4/3/22: Open Game Thread

We’re in the home stretch of spring training games and although I love me some low-stakes baseball, I have to admit that it will be a relief to not constantly wonder whether a game is televised or not. The answer to that question today, by the way, is a resounding no, which is a bummer if you were interested in seeing any of this:

Logan Gilbert with his new secondary pitches! Julio in the two-hole! Cal Raleigh working with Gilbert in the presumptive Battery of the Future! Luis Torrens building some defensive versatility at first! The perpetually Mariners-pest Royals with superstar prospect Bobby Witt Jr.! All of that and more can be not-yours today.

Also scheduled to make pitching appearances for the Mariners today: Wyatt Mills, Andrés Muñoz, Anthony Misiewicz aka Tony Sandwiches, Erik Swanson, and Devin Sweet. It’s very interesting that Sweet remains in major-league camp after many of his compatriots have been sent to Triple-A Tacoma, which is hosting their media day today. (We will be in attendance and bring you all the relevant info in a roster preview for the Rainiers tomorrow.) The Mariners might be deciding between a return to Double-A for Sweet vs. a spot in Triple-A, but with a strikeout rate that hung steady at 27% even in his first taste of Double-A action last year, he might also be a dark horse candidate to make the team out of the spring, along with fellow reliever Matt Festa. The Mariners still have a free spot on their 40-man roster, remember, and should have another once Casey Sadler moves to the 60-day IL, so there are still some last-minute adjustments to be made.

Speaking of which, let’s do some housekeeping:

• The Mariners announced they reached an agreement with Mitch Haniger, avoiding arbitration. Haniger will earn $7.75M for the season. Per reports, that means the Mariners came up about a million dollars from where they had filed previously, coming just shy of the $8M Haniger filed for; the two sides had been close to getting a deal done before the arbitration deadline passed but apparently just ran out of time.
• The Mariners optioned Nick Margevicius to Triple-A today. If you forgot who Nicky Marge is, let Shay’s delightful 40 in 40 remind you.

Today’s game starts at 1:05 PM and you can stream the audio via the At-Bat app, on the team website, or on MLB TV. We’ll do our best to scour Twitter and collect any relevant highlights we can find from those in attendance.