MARINERS ANALYSIS

When you saw Mariners pitcher Justus Sheffield wiggling his way out of jams and pinpointing sliders in Sunday’s 2-0 win, were you celebrating the present or the future?

Yusei Kikuchi is about to begin his third season in the majors pitching for the Seattle Mariners and it's going to be the most important one because of the structure of his contract.

Before the first Seattle Mariners’ workout of the spring Thursday in Peoria, Arizona, manager Scott Servais began his Zoom news conference by exclaiming, “I love this team! I really do.”

James Paxton and Blake Snell stood chatting near the D1 gate of Sea-Tac airport, early Monday morning, waiting to board their flight to Phoenix. Neither the mass of people waiting in the boarding area nor the swarms of snow-stranded travelers shuffling by had any idea that two of baseball’s most talented left-handed pitchers were conversing.

With access to his sometimes twice-daily games of pickup basketball limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic, San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller, a notorious hoop-a-holic, has seemingly channeled his frenetic energy on the court into player acquisitions for his team

Three days before the sports world shut down because of the coronavirus – March 9 to be exact – Justin Dunn made his third appearance of spring training against the Brewers at Maryvale Ballpark.

SEATTLE – Given the difficulties of trying to finish the shortened 2020 regular season and all the restrictions required, then factoring in the lack of a coronavirus vaccine and the inability to institute universal rapid testing, it’s illogical to assume the 2021 baseball season will return to normal.

Former Gonzaga University standout Marco Gonzales is scheduled to make his season debut Tuesday when the Mariners open a two-game interleague series in San Francisco.

With a day off Monday and a two-game interleague series in San Francisco starting Tuesday, Mariners designated hitter Nelson Cruz could get a couple of extra days of rest for his sprained right ankle.

The Mariners couldn’t make it through the first week of the season unscathed.