Seattle Mariners Manager Dan Wilson Discusses Facing Intriguing Rookie Pitcher
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SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners are set to begin the final leg of their nine-game homestand with the first of a three-game set against the Baltimore Orioles at 6:40 p.m. PT on Tuesday. The first Orioles pitcher the Mariners are set to face in the series is one of the most intriguing rookie pitchers in baseball this season.
Tomoyuki Sugano will be on the mound for Baltimore. Although he is a first-year pitcher in Major League Baseball, he's not a rookie in a traditional sense.
The 35-year-old right-hander signed a one-year, $13 million contract with Baltimore this recent offseason. Before then, he pitched 12 seasons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball with the league's most iconic franchise, the Yomiuri Giants. During that time, Sugano won the Central League three times (most recently in 2024), was an eight-time NPB All-Star and a two-time Eiji Sawamura Award winner (NPB's version of the Cy Young).
Sugano's a unique pitcher for Seattle to face, but not different enough to disrupt the team's usual scouting and approach.
"I think our info is really good," Mariners manager Dan Wilson said in a pregame interview Tuesday. "So I think we're pretty comfortable and we've seen enough of him here this year, I think we have enough to put together a pretty good game plan against him."
Sugano has a been one of the few bright spots for a struggling Orioles starting rotation this season. He's posted a 3.23 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 64 innings pitched across 11 starts. His splitter is one of the most dangerous in baseball. According to Baseball Savant, hitters are averaging just .181 against it, have whiffed at a 27.6% clip and have been put away at a 20.4% rate.
Tomoyuki Sugano's 5th & 6th Ks thru 3.
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 28, 2025
Filthy Splitters. 😷 pic.twitter.com/WiXwryuhhX
The Mariners could find an opening against Sugano the same way they have against many pitchers this season — with the home run. Sugano has allowed nine earned runs on 19 hits (four homers) in his last three starts.
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