Game 28, Rangers at Mariners

Nick Margevicius vs. Kolby Allard, 6:10pm

Nick Margevicius is coming off of two very solid starts, holding opponents to a .200 batting average and yielding only one walk in 9 1/3 IP. He wasn’t the original plan for a 6th starter, but he’s stabilized a rotation that desperately needed stabilizing there for a while. With high 80s velo, he’s not a big strikeout guy, but with control and some BABIP fortune, he hasn’t needed to be. With a slider and curve, he can give righties three separate pitches (four, if you include a rare change), and he’s kept them off balance a bit.

Kolby Allard, Texas’ starter, is a guy the M’s saw at the end of last year after a trade with Atlanta brought him west. With a 92 MPH four-seamer and hard cutter, he’s gained some of the velocity that deserted him in the Braves organization. That said, he hasn’t been able to find sustained success with the Rangers, despite decent K rates this year and limited HRs allowed in both 2020 and 2019.

The reason is that he’s been much more similar to Yusei Kikuchi than, well, Nick Margevicius. That is, he’s had a rough time on balls in play, but he’s also not stranding anyone once they reach. In general, this is something that should look more normal and less “unlucky” over time, but we’ve been saying that with Kikuchi for a while now. I’m perfectly aware that Matt Beaty probably should’ve struck out before his ground rule double, but Kikuchi seems to ping between dominant innings (like the 1st or 2nd yesterday) and train wrecks (the 3rd). We’ll see if Allard’s similar tendencies help the M’s today.

The M’s were never going to beat Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers last night, and I’m glad it doesn’t really matter. It’s magnified the fact that I’m watching these games the way I do Spring Training. It’s decidedly NOT Spring Training, but the procession of new call-ups and bullpen arms feels a bit like it. The good thing about it not being spring is that Ljay Newsome’s fantastic debut actually “counts.” The righty flashed a 93 MPH fastball, a curve, and a change, and mostly kept the Dodgers off balance. They’d never seen him, but hey, we’ve seen a lot of MLB debuts go south *quickly* and that goes for some highly touted prospects (Tarik Skubal’s debut comes to mind here). Congrats to him.

We may see another such debut today, as lefty reliever Aaron Fletcher’s been called up from Tacoma. Fletcher was part of the trade with Washington last year that sent Roenis Elias to the Nats; this is the trade that also netted the M’s Taylor Guilbeau, who pitched last night. Guilbeau’s come down with shoulder soreness, so he’s headed to the IL, as is Erik Swanson, who’s dealing with forearm tightness (uh oh). With minor injuries to Evan White (knee) and Dylan Moore (wrist), the M’s will be a bit shorthanded today.

1: Crawford, SS
2: Haggerty, LF
3: Lewis, CF
4: Seager, 3B
5: Nola, 1B
6: Lopes, DH
7: Gordon, 2B
8: Bishop, RF
9: Odom, C
SP: Margevicius