Mariners roster projection, March 7: Could Seattle carry extra utility players?

The Seattle Mariners still have nearly three weeks to sort out their Opening Day roster, but as Cactus League games continue, and cuts are made — major league camp has thinned from 71 to 60 players in the past week — what the final product might look like is becoming more clear.

Not much has changed since last week’s roster projection, but I explore the possibility of the Mariners carrying three outfielders instead of four, and another of the many ways they could go with their bullpen.

STARTING ROTATION (5)

LHP Marco Gonzales

LHP Yusei Kikuchi

RHP Kendall Graveman

LHP Justus Sheffield

RHP Taijuan Walker

Changes: None

The skinny: Yes, this is spring training, and performances aren’t always what they seem, but there’s reason to believe this rotation will be better than expected — and much better than the ever-changing collection of starters the Mariners put on the field last season. Gonzales is still on track to make his second consecutive Opening Day start for the Mariners, and looked much sharper in his second spring training start Sunday than he did in his first. He ramped up his pitch count to 61 in an intrasquad game at Seattle’s spring training complex Friday afternoon, and could make two or three more starts in Arizona before the Mariners open the season. ... Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto has called what Kikuchi has been able to physically produce this spring “a revelation.” Kikuchi’s fastball continues to reach 96 mph on a regular basis, and the development of his secondary pitches give the Mariners plenty to be excited about. He has a team-high 10 strikeouts, and is punching out nearly a third of the batters he faces. ... Graveman wasn’t as sharp in his second outing as he was in his first, but has yet to allow a run in Cactus League play. He was scratched from Saturday’s start against the A’s with the flu. ... Sheffield appears to have put last year’s jitters behind him, and has looked like the “solidified starter” he wants to be in his second season with Seattle.’ ... Walker still hasn’t pitched in a spring training game, but faced seven batters in an intrasquad game Wednesday, and retired all of them. He’s scheduled to pitch in ‘A’ game Monday against the Brewers. ... The Mariners continue to roll out Justin Dunn to get quality experience — he faced Mike Trout and the Angels in Tempe on Wednesday — but he’s still looking at starting the season with Triple-A Tacoma.

CATCHERS (2)

Tom Murphy

Austin Nola

Changes: None

The skinny: Murphy and Nola won’t share a 50-50 split, but it won’t be a true everyday starter and backup situation either. Mariners manager Scott Servais envisions the catching distribution at about 55% Murphy, 45% Nola. “They’re both going to play a very similar amount,” he said. “I don’t think you put too much of a load on either one of them, and I think at the end of the day we’ll look up and hopefully have very good production out of that position. We had great production out of it last year.” ... The Mariners want to stay away from designated pitcher-catcher pairings, instead preferring both Murphy and Nola catch everyone. They’ve been equally distributed behind the plate so far this spring, each starting six games with Nola logging 30 innings, and Murphy 29. ... Neither has been particularly productive at the plate this spring — Nola is hitting 5-for-19 (.263) and Murphy 2-for-10 (.200) — but both have a good track record in regular season games. Murphy hit .273/.324/.535 with 18 homers for the Mariners in 2019, while Nola hit .269/.342/.454. Seattle also isn’t afraid to slot both backstops in their batting order on any given day. You will see both in the DH role at some point in place of Daniel Vogelbach, most likely against left-handed pitching. Both Murphy (.695 slugging percentage, 11 homers) and Nola (.538 slugging percentage) had resounding success against lefties in 2019.

INFIELDERS (7)

1B Evan White

2B Shed Long

SS J.P. Crawford

3B Kyle Seager

UTIL Dee Gordon

UTIL Dylan Moore

UTIL Sam Haggerty

Changes: Moore in, Haggerty in, Tim Lopes out

The skinny: What if, instead of four true outfielders, the Mariners go a different route, and carry multiple super utility players? It’s an option, and certainly something they could fiddle with early on this season, so let’s explore what that could look like. ... Gordon will make the Opening Day roster as an extra player off the bench, with Seattle turning to Long as their everyday second baseman this season. ... As many as two more utility spots could be up for grabs. Moore was Seattle’s primary utility option last season as a rookie, and has continued his torrid spring since returning from concussion protocol Wednesday. He’s 4-for-9 (.444) with a double, homer, three RBI, four walks and a team-high five stolen bases — including swiping two bags Friday night against the Dodgers — and has the best on-base percentage (.615) and slugging percentage (.889) of any player in major league camp with multiple at-bats. After those few days away, he looks Opening Day ready, and still offers the Mariners sure-handed defense and experience at every infield and outfield position. ... Haggerty is my sleeper pick this week. He’s quietly had a very productive camp since the Mariners claimed him off waivers from the Mets in January, hitting .357/.357/.571 in eight games with three doubles, two RBI and hasn’t struck out. He’s a switch hitter who’s had ample experience at second, short and third in the minors, and can play all three outfield positions. He’s appeared at second, short, center and left for the Mariners this spring. Because of his versatility, I have him edging out Lopes, who continues to hit — he’s .471/.471/.765 in eight games, and still leading all of spring training with five doubles along with Oakland’s Seth Brown — but has less experience playing at every position.

OUTFIELDERS (3)

Mallex Smith

Kyle Lewis

Jake Fraley

Changes: Braden Bishop out

The skinny: If the Mariners do carry an extra utility player, he would take the place of the fourth outfielder. Bishop would be optioned back to Tacoma in this scenario. He’s one of the best defensive outfielders Seattle has in its system, but still hasn’t found his rhythm at the plate. He missed most of the summer with the Mariners last season after he was hit by a pitch in the minors, and ended up in the hospital days later with a lacerated spleen, and has had difficulty getting back on track in the batter’s box since. He’s hitting just 1-for-10 (.100) in six games so far this spring with two walks and four strikeouts. Should the Mariners carry a fourth outfielder, it would almost surely be Bishop, but with as much versatility as they have in camp, they might not need to.

DESIGNATED HITTER (1)

Daniel Vogelbach

Changes: None

The skinny: Vogelbach’s confidence appears to be back this spring after a frustrating second half in 2019, during which he hit just .162/.286/.341. “He was just disappointed in how it ended,” Servais said. “He learned from it, coming into this camp. ... I like where he’s at. He’s going to be a big part in the middle of our lineup. He will get on base and he will hit it over the fence. Those are two very valuable things in our game.” Vogelbach has reached base safely in all nine Cactus League games he’s played in so far, hit safely in six of them and drawn five walks. We haven’t seen the power come out yet — his only extra-base hit so far was a double in Wednesday’s game against the Angels — but it will show up eventually.

BULLPEN (8)

RHP Dan Altavilla

LHP Nestor Cortes

RHP Carl Edwards Jr.

RHP Yoshihisa Hirano

RHP Matt Magill

RHP Yohan Ramirez

RHP Erik Swanson

RHP Sam Tuivailala

Changes: None

The skinny: I’m going to keep this the same this week with some caveats. The first one is Tuivailala might not be ready by Opening Day. He has been dealing with a minor shoulder issue and has yet to appear in a Cactus League game. He did throw an inning in an intrasquad game Friday afternoon, but was working through some mechanical adjustments with his lower half, and the results weren’t what the Mariners were hoping for. He’s looking at another simulated game or live batting practice before Seattle thinks about running him out for a game. There’s a possibility he starts the season on the injured list. ... Magill also pitched an inning in Friday’s ‘B’ game after dealing with a minor shoulder issue early in camp. Servais was pleased with how Magill’s velocity is coming along, and his next outing should be in a Cactus League game. ... The Mariners’ problem with remaining options in their bullpen puts them in a bit of a pickle when decisions have to be made. Altavilla is out of options, but has pitched well enough so far to make a case for keeping his job, allowing one run in four appearances while striking out four. Tuivailala and Magill are also out of options, but pitched well for the Mariners last season, and probably aren’t immediate DFA candidates. Edwards is also out, but the Mariners are hoping he can recapture what he did with the Cubs in earlier in his career. ... Cortes and Swanson both have options remaining, but can also stretch out and throw multiple innings as former starters, which Seattle could need with starters like Graveman and Walker coming off long absences after Tommy John. Hirano also has options, but the Mariners see him on the roster as a late innings pitcher. ... Ramirez was the Mariners’ Rule 5 pickup in December, and has improved after a bumpy start this spring, meaning the club probably keeps him out of camp. ... That leaves pitchers like left-hander Taylor Guilbeau, who has pitched well enough to make the Opening Day roster and is certainly deserving, and right-hander Brandon Brennan, last year’s Rule 5 pickup, out for the time being.

This story was originally published March 7, 2020 at 9:40 AM with the headline "Mariners roster projection, March 7: Could Seattle carry extra utility players?."

Lauren Smith

The News Tribune

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Lauren Smith is a sports reporter at The News Tribune. She has covered high school sports for TNT and The Olympian, as well as the Seattle Mariners and Washington Huskies. She is a graduate of UW and Emerald Ridge High School.