Drayer: What I’m watching closely at Mariners spring training

Feb 12, 2025, 12:18 AM | Updated: Feb 18, 2025, 3:39 pm

Mariners Insider, Seattle Sports

At long last, there is baseball. Pitchers and catchers have reported to Seattle Mariners camp, and the work as a team begins in Peoria.

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We at Seattle Sports will arrive next week with reporting from spring training beginning Thursday, and the first Cactus League game broadcast Friday. Brock and Salk will originate from the back porch of the complex Feb. 17-21, and Wyman and Bob will follow the next week.

I will be there until the final day. Here are some of the things of interest that I will be watching closely or looking for.

Seattle Mariners spring training

1. Not the same at the top

While there hasn’t been much change with the roster, there is a major change at the top with manager Dan Wilson leading his first camp.

Previous skipper Scott Servais went about cultivating a spring culture and routine from Day 1 nine years ago, and while there were hits and misses along the way, it was all edited into an efficient camp with a good feel. What does Wilson keep? What does he look to improve or change? What does this look, sound and feel like in Year 1? Are the schedules the same and does it run smoothly? Do they have the same meetings both with and without players? Are there different drills?

We’ve already heard they would like to get hitters more at-bats this spring to have them more season-ready when camp breaks. How is this accomplished and will it be of impact? How do Edgar Martinez, who is now director of hitting strategy, and new hitting coach Kevin Seitzer interact and work together, and how is their message received by the hitters?

Of course, the most important messages will come from the manager. Last August, Wilson had to hit the ground running with little preparation. Now he has had the benefit not just of the experience he had in leading the club the final six weeks of last season, but time to digest the tidal wave of information he was hit with and plan for what he wants his team to look like and how to message it.

Next week, before the full squad takes the field for the first full workout, Wilson will address the entire camp, staff and front office members included. What will his message be? What will he ask for from his players? How is it received and what does it look like on and off the field?

2. The infield

Let’s see if I have this right. At first base, we have an outfielder and perhaps a veteran utility player. Second base, a Gold Glove utility player at his best position and likely a player with limited time in the bigs. Shortstop, a player they are depending on for a big bounceback. At third base is a second baseman who has put up woeful defensive numbers. And finally, a Platinum Glove (and should be Silver Slugger) ironman behind the plate in Cal Raleigh.

Raleigh and first baseman Luke Raley are the standouts in the group, with the only question for Raleigh being how much can you let him play. No one should know better than his former catcher-manager Wilson, who developed a close relationship with Raleigh while he was developing in the minors. For Raley, the question will be the same but for different reasons.

Wilson is not opposed to platoons but does favor a set lineup, and it’s not hard seeing Raley getting the chance to show he could be an everyday player. He had a miserable spring at the plate last year that carried into the first couple of months of the season. Feeling better at the plate from the get-go could go a long way towards solidifying him in the Mariners lineup at a mix of first base and designated hitter.

The tweener of the group will be the veteran Donovan Solano, who can play first, second and third base. While the 37-year old’s defensive numbers are not great, infield coach Perry Hill had him for the first four years of Solano’s career with the Miami Marlins and is excited to get the chance to work with him again. While it is not clear yet how he fits into the mix, flexibility of position and being comfortable and able to hit as a not-everyday player should be a benefit for the team (assuming he is not forced into an everyday role).

In the “watch with a wary eye” category, the rest of the infield. Injuries in 2024 limited shortstop J.P. Crawford to his fewest plate appearances in a full season since 2019, and his slash of .202/.304/.321 (.625 OPS) was his lowest since breaking into the big leagues. Still, he is separated by just one year from his best offensive season where he produced an .818 OPS and 133 OPS+. The Mariners desperately need a bounceback from their shortstop.

Dylan Moore will be at second base after winning the American League’s Gold Glove at the utility position, perhaps in a primary rather than platoon role with Ryan Bliss and Luis Rivas available from the right side.

