Seattle Mariners Game #9 Preview, 4/8/2023: SEA at CLE

Bad Zach concluded yesterday’s recap with this:

But it is a long season. And whether they win or lose tomorrow, today’s Mariners looked like they’ll need to look all year. It wasn’t just nice to see. It was nice to be jolted out of unjustified gloom, and back into the reality that the Mariners may very well be good.

We have now arrived at what was once tomorrow, and the Mariners will need to look a lot more like they did yesterday than they did in the week leading up to it.

Lineups:

Cal will get a break for his knees as he assumes the DH spot. I’m thrilled that he’ll still be in the lineup. He may not have the best results on the team, but he’s been the most potent bat, cutting his strikeouts way down relative to last year so far, going home empty handed less than 15% of the time. Meanwhile, he’s got four of the Mariners’ five hardest hit balls on the season.

Meanwhile, Kelenic leapfrogs Wong in the lineup, which is either reactionary or an obvious choice, depending on who you ask.

Cleveland will run with its normal lineup and have Cal Quantrill pitching. The Mariners got to Quantrill a little bit when they saw him on Sunday, scoring five off of him in less than five innings. But Quantrill’s a good pitcher. Over more than 350 innings since coming over from San Diego, he’s put up an ERA of just 3.11. We talk about the Austin Nola deal being a swindle, but Cleveland did pretty well for itself too when they shipped off Mike Clevinger at the 2020 deadline.

Game Info:

LOOKOUT LANDING MEET UP AT GROWLER GUYS: The fine folks of Lake City’s finest bar are hosting 2023’s first LL watch party this afternoon. Come hang out with the staff and fellow readers. No RSVP necessary. 8500 Lake City Way, Seattle, WA 98115

For the rest of us, we can catch the game on ROOT Sports and 710 am or mariners dot com.

First pitch is at 3:10 PT.

Today in Mariners History:

On April 8, 1986, in the town of Valencia, Venezuela, a woman named Marian Hernández gave birth to a son, who she and her husband named Félix.

Photo by Juan DeLeon/Icon SMI/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images