisco Giants and left the Mariners; however, in January, the seasoned outfielder was dealt back to the Mariners.
Hollander remarked, “I think people don’t see behind the scenes how much he brings, and he looks amazing physically right now.” We’re thrilled to have him, and I just think he’s happy to be back here.
With his fourth home run of the spring, which leads the M’s, Haniger has had a fantastic start to the season.
So how did his comeback end up happening?
This winter was intriguing. There were four or five teams that thought they had a full complement of outfield players, and another four or five that thought they had just two, hardly enough to last a season. One of the clubs with a large number of outfield players on both their 26- and 40-man rosters was the Giants, according to Hollander.
According to Hollander, he and team president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto “split up” the teams they speak with, 15 for one team and 14 for the other, and they “just start making calls” as soon as the offseason starts.
Relationships are the key to determining who gets which teams, according to Hollander.
“The Giants are with Jerry. He’s known Farhan Zaidi, the president of baseball operations for the Giants, for a very long time. He so signs with the Giants, and I believe that was simply one of our initial requests to inquire, “Hey, what are you guys doing with all these outfielders?” It is limited to three games at a time. Are you willing to discuss those guys with me? stated Hollander. And the discussions changed over the winter.
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