With the start of the World Baseball Classic, many Mariners are on loan to their respective national teams. As such, get ready to see some weird looks from the M’s as the organization gives some unusual opportunities to top prospects.
Image
One of those unusual looks is right hander Cooper Criswell. The pitcher was in the Boston Red Sox organization last year, only to be DFA’d the Sox and claimed by the New York Mets. Just over a month after that, the Mets DFA’d him and the Mariners picked him up for cash. Tonight will be his third appearance this Spring but only his first start. He’s gone two innings in each of his last two outings, and it will be interesting to see how far he is pushed tonight. Probable pitchers to follow Cooper are Jose A. Ferrer, Carlos Vargas, Josh Simpson, Yosver Zulueta, and Ryan Loutos.
Also in the “weird” bucket is J.P. Crawford in the DH spot. He’s making room for Leo Rivas, who in turn is over at short to make room for Cole Young to play second and lead off.
SF lineup vs. Seattle 3/4/26 2 Willy Adames – SS 26 Matt Chapman – 3B 7 Will Brennan (L) – LF 10 Casey Schmitt – 1B 29 Luis Matos – RF 58 Grant McCray (L) – CF 61 Jake Holton – DH 18 Eric Haase – C 50 Christian Koss – 2B 38 Robbie Ray LHP
Over in the orange dugout, there’s also a healthy portion of prospects. Real heads will zero in on Robbie Ray, former Mariner, on the mound. Since his time on the Mariners, Robbie Tight Pants has done his best to add a third pitch, picking up his knuckle curve and changeup and using the slider much, much less. Tonight will be his third start of the Spring. Following him is likely to be Carson Seymour, Keaton Winn, and Michael Fulmer. Perhaps the short probables list means they intend for Ray to go deep.
Game Information:
Game Time: 6:05 pm PT
Radio: Seattle Sports 710 AM with Rick Rizzs, Gary Hill Jr. and Shannon Drayer on the call.
TV: Mariners.TV (maybe? Sound off in the comments if it’s working for you.)
Read the full article here