Will a superstar’s departure help the Mariners dominate an AL Rival?
Angels vs. Mariners: Pitching Matchups
Many of the ‘ aAngelsnd Mariners’ starters and relievers are still there, despite the addition of some new players. To arrive at these forecasts, I used the Earned Runs and Innings Pitched data from Baseball Reference for 2023 along with their predicted stats for 2024.
The Initial Turnabout
The five right-handed pitchers that the Mariners want to start with are Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryce Miller, and Bryan Woo. They were in a rotation throughout the second half of the 2023 campaign.
When Ohtani was in the pen, the Angels used a six-man rotation. According to Washington, their lineup for 2024 will consist of five players. These five, in my opinion, are going to be LHP Reid Detmers, LHP Tyler Anderson, LHP Patrick Sandoval, RHP Griffin Canning, and RHP Chase Silseth. The Angels had a 4.47 starter ERA for the season, compared to 3.89 for the Mariners.
Pitching Relief
In contrast, the Angels’ bullpen ERA in 2023 was 4.88 and the Mariners’ cumulative ERA was 3.48.
Seattle traded Paul Sewald, Isaiah Campbell, Trevor Gott, and Justin Topa, four of their relief pitchers from 2023. Andrés Muñoz, Matt Brash, Tayler Saucedo, Gabe Speier, and Trent Thornton are still some of our best arms. Another former Oriole on the Seattle Depth Chart is Austin Voth. The White Sox’s Gregory Santos is considered a key addition, although he was hurt during spring training. Collin Snider, a former Diamondback, is also available. After spring training, I think we’ll have a better notion of who will be in the bullpen.
The Angels added Robert Stephenson (PIR), Jose Cisnero (DET), Carlos Espinosa (HOU), Adam Cimber (TOR), Luis Garcia (SDP), and Adam Cimber, a native of Puyallup. (Stephenson signed a three-year contract with the Angels.)
It’s interesting to note that Baseball Reference predicted the Mariners’ bullpen would struggle while the Angels’ relief pitchers would do better. I refuse to concur with that evaluation.
