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SHANNON DRAYER
UPDATED: MARCH 16, 2023 AT six:19 PM
The Mariners’ Dylan Moore rounds the bases following hitting a solo household run on July 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
It was a busy day for the Mariners on Thursday in Peoria with a ‘B’ game scheduled early to make up for function lost to Wednesday’s rainout, George Kirby having the start off against the Giants in the key stadium, a couple of returns from the Planet Baseball Classic, and a bit of worrisome news thrown in as properly.
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We will get the potentially terrible out of the way very first. Utility player Dylan Moore was scheduled to make his very first look in a spring game and was certainly in the original lineup batting seventh, playing shortstop.
“He’s playing nowadays, that was the objective,” manager Scott Servais mentioned in his morning meeting with the media. “He’s been ramped up, feels fantastic, will play shortstop nowadays.”
Moore, who has been slow-played in camp following an early December core surgery, has produced his progression by means of the distinct checks to get back into games. He’s been hitting for weeks now, taking at-bats in reside batting practice. Operating was the final hurdle and it appeared he was prepared to go, but it was announced that he had been scratched from the lineup just an hour following the media session.
Right after the game, a scoreless tie with the Giants (box score), Servais mentioned that Moore felt a thing in his side swinging in the batting cages and he was scheduled to get an MRI tomorrow.
Moore’s function has been expanded this year to be Kolten Wong’s proper-handed platoon companion at second base and fill in at shortstop for J.P. Crawford, who the group intends to get much more days off. Though no news is no news, this is beginning to veer into the regarding division with just two weeks to go till the start off of the season. Any setback at this point could place opening day in jeopardy for Moore. We need to study much more Friday.
On a greater note, Andrés Muñoz produced his spring game debut, pitching an inning in the B game against the Padres. Coming off offseason surgery, it was a mixed affair for Muñoz with the fastball sitting 97-98 mph according to scouts on hand, and the two-seamer nasty early on. He did have some struggles having said that in the 18 pitches he threw and came away from the inning realizing he required to make some adjustments.
“I was considering also significantly about the pitch clock,” Muñoz mentioned. “I began to speed up each and every time, a thing I under no circumstances anticipated to come about.”
Muñoz was one particular of the slowest Mariners among pitches final year. The extended walks about the mound would give him a possibility to calm down his ankle that was surgically repaired in the offseason. It also gave him a possibility to collect his power and concentrate on the subsequent pitch.
“Right now I just have to figure out what I want to do to be much more aggressive on each and every pitch, even if I have to do it quicker,” he mentioned.
Though numerous pitchers commented that the clock was on their minds in their very first outings, for most they found they had much more time than they anticipated. For Muñoz, it was the opposite. He will want time to adjust, with the fantastic news getting he will do so without the need of the discomfort he was dealing with for the majority of 2022.
Updates on minor league assignments
We could see much more spring roster cuts on Friday. There have been a couple of right here, a couple of there, most announced later in the day following media had access to the manager for comments. On Thursday, I doubled back and asked about a couple of current cuts.
On Evan White, Servais noted that he was up front with the very first baseman from the start off of spring education that he wouldn’t be generating any choices primarily based on just 15 spring at-bats.
“He wants to just go play,” Servais mentioned. “He knows he’s got to place constant at-bats collectively and get it going there.”
The “there” is Triple-A Tacoma, a spot Servais believes need to offer the pitching that White, who has missed the majority of the previous two seasons due to injuries, wants to see.
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“The pitching in April is seriously fantastic (in Triple-A),” he mentioned. “There are a lot of guys in the bullpen, one particular or two in the rotation, that are disappointed and ticked off they didn’t make the MLB group. Ultimately they will be there in Might and June, but in April, it is fairly fantastic.”
Prelander Berroa was a further name of interest. The pitching prospect will start off the season at Double-A Arkansas, and although some project him to be a reliever with his higher-velocity fastball and wicked slider, he will be kept in the rotation exactly where he can get much more function.
“He has a ton of self-confidence in his slider,” Servais noted. “The consistency, the command of his fastball? He’s a young pitcher.”
Servais acknowledged that if Berroa, who also has a decent changeup, could boost the command of his fastball, he could be a quite enticing arm for the Mariners bullpen need to a want arise.
Mariners notes
• Catcher prospect Harry Ford and reliever Matt Brash have been back in the Mariners’ clubhouse Thursday morning following their Planet Baseball Classic teams (Excellent Britain for Ford, Canada for Brash) have been eliminated Wednesday following pool play in Phoenix. Julio Rodríguez, Teoscar Hernández and Diego Castillo, who have been all playing for the Dominican Republic in Miami, are anticipated back Friday.
• J.P. Crawford DH’d after once more Thursday afternoon. He has been getting remedy on his sore shoulder and playing catch from a extended distance. The hope is he can return to the field Sunday or Monday.
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