WATCH: ESPN's Jeff Passan Says Mariners Rotation in Contention For Best in Baseball
The Seattle Mariners won 90 games last year, advancing to the playoffs for the first time since 2001, and then they swept the Blue Jays in the wild card round of the playoffs, before losing to the Astros in the ALDS.
A mix of that success and a group of young stars has expectations and excitement sky high for the 2023 Mariners as well.
Julio Rodriguez won the American League Rookie of the Year award and looks primed for another great season after hitting .444 in 36 spring training at-bats. The offense as a whole should jump to another level after adding Teoscar Hernandez but it's still the pitching that will carry the M's in 2023. The bullpen looks very strong with Andrés Muñoz, Paul Sewald, Matt Brash and Diego Castillo at the back end but it's the starting staff that has ESPN MLB Insider Jeff Passan excited.
Passan appears each Tuesday on the "Brock and Salk Show" to talk Mariners and lauded the M's depth in the rotation with Flexen serving as the odd-man out to start the season, and also lauded the acquisition of Luis Castillo, who was acquired before the trade deadline last year and pitched to a 4-2 record with the Mariners and posted a 3.17 ERA. He also started -- and won -- Game 1 of the playoffs against the Blue Jays.
In addition to Castillo, there's the optimism around Robbie Ray, who had 26 strikeouts in 17 spring innings this year and will open the season with a new split-finger. As Passan mentioned, a third year of Logan Gilbert and a full season of George Kirby should also give M's fans reason to believe they have among the best rotations in all of baseball.
The Mariners open up the season on Thursday night against the Cleveland Guardians -- another team with a great rotation.
