3/2/18: SEA @ KC Open Game Thread
Yusei Kikuchi makes his second start of the spring, not that you’ll be able to see it
Inexplicably, a weekend game featuring Seattle’s most high-profile off-season acquisition is not being televised, which is a real bummer because I would love to watch more of Kikuchi in action. I’m sure there will be plenty of footage taken at the game, but it kind of stinks to have to hunt around to find it. That’s what a recap is for, though, right? We shall search so you don’t have to. Service journalism!
#Mariners vs. #Royals lineups pic.twitter.com/GhHd2ZpQRU
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) March 2, 2019
With Ichiro and Kikuchi in the same lineup, the sounds of cameras clicking might actually be louder than the radio broadcast. With the exception of Domingo Santana and whichever head of the Healybach chimera gets regular starts, the Mariners are playing several members of their youth wave, while the at-home Royals will run out a version of their lineup that...mostly resembles their 2019 squad? I think? Those mostly look like names I recognize. This will be Brad Keller’s spring debut for the Royals. Keller was the Royals’ ace last year by default, posting an fWAR of 2.5—over one win higher than the next-closest pitcher.
Here are the Mariners reserves:
#Mariners gameday roster vs. the Royals pic.twitter.com/0EsRzXXDmJ
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) March 2, 2019
Staff writer and #1 Sam Delaplane fan Ben Thoen is currently at Spring Training, so if you hear an excited squeal should young Delaplane get into the game, that’s just Ben. What is an Aaron Northcroft? Your guess is as good as mine. The other names are ones I recognize as having been in the system for at least a little while, including Kentlake High alum Jordan Cowan, who is looking to bounce back from a shoulder injury that kept him off the field last year. [Update: it’s Northcraft not Northcroft, and he’s a 6’4” 28-year-old righty whose last pro experience came in 2016 with the Padres’ Triple-A team, so I’m assuming he was in indy ball in the interim. Baseball-Reference says he played this winter in the Venezuelan League with a 1.53 ERA.]
As bemoaned above, today there is no TV, so you’ll be restricted to listening on 710 ESPN or on Mariners.com, or following on Gameday. Boo, I say.