Inside The Mariners

Seattle Mariners Pitchers For Possible Make-or-Break Series Against Texas Rangers

The Seattle Mariners will hope their starting rotation can lead them to a series win in an upcoming four-game stretch against the Texas Rangers.

Teren Kowatsch

Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Bryce Miller throws during a game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sept. 6 at Busch Stadium.
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Bryce Miller throws during a game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sept. 6 at Busch Stadium. / Joe Puetz-Imagn Images
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SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners will begin a four-game series against the Texas Rangers at 6:40 p.m. PT on Thursday.

The Mariners have 16 games left in the season and are still trying to secure their postseason future. They're in precarious spot to do so. They were four games behind the Houston Astros for first place in the American League West after the Astros beat the Oakland Athletics on Thursday and four games behind for the final AL Wild Card spot entering Thursday.

Seattle will have an interesting set of pitching matchups as Texas looks to play spoiler to its AL West Rivals' October dreams.

Sept. 12 (Thursday) — Bryce Miller (Seattle) vs. Kumar Rocker (Texas)

The first of several intriguing pitching battles will come on Game 1 of the series on Thursday. The Rangers' No. 2 prospect and the No. 95 overall prospect in all of baseball (according to MLB Pipeline), Kumar Rocker, will make his MLB debut. Rocker has spent time with Texas' Rookie League, Double-A and Triple-A affiliates this season. He's made 10 appearances (nine starts) and has a 1.96 ERA with 55 strikeouts in 36.2 innings pitched.

Miller has four quality starts in his last six outings and is coming off an outing where he allowed no earned runs and just three hits. He has two starts of seven innings and at least nine strikeouts in his last six turns.

Sept. 13 (Friday) — TBD/Emerson Hancock (Seattle) vs. Jacob deGrom (Texas)

The Rangers will have another pitcher making his season debut on Friday but it will be one with a lot more experience than Rocker. Two-time Cy Young Award-winner deGrom will make his first start since undergoing Tommy John surgery in June 2023. Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said there's no set-in-stone plan for an inning or pitch limit for the 36 year-old hurler according to a story published Tuesday by MLB.com's Cole Bradley.

The Mariners haven't officially called up a starter to replace Luis Castillo, who was placed on the 15-day injured list with a Grade 2 hamstring strain on Tuesday. Emerson Hancock was pulled from his scheduled start with the team's Triple-A affiliate Tacoma Rainiers on Thursday — indicating he will likely get the nod for Saturday. He has a 4.76 ERA in nine starts this season with 28 strikeouts in 45.1 innings pitched.

Sept. 14 (Saturday) — Logan Gilbert (Seattle) vs. Max Scherzer (Texas)

Gilbert has had at least nine strikeouts in two straight starts. He struck out 10 batters and went eight innings in his last appearance on Sept. 7 against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Scherzer will make his first start for the Rangers since July 30 after an IL stint due to right shoulder inflammation. The three-time Cy Young Award winner has made eight starts this season and has a 3..89 ERA with 38 strikeouts in 39.1 innings pitched.

Sept. 15 (Sunday) — George Kirby (Seattle) vs. TBD (Texas)

Kirby will look to bounce back after a tough start on Sept. 10 against the San Diego Padres. He went just five innings and allowed five earned runs off seven hits (two home runs). The 2023 All-Star has just two quality starts in his last seven outings.

The Rangers will have options over who their Sunday starter will be with Rocker, deGrom and Scherzer now all in the fold. Based on days of rest, Jack Leiter could get the start eight days after his last outing on Sept. 7 in a 6-4 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Rangers also have the option to send out Andrew Heaney or Nathan Eovaldi.

The Mariners have a huge opportunity in front of them to make up a lot of ground in the playoff standings. Despite deGrom and Scherzer's status as two of the best pitchers in the league, they're coming off long lay-offs. And Rocker is yet to pitch a major league game.

If Seattle can take advantage of the rust and inexperience, then it might not have to wait for its series against Houston on Sept. 23-25 to vault back to first in the AL West.

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Teren Kowatsch

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