3/2/21: 2nd Spring Training Open Game Thread

One of the oddities about the pandemic and not having a real baseball season is everything feels like one big blur, like the 2020 season didn’t even really happen and it’s been Spring Training since last March. Unfortunately, during this Spring Training it’s going to be even harder to see games; not only is the pandemic restricting in-person attendance but also very few games will be aired on ROOT, and just a few more on other regional sports networks—although, if you’ve been considering MLB TV, this is a great time to get it in order to see all those games (you could just do a monthly subscription for 25 bucks if you don’t want to commit to it for the full year). Today’s game against Cleveland is, sadly, not televised, but the LL staff will work diligently to collect all the highlights we can for you in today’s recap, posting shortly after the game.

Adding insult to injury, today’s game is also on radio delay on 710, making listening live a bit more of a challenge. You can stream the game on the Mariners site for free, or if you have an audio subscription, through the At-Bat app. If you have MLB TV, you can also listen live through that. Here’s today’s lineups:

Old friend Ben Gamel returns in a much different-looking Cleveland lineup. John pointed out that this might be Cleveland’s B squad, but they’re really only missing José Ramírez and Eddie Rosario from their starters (I suppose you could add Franmil Reyes to that group). That is a yikes.

For the Mariners, they’re going mostly with their A lineup, with a few exceptions: Braden Bishop takes over for Kyle Lewis in the outfield, Sam Haggerty (Swaggerty, or the Swaggy Ham) gets a start over Moore at second, and Jake Fraley is the DH over Ty France. Jarred Kelenic also gets his first start of the spring, but it’s hard to consider him a “B” option over anything else the Mariners would start at left field.

My radio app just kicked on so it’s go time! Here’s hoping you can dip in for a few innings and spend some time chatting with us. Radio baseball on tape delay is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick I guess, and tomorrow’s game will be broadcast in full glory on ESPN, so there’s something to look forward to, at least.