3 keys to Mariners' step-forward season

Marco Gonzales's season didn’t end quite the way he wanted on Sunday, as the Mariners dropped a 6-2 decision to the A’s in Oakland, but that didn’t take the luster off an outstanding campaign by the 28-year-old lefty or stop him from already looking forward to what lies ahead for his young team.

Seattle’s No. 1 starter gave up two runs over five innings and took a no-decision after turning a 2-2 tie over to Seattle's bullpen, finishing the season 7-2 with a 3.10 ERA in 11 outings. Gonzales gave up six hits and one walk with five strikeouts, giving him the lowest walk rate in MLB, with seven in 69 2/3 innings.

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“Man, I wish we could have seen this team over 162 games,” Gonzales said. “It’s bittersweet, