On Wednesday, the Seattle Mariners did some roster shuffling. Some of the calls they made are hard to explain.
Before the Seattle Mariners started the Series finale against New York on Wednesday afternoon, they made several transactions and roster decisions. A few of those moves have to make M’s fans question what’s going on.
The Good News
First up, Seattle activated Diego Castillo from the Injured List. Though he can be inconsistent, Castillo is still an important part of the bullpen. There wasn’t much of a wait as he entered Wednesday’s game in the eighth inning, retiring the side in order.
Hard to Explain 1
To clear room on the roster for Castillo, the Seattle Mariners demoted Brennan Bernadino. Normally, there would be no objection to this move except that he was the only lefty reliever on Seattle’s 26-man roster. What happens when they face a team with several tough left-handed batters?
Hard to Explain 2
While on the subject of pitching, Seattle decided to cut one pitcher from the rotation. They’ll have to see how much “Flex” there is in Chris Flexen because he’s the odd man out.
Flex got shelled by LAA in his last start, on August 6. But before that, he was outstanding. In July, Flexen was 3-0 with a 1.95 ERA and 1.19 WHIP, and the Mariners won all five games he started.
Meanwhile, Marco Gonzales has been terrible since his last game before the All-Star break. In Gonzales’ last six starts, he’s 3-2 with a 5.45 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, and 6 home runs allowed. And Marco is a left-handed pitcher, an asset the Seattle Mariners currently lack in their bullpen.
Hard to Explain 3 and 4
Along with Castillo, the Mariners also activated uber utility man Dylan Moore. 2020 American League Rookie of the Year Kyle Lewis got the ticket to Tacoma for this roster spot.
KLew has struggled mightily at the plate since his return from a concussion on July 22 with a .098 batting average and .366 OPS. Mariners skipper Scott Servais said Lewis needed to get some regular at-bats. So he’ll get them with the Rainiers.
But he’s hitting no worse than Jarred Kelenic. In fact, after Wednesday’s game, Kelenic is 2 for 27 since his July 31 call-up, including no hits in his last 10 at bats. Realistically, Kelenic will get his demotion as soon as Julio Rodriguez makes his return from a wrist injury in the next few days.
Which leads to why did the Seattle Mariners decide to activate Dylan Moore? He’s batting .197 this season which is an improvement over 2021’s .181 performance. Mario Mendoza probably isn’t sweating this one out.
Sam Haggerty not only does everything Moore was supposed to do the last two seasons, he’s doing it better. When GM Jerry Dipoto had the chance, he should have offloaded Moore at the deadline. Moore is taking up space while Lewis earned his chance to turn it around on the main roster.
What do you think about Wednesday’s roster decisions? Seattle Mariners fans, let us know in the comments section below.
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