Mariners Game #147 Preview: 9/12/24, TEX at SEA

One of the game’s brightest pitching prospects makes his debut

The Mariners once again find themselves background players in another team’s national storyline: tonight Kumar Rocker makes his much-anticipated MLB debut against the Mariners. Rocker, a standout at Vanderbilt, was once considered the best player in the 2021 MLB draft, only to fail to sign with the Mets after questions about his physical rose up, play indy ball, get re-drafted in the first round by the Rangers—who had also taken his college teammate Jack Leiter in that 2021 draft—and then undergo TJ surgery. It’s maybe the most crystalline example of “the path of pitching prospects never did run smooth” in recent years. Rocker is a great story; the Mariners will be supporting players in that story tonight.

Here’s a trivia tidbit: When Rocker debuts against the Mariners tonight, it will be the fifth time a starting pitcher has debuted against the Mariners this season (thanks, Angels, who had a whopping three of those). That’s the second-most debuts seen by a team in MLB, one ahead of the Nationals, who have seen four pitchers make their debuts against them. Can you guess which team has seen the most starting pitchers debut against them?

Lineups:

While I enjoy roasting other teams’s social graphics, there’s nothing to roast here other than the fact that it’s boring. But there’s no dumb SEA pun, the lineup is largely readable if in a font I associate with an Apple II, and it’s...fine.

This, however, is fire:

Credit where credit is due: that’s a great shot.

News:

While the Mariners haven’t officially announced a roster move, Emerson Hancock is here in the clubhouse instead of making his scheduled start in Tacoma, so he’ll almost certainly be taking the ball tomorrow against [checks notes] Jacob deGrom, making his season debut. Cool and good.

Tonight’s game information:

Game time: 6:40 PT

Radio: 710 AM Seattle Sports, with Dave Sims and Rick Rizzs on the call, with Shannon Drayer doing pre- and post-game.

TV: ROOT Sports NW, with Angie Mentink and Aaron Goldsmith (Mike Blowers, still dealing with an illness, was again a late scratch) on the call

Umpiring crew: Rob Drake (HP), Ryan Blakney (1B), Bill Miller (2B), Malachi Moore (3B)

Today in Mariners history:

• 1987: Puerto Rican-born Mario Díaz made his debut and tripled in his first at bat off Chicago’s Bob James.
• 1996: The Mariners begin the day nine games behind Texas in the A.L. West standings. Mark Whiten’s three-run HR is the big blow in an 8-5 come-back win at Kansas City. The win is the first of a club record ten straight victories that cut the Rangers lead to one game.
• 2014: Fernando Rodney recorded the save in the Mariners 4-2 win over the Oakland A’s, his 45th of the season to tie Kazuhiro Sasaki for the Mariners single-season record. Seattle also pulled into a tie for the second wild card, only ½ game back of the A’s for the first wild card.
• 2017: Kyle Seager hit his 150^th career home run, becoming the 3^rd player in club history to hit at least 150 home runs before turning 30 years of age (also Ken Griffey Jr. with 398 and Alex Rodriguez with 189). The Mariners defeated the Rangers, 10-3.
• 2018: Nelson Cruz recorded his 1,000^th career RBI with a solo home run in the 5^th inning against the Padres, becoming the 11^th active player to record at least 1,000 career RBI.