Then there is Jorge Polanco, who will have six weeks to learn a new position. Are they gambling too much on the defense at third base, or can work with Hill and good positioning give them enough? For now, that is a huge question mark.

3. Julio Rodríguez

Stop me if you have heard this before: the offense goes as Julio goes. While he is not responsible for the performance of the other eight hitters in the order, he obviously is the much-needed impact player in the lineup. And if he doesn’t go, it is awfully tough for the Mariners to go.

In 2024, his slugging percentage was a full 100 points lower and bWAR almost a full two points lower than in ‘22 when he won the AL Rookie of the Year Award and the Mariners ended the playoff drought. Since then, he has shown great later-season bursts of what he can be offensively. The talent is there, there is no question about that. With three years at the major league level, he has seen and experienced enough to have the firsts and a good amount of young put behind him.

Julio’s challenge has been with adjustments, both in making the right adjustment and making them in a timely manner. Edgar Martinez appeared to help with that, and he certainly gained Julio’s trust with the work they did together after the Hall of Famer was brought on as the interim hitting coach late last season. Will that carry over and translate into a much-needed better start?

Away from the work, Julio is a year older, a year more mature, a year more experienced in the game and life. As a young superstar, he has had a lot to balance and I am curious to see what that balance looks like for him entering Year 4 in the big leagues.

4. Pitcher health

You can never have enough starting pitching, and believe it or not, the Mariners are a bit thin in that regard heading into the season. What, you might ask? They kept everyone. Yep. But beyond the five-man rotation, there are no new George Kirbys, Bryce Millers or Bryan Woos on the near-horizon.

And please take a minute to appreciate that you may never see another three-year run of homegrown starting rotation talent debut like that of Logan Gilbert, Kirby, Miller and Woo. They truly do not grow on trees, yet here the Mariners are, and here they remain – along with Luis Castillo – rotation intact.

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Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto and general manager Justin Hollander were simply not willing to trade any of the starting five this offseason unless they were able to get something that would make them better. What that equation would look like is unknown to the public, but clearly the value of starting pitching to the Seattle Mariners is off the charts.

Had they chosen to move a starter, there would have been a replacement who likely would not have replicated the contribution of the player he replaced, but been good enough with the value of the offensive player covering the deficit on the mound and then some. That’s all well and good until another starter is injured. An equivalent or even near-equivalent replacement is not there.

With the rotation intact, the Mariners will hopefully avoid that situation. But still, losing just one starter for a long period of time could be tough. They are built to lean on the starters and they need those starters healthy.

Health will also be a focus with the bullpen, with a reportedly healthy Gregory Santos ready to go and Matt Brash checking off rehab benchmarks at a rapid pace. I’m interested to see what a well-rested Andrés Muñoz and Gabe Speier look like, as well.

5. Surprises

I’m up for a spring training surprise of the good variety. While it’s easy to pencil out an opening day 26-man roster, there may be a spot or two that are not yet quite inked in.

It is probably too soon for infield prospect Cole Young as the Mariners likely will not want to bring him up until he can play every day, but he showed extremely well the in the first couple of weeks of games last spring. It’s a longshot, but could he kick the door down?

How about Tyler Locklear? There isn’t really a spot for him currently, but he can make a case. His look of just 45 at-bats with the Mariners was far too short last year to make much of a determination of what he was at the big league level. What did he do with the knowledge gained in that time?

Then there’s Ben Williamson. People both in and out of the organization praise the 2023 second-round draft pick’s defense, with the feeling being you could put him at third base every day with the Mariners if offense wasn’t a factor. It is likely he will start the season at Triple-A, but he is worth a good look this spring as it is likely we will see him in Seattle at some point.

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On the pitching side, can the Mariners help a now healthy Shintaro Fujinami, who has been plagued with command problems, harness a five-pitch repertoire that includes a 99-plus mph fastball? It is likely too soon, but there is excitement within the organization for what prospect Brandyn Garcia, who pitched as a starter in 2024, could do as a lefty out of the pen, with the name Hunter Cranton also mentioned as one to keep an eye on.