The Seattle Mariners are back. What to know as Opening Day of promising ’23 season nears

Baseball is back in the Pacific Northwest.

The Mariners open the 2023 season at T-Mobile Park on Thursday night, hungry for the chance to notch consecutive postseason appearances. Star outfielder Julio Rodriguez headlines a newer-look lineup, and ace righty Luis Castillo tops Seattle’s young, plentiful rotation.

“We’ve never been more convinced of this team’s ability to (contend) than we were at the end of last season,” president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said. “We do feel like we got meaningfully better in the offseason, and we are a more complete team.

“We are invested in continuing to get better, whatever that means.”

J-ROD’S SOPHOMORE SHOW

On Sports Illustrated’s latest cover – the annual MLB Preview issued in the weeks before Opening Day – Rodriguez welcomes readers to the ‘J-Rod Show.’

“Baseball is fast and fun again,” the cover reads, adjacent to the Seattle star and his exuberant smile, with a bat resting on his shoulder. “Julio Rodriguez is the perfect star for a new game.”

Few players have propelled to instantaneous All-Star status, and even fewer crack the Top 10 of ESPN’s Top 100 MLB player rankings after just one season in the bigs. But J-Rod has officially captured the attention of the baseball world. He is well on his way to becoming one of the sport’s brightest faces.

Fans will erupt for Rodriguez’s Opening Day introduction on Thursday — his official return for a sophomore season. His presence alone added enough hype for ESPN to predict Seattle’s first division title in over two decades.

“I’ll just keep living my dream,” Rodriguez told reporters last month in Arizona. “I feel like I was doing that last year ... I’m doing the same thing. Outside of the field ... a lot has changed for my family and all of that. But for me, it’s the same thing.”

J-Rod captivated a nationwide audience for the first time in the T-Mobile Home Run Derby last July and launched more baseballs to the outfield seats (81) than any other challenger, despite a runner-up finish. He ran away with AL Rookie of the Year honors after leading all major league rookies in home runs, slugging percentage, total bases, OPS, wRC+, and fWAR.

Thanks to a mammoth, dozen-year contract extension signed by Rodriguez last August, fans can look forward to watching their star outfielder for a long, long time.

How far, exactly, can J-Rod go?

Mariners general manager Justin Hollander: “I’m afraid to put a limit on it.”

Rodriguez expects plenty of change in the batter’s box, well aware of pitchers’ reluctance to offer hittable pitches. But his focus remains the same throughout baseball’s unpredictability, he says: to win.

Seattle’s ALDS loss to the eventual World Series-champion Astros stung Rodriguez, he said. Yet he quickly turned it into motivation.

“You can avoid it and try to forget about it, or you can learn and try to take something from it. That whole situation ... I feel like it made this team stronger.

“I know we went to the postseason. I know we broke the drought. But there’s the same goal ... trying to win. That’s all we’ve got.”

Rodriguez topped numerous American League hitting leaderboards despite missing 30 games last season. He carried the strong rookie campaign to spring training, where Rodriguez went 16-for-36 (.444) with two home runs and eight RBI in 13 games.

What does he expect in 2023, if the J-Rod Show lasts 140, 150 games?

“More of the same,” Rodriguez said. “More of the same.”

CASTILLO GETS OPENING DAY NOD

Blue Jays outfielder Teoscar Hernandez remembers chatter in Toronto’s clubhouse late in the 2022 season when American League contenders jockeyed for playoff positions. The Blue Jays, comfortably locked into the first wild-card position, watched as Seattle cemented themselves as next-best. A matchup between the clubs became imminent.

Some on Toronto’s roster appeared unfazed at the matchup, at least to Hernandez. But he wasn’t.

Soon after, Seattle named Luis Castillo the Game 1 starter for a Wild Card series at the Rogers Centre, tasked with defusing Toronto’s electric lineup. He did just that, lasting seven full innings for a brilliant, shutout performance in the Mariners’ first postseason game since 2001.

In hindsight, Hernandez was right to fear Seattle’s dominant pitching staff, Castillo in particular. Seattle rallied from a seven-run road deficit to stun Toronto a day later, capturing a two-game wild card sweep.

Fast-forward to February: Hernandez is a Mariner. He was acquired by Seattle just two months later, suddenly Castillo’s teammate.

A relief, he admits.

“Most of the people said they want to face Seattle. “I was one ... that said no,” Hernandez said at his introductory press conference in Seattle last month. “Because of the really good team that they have. (Seattle) had a really good pitching staff, (starters) and relievers. I didn’t want to face that in the playoffs.

“Being on (Castillo’s) side, it makes me feel better. Because I don’t have to face him.”

Few pitchers possess Castillo’s ability to command a game, nor the ability to throw triple-digit fastballs and sinkers on consecutive pitches. Considered the premier starting pitching acquisition at last year’s trade deadline, Seattle powered its way to the American League Division Series much to “La Piedra’s” credit.

In front of a sold-out crowd on Thursday night, Castillo will take the bump for Opening Day. For the first time, the Mariners will enjoy a full year’s worth of the ace’s services.

The right-hander earned manager Scott Servais’ Opening Day nod last week and faces reigning AL Central-champion Cleveland in the regular season opener. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. at T-Mobile Park.

“For one pitcher to come in and change the vibe, or the way people viewed your team the way Luis did at the deadline, was pretty remarkable,” Dipoto said in February.

Castillo inked a five-year extension with the Mariners midway through Seattle’s late postseason push in September. He declined the option to explore free agency and instead committed long-term to a team he says quickly became family.

“I’m here for a full season, and I’m going to be prepared to see if we can take the team even further,” Castillo told reporters through an interpreter last month. “When I got here, I felt very comfortable ... I knew that I wanted to stay.”

In a spellbinding performance last August, Castillo blanked the Yankees across eight innings as the Mariners finally broke a scoreless tie to win in the 13th. His performance underneath the postseason lights that fall was equally impressive — in both a shutout performance over Toronto in the wild card, plus a seven-inning, three-run outing against Houston in the ALDS.

“We played three games last year that were among the most entertaining that I’ve ever seen ... maybe the best baseball games I’ve seen in recent years,” Dipoto said. “And Luis was on the mound for all of them.”

A spark plug to the rotation, Castillo lasted at least five innings in 10 of 11 Seattle starts after his acquisition in July. He posted a 3.17 earned run average with 17 walks and 77 strikeouts across 65-1/3 regular-season innings, plus 14 frames of three-run postseason ball.

“I’m glad I’m on his team now,” now-Mariner Hernandez said, with Castillo’s wild-card gem fresh on his mind. “He was dominant. He was making good pitches. We could not get him because he was not missing.”

Southpaw Robbie Ray, Seattle’s Opening Day starter in 2022, earned Friday night’s start in the second of a four-game set with the Guardians.

NEW TO THE BLUE

Seattle’s outfield boasts a new Silver Slugger. The infield features a new Gold-Glover.

The Mariners “got meaningfully better,” Dipoto told reporters last month, an indirect nod to the acquisitions of right fielder Teoscar Hernandez and second baseman Kolten Wong.

Hernandez, 30, was one of two outfielders in 2022 with at least 35 doubles and 25 home runs, joining 2018 AL MVP Mookie Betts. And he “loves” to hit at T-Mobile Park – with numbers to prove it.

Seattle’s new right fielder racked up 38 total bases in 16 career games in the Pacific Northwest, all as the Mariners’ opponent. He won consecutive Silver Slugger Awards in 2020-21 and received MVP votes in both seasons.

On Thursday night, Hernandez will take part in Opening Day festivities and don a Mariners uniform in Seattle for the first time.

“I can’t wait for that moment,” he said last month. “It’s going to be a really, really good atmosphere when we get back here in March. And I can’t wait to see the fans and the energy they’re going to bring to this team.”

In return, Seattle dealt pitching prospect Adam Macko and reliever Erik Swanson to the Blue Jays. Swanson was one of the first young pieces acquired in Seattle’s late-2018 ‘step-back’ in a deal that sent lefty starter James Paxton to the Yankees.

“(Teoscar’s) a true middle-of-the-order bat,” general manager Justin Hollander said. “A damage-doer.”

Julio Rodriguez provided a similar assessment. He can’t forget Hernandez’s two-homer performance against the Mariners in Game 2 of the wild card round, which helped build a lead Toronto eventually blew in historic fashion.

“It’s huge” to get a player like Hernandez, said Rodriguez, his new outfield neighbor. “You saw what he did in the postseason against us. We need that on our team.”

For Wong, a high-contact hitter with pronounced success against righties, Seattle dealt outfielder Jesse Winker and infielder Abraham Toro to Milwaukee.

Acquired for second base duties, Wong is a career .261 hitter across 10 major league season with St. Louis and Milwaukee. The 32-year-old played in 134 games for the Brewers in 2022 and won back-to-back Gold Glove Awards in 2019-20.

“I’m at a point in my career now, where I’m trying to win a ring,” he said. “Obviously, seeing what Seattle was able to do last year… the excitement they brought throughout baseball last year was definitely something that made me excited to come here.”

Seattle bolstered its outfield and inked 11-year veteran A.J. Pollock to a one-year deal on Jan. 12, a left-field platoon mate for 23-year-old Jarred Kelenic, Dipoto said.

The Mariners dealt former first-round pick Kyle Lewis to Arizona last November, acquiring Arizona C/OF and Pacific Northwest native Cooper Hummel. The 28-year-old debuted for the Diamondbacks last season and holds a .397 on-base percentage across 443 career minor league games.