Mariners set Wild Card roster, Game 1 lineup vs Blue Jays

Mariners playoff baseball is finally here as we’re just hours away from first pitch of the opening American League Wild Card matchup between Seattle and the Toronto Blue Jays.

Drayer’s Mariners Notebook: Excitement, not nerves, evident for M’s in Toronto

The last time the M’s were in the playoffs, Ichiro was a rookie, the pitching staff was anchored by Jamie Moyer and Freddy García, and “Sweet” Lou Piniella was managing the team.

So what does Seattle’s Game 1 lineup look like under manager Scott Servais? What about the team’s roster for the Wild Card round? Here are the details:

Mariners lineup

Julio Rodríguez, CF
Ty France, 1B
Eugenio Suárez, 3B
Cal Raleigh, C
Mitch Haniger, RF
Carlos Santana, DH
Jarred Kelenic, LF
Adam Frazier, 2B
J.P. Crawford, SS

Luis Castillo, SP

Blue Jays lineup

George Springer, CF
Bo Bichette, SS
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B
Alejandro Kirk, C
Teoscar Hernández, RF
Matt Chapman, 3B
Raimel Tapia, LF
Danny Jansen, DH
Whit Merrifield, 2B

Alek Manoah, SP

Mariners roster

Starting pitchers: Luis Castillo, Robbie Ray, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby

Relievers: Andrés Muñoz, Paul Sewald, Diego Castillo, Matt Brash, Erik Swanson, Matthew Boyd, Matt Festa, Penn Murfee

Catchers: Cal Raleigh, Luis Torrens, Curt Casali

Infielders: Ty France, Carlos Santana, J.P. Crawford, Eugenio Suárez, Abraham Toro

Outfielders: Julio Rodríguez, Mitch Haniger, Jarred Kelenic, Taylor Trammell

Infielder/outfielders: Adam Frazier, Dylan Moore

Taxi squad (not on 26-man roster): RHP Chris Flexen, LHP Marco Gonzales, LHP Brennan Bernardino, OF Cade Marlowe

Mariners notes

• With the Mariners needing to cut down to 26 players for this series, they opted to take Gonzales and Flexen off the roster. Gonzales threw more than 100 pitches in a start in Seattle’s regular season finale Wednesday while Flexen made a spot start Tuesday and has not been used very much since being moved to the bullpen after the trade deadline acquisition of Castillo.

• Rookie starter George Kirby making the Wild Card roster stood out to Mariners insider Shannon Drayer. She explained why to Brock and Salk Friday morning.

“I think there was some speculation after… two out of his last three starts (that) he was not what we had seen before. Particularly in his last start, the velocity was down about 2 mph, spin rates were down, so there was some concern there,” she said. “So there were two ways that, if there was something was wrong, they could go – you’re shutting him down or you’re just not even having him in this series. The fact that he is actually on that roster, I think it’s big. Is he going to pitch Game 3 as the starter? No, Logan Gilbert is listed. But if they get into a situation where they’ve used the bullpen in Games 1 and 2 and they need a big arm in Game 3, perhaps you see something like that. I think it’s a longshot that you see that, but the fact that he’s on there tells me they feel better about him than maybe some of us believed.”

• If any player is removed from the playoff roster due to injury, not only do they miss the remainder of that series, but they must miss the entire next series should their team advance.

• Should taxi squad member Cade Marlowe appear in any game this postseason, it would be his major league debut. The 2019 20th-round pick slashed .287/.377/.487 with 23 home runs, 102 RBI and 42 stolen bases in 133 games between Double-A and Triple-A this year.

• Cal Raleigh hitting cleanup is notable as the slugging catcher has done so just once this year. He hit somewhere in the 5-9 spots in every game but that one start at cleanup this season.

• First pitch is scheduled for 1:07 p.m. Listen to the action live on Seattle Sports 710 AM, with pregame coverage beginning at noon.

More on the Mariners from Seattle Sports

• Mariners-Blue Jays Preview: Premier pitching matchup for Game 1
• M’s-Jays a battle of strengths with Seattle’s arms and Toronto’s bats
• Fann: Emotionally preparing for first Mariners playoff series in 21 years
• The defining factors in Wild Card series between Mariners and Blue Jays
• ESPN’s Passan: Key for Mariners to beat Blue Jays in playoff series

Follow @TheBGustafson