Rivals, Part Deux: Mariners vs. Padres Series Preview
The Mariners return home to complete the second half of the Vedder Cup.
After pulling out a series win against the Cardinals to cap off an otherwise middling road trip, the Mariners return home for a jumbo-sized homestand, starting off with another NL opponent aka Our Natural Rivals, the San Diego Padres.
The Mariners and Padres share more than just a spring training complex: each organization knows the pain of trying to chase a dominant, perennial division leader in the Astros and Dodgers, and Mariners fans especially can relate to the exhilaration/annoyance of having Shohei Ohtani as a divisional rival. This season, the Padres not only have to chase the Dodgers, currently tied with the Phillies for the best winning percentage in baseball, but they also have to fend off the Diamondbacks, who are nipping at their heels for a Wild Card spot.
The Padres look really smart in retrospect by jumping the line on a trade deadline that was very thin on bats and acquiring Luis Arraez back in May (to say nothing of their acquisition of Dylan Cease well before starting pitching prices skyrocketed at the same time). The contact-oriented OBP machine hasn’t recaptured the heights of his 2023 season where he was in contention for the batting title, but he remains one of the stubbornest outs in MLB. The Mariners will also have to contend with Fernando Tatís Jr. this series after his annual IL stint coincided with the last Mariners-Padres series in San Diego. They will likely miss Ha-Seong Kim this series, who is currently on the IL with shoulder inflammation, meaning Tacoma Rainiers legend Mason McCoy will be filling in at shortstop. Jackson Merrill continues to make Kate look very smart for picking him as the NL ROY pre-season as he continues to impress on both sides of the ball (Paul Skenes who?), although he too has been dealing with a banged-up knee. The Mariners were able to keep resurgent Jurickson Profar relatively quiet over their last two-game set with the Padres, invoking the ancient AL West magicks, but the 31-year-old veteran remains the Padres’ most productive hitter, showing he has access to some magicks of his own.
Probable Pitchers
Yu Darvish made 11 solid starts for the Padres before a groin strain and minor elbow inflammation derailed his season. In the middle of his rehab assignment, he was placed on the restricted list to attend to a personal matter. After spending three months away from the team, he finally returned to major league action last week and pitched 2.2 innings in his first start since late May. He threw 63 pitches in that start and he’ll likely be on a limited pitch count again in this start against the Mariners. As far as his pitches go, Darvish still possesses the deepest repertoire in baseball with Baseball Savant grouping his pitches into eight separate buckets — though if you want to really be nitpicky, he uses more like 10 or 11 distinct grips on his pitches and some of their characteristics blend together which is why Savant only “sees” eight. He’s still throwing with good velocity despite turning 38 years old a few weeks ago.
From a previous series preview:
Michael King was one of the headlining pitchers who came to the Padres in the big Juan Soto trade back in December. He transitioned from high-leverage bullpen work to the starting rotation last summer and provided nine phenomenal starts for the Yankees down the stretch. He’s continued to start for San Diego and has been a solid pitcher for them this year. The addition of sweeper to his arsenal a few years ago helped him push his strikeout rates well above league average and an improving changeup has given him the deep repertoire to thrive in longer outings.
King has been one of the Padres best pitchers since May after a pretty slow start to the season; his ERA and FIP are sitting right around 2.50 over the last five months. He held the Mariners to just two runs in six innings in his previous outing against them, striking out nine.
The Big Picture:
I don’t know, do we really have to do this? Go get yourself a little treat or walk around the block or something.