It was just another Spring Training contest held in front of 5,174 at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Arizona, but for the Mariners and their faithful it was a glimpse into the future.
Touted pitching prospects Matt Brash and George Kirby, a pair of right-handers with high octane fastballs, each worked three innings against the Oakland Athletics on Sunday. Their respective performances helped ease the angst which has slowly built up within the Mariners community over general manager Jerry Dipoto’s failure to find an experienced fifth starter via trade or free agency as he routinely made clear he was seeking.
The Mariners entered the offseason with two rotation openings after mutual options for 2021 All-Star starter Yusei Kikuchi were declined, allowing the Japanese left-hander to reach free agency, and second-half acquisition Tyler Anderson also became a free agent.
Though, the team carried over young, still developing starting pitchers Justus Sheffield and Justin Dunn who are still in their pre-arbitration years, Dipoto stated the team was looking to fill multiple holes in the rotation during the offseason. After signing the 2021 American League Cy Young award winner Robbie Ray to a 5-year, $115 million contract on December 1, a lockout put the important offseason for the Mariners on hold for 99 days.
The lockout delayed Dipoto’s follow-up in the pitching market, but his intention seemingly persisted even after agreeing on a trade with Cincinnati to acquire outfielder Jesse Winker and third baseman Eugenio Suarez on March 14. When the Seattle general manager filled needs for a left-handed outfielder and a third baseman, he made the rounds on local media stating he was done with adding to the offense, but still sought a top of the rotation starter to fill the remaining rotation spot.
Given the dearth of starting pitching remaining on the market on March 14, Dipoto knew the trade market was likely his best shot at adding to the rotation in the manner he desired. As he made calls to the teams with pitching to part with, he quickly learned the asking price was far beyond his liking.
So he stood pat. Though, his desire to find an experienced starter with a skill set to fill the top of the rotation somewhere below Ray, Dipoto was also readily aware his organization was flush with starting pitching close to the big leagues. It’s why he only was after an elite arm. Not simply a guy to plug into the five hole who could fill some innings. He wanted someone with substance who was worthy of holding a spot that would otherwise go to a kid like Brash or Kirby, 23 and 24 years old respectively, who need to be placed on the 40-man roster by the end of November to be protected from the rule 5 draft.
Brash and Kirby have been given the opportunity to fight for that fifth starter opening while Dipoto waits for the asking price on available starters falls. Both shined on Sunday in their second outings of the spring.
Brash started the game and pitched 3 hitless innings. He struck out six and walked none. He showed a fastball which sat 96-98 mph, a strong curveball and slider as well as a changeup which he is working on as a key pitch against left-handed hitters. Kirby followed, pitching the fourth, fifth and sixth frames in which he also struck out six batters, surrendered three hits and one walk in three shutout innings. His fastball was just as electric, touching 99 and sitting in the 97-98 range. Kirby’s offspeed offerings of a changeup, slider and curveball are all average to plus pitches.
One question you might ask is why would Dipoto need to sign/trade for another starter when he had these two in the system ready to contribute all along? It is a fair question. The answer is rooted in the common league-wide approach to carefully handle young pitchers.
Innings pitched is the answer. Any pitcher who opens the season in a big-league rotation and stays healthy enough to take the ball every fifth day is going to make approximately 30 starts and likely average five innings per start for 150 innings. For a pair of pitchers who didn’t pitch nearly that many innings the year prior — Kirby 67.2 and Brash 97.1 — the total requires some finesse. Teams typically favor building up their prospects arms to something close to 125 innings before putting them in a big-league rotation to start the season.
Unfortunately, the Mariners don’t have that luxury this season. Instead, they’ve discovered a pair of bright young starters who sure look ready to contribute to a team looking to snap a 21-year playoff drought. If the innings totals say anything, it’s probably why Brash has a leg up on the competition, and why Kirby likely starts in the minor leagues, throwing 4-5 innings per start for a couple months before being called upon when the need arises.
The A’s didn’t field their Opening Day lineup. It featured three reserves as well as missing last year’s regulars Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Mark Canha and Starling Marte. Much of the punch in the A’s is missing, but don’t tell that to Scott Servais and Dipoto. It’d be hard to temper their enthusiasm after what was put on display, Sunday.
“It was fun to watch,” Servais told reporters after the game. “I thought Brash was outstanding, life on his stuff, and I thought George (was too) once he settled in. You look up and they both struck out six guys. A really good outing by both of them, which is great to see. We are going to start extending them out a little farther.”
Each will be given another opportunity to show why it may be in the Mariners best interest to roll with the kids entering such a promising 2022 campaign.
“I think both have a chance to be high-end starters,” Servais added.
Perhaps, Dipoto’s best move all winter was not making any move at all?
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