Mariners Moose Tracks, 3/9/23: Ty France, Mitch Moreland, and Chris Sale

Baseball stuff is happening.

By Anders Jorstad@AndersJorstad Mar 9, 2023, 7:00am PST

Oakland Athletics v Chicago White Sox

Hello everyone and happy Thursday! Here’s what’s going on in baseball right now.

In Mariners news...

It’s pretty cool to see Harry Ford be a star on the international stage.

It was a joy to speak to the father of Mariners top prospect Harry Ford, who has been dreaming of his son representing Great Britain in the World Baseball Classic. It’s about to be a dream come true.

Here’s their story: https://t.co/1IGA8TuuSF pic.twitter.com/YrRCv8c6yv
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) March 9, 2023

Scott Miller at The New York Times wrote about the emergence of Ty France and his role on the Mariners current squad.

Around the league...

Joon Lee at ESPN explained why this year’s World Baseball Classic is the most important one to date.
Team USA Manager Mark DeRosa sought advice from Coach K ahead of this year’s World Baseball Classic.
Robinson Canó’s still got it!

Robinson Cano hits a 3-run homer against Atlanta Braves. pic.twitter.com/eQEDdG2c8x
— Héctor Gómez (@hgomez27) March 8, 2023

So does Nelson Cruz!

Nelson Cruz -- General Manager and Home Run Hitter, Team Dominican Republic. pic.twitter.com/t98az7X1KB
— MLB (@MLB) March 8, 2023

Major League Baseball’s Statcast just introduced a new statistic for catcher defensive blocking.
Franklin Van Gurp was a Mariners farmhand in 2021, pitching in High-A. You’ve got to wonder if this tournament is gonna earn some guys contracts in big league organizations.

Franklin Van Gurp, Filthy Sliders. pic.twitter.com/P8SRajIHGL
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 8, 2023

Neil Paine at FiveThirtyEight examines which teams will benefit from the new rule changes and which teams will suffer from them.
Former Rangers and A’s first baseman Mitch Moreland announced his retirement from baseball.
Jay Jaffe at Fangraphs wonders if Chris Sale is ready to regain his Cy Young form.