MARCH 29, 2022•CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
Matt Calkins: Do Mariners need to spend big to win big and end playoff drought?SEATTLE — Want a number that will make you happy? Here's one: 90. That's how many games the Mariners won last year without Cy Young winner R...
Ryan Buchter - Assigned to minorsThe Mariners reassigned Buchter to minor-league camp Tuesday.
ImpactThe demotion of outfielder Taylor Trammell to Triple-A Tacoma and reassignments of Buchter and right-hander Matt Festa leaves the Mariners with 42 players left at big-league camp as Opening Day approaches. Buchter spent the 2021 campaign in the Diamondbacks organization, appearing in 18 games for the big club and logging a 6.61 ERA over 16.1 innings.
MARCH 29, 2022•ROTOWIRE
Matt Festa - Sent to minor-league campThe Mariners reassigned Festa to minor-league camp Tuesday.
ImpactFesta previously made 28 appearances for the Mariners between the 2018 and 2019 seasons, but he hasn't made it back to the big leagues since undergoing Tommy John surgery in March 2020. According to Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times, Festa showed an improved slider and increased velocity on his fastball during spring training, so he could be a candidate to rejoin the 40-man and active roster at some point if he excels at Triple-A Tacoma. Even in first year back from elbow surgery in 2021, Festa fared well at the Triple-A level, posting a 2.95 ERA and 0.95 WHIP while striking out 31 hitters over 21.1 innings.
MARCH 29, 2022•ROTOWIRE
Taylor Trammell - Beginning season at Triple-AThe Mariners optioned Trammell to Triple-A Tacoma on Tuesday.
ImpactTrammell broke camp with the big club in 2021, but after turning in a .160/.256/.359 slash line with a 42.1 percent strikeout rate across 178 plate appearances in multiple stints with Seattle, he didn't see any action with the Mariners after mid-July. Though his production at Tacoma was much better (.818 OPS, 22.9 K% in 323 plate appearances), he didn't mash at a level that made him a strong candidate to earn a spot on the Opening Day roster this time around. Trammell will thus return to Tacoma to begin the 2022 campaign, and his odds of getting an extended look in the majors will likely dim further once the Mariners are ready to give top prospect Julio Rodriguez a look in the big leagues.
MARCH 29, 2022•ROTOWIRE
Rangers Announce Jon Gray as Opening Day Starter in TorontoWhat was expected has now been made official: Jon Gray will start for the Texas Rangers on Opening Day.
MARCH 29, 2022•STAR-TELEGRAM.COM
Lynch, Royals Looking To Make Spring Statement vs. MarinersIn their 11th spring training game of the 2022 season, the Kansas City Royals send RHP Daniel Lynch to the mound to compete against the Seat...
MARCH 29, 2022•STAR-TELEGRAM.COM
Jon Gray - Gets Opening Day startManager Chris Woodward said Tuesday that Gray will start the Rangers' Opening Day game April 8 in Toronto, Kennedi Landry of MLB.com reports.
ImpactGiven that he signed a four-year, $56 million contract over the winter along with the fact that the Rangers are lacking in established starting depth behind him, Gray was the obvious choice to get the ball on Opening Day. The 30-year-old power right-hander has flashed intriguing upside at various points since reaching the big leagues in 2015, but calling Coors Field his home park for his first seven MLB seasons has played a major role in him submitting an underwhelming 4.59 ERA through 829.1 career innings. The move from Colorado to Texas' Globe Life Field -- which has proven to be a forgiving environment for pitchers in the two years since its inception -- could put Gray in good position to deliver the best season of his career. At the very least, Gray should be a solid source of innings volume; not including the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, he's covered at least 149 frames in each of the last three seasons.
MARCH 29, 2022•ROTOWIRE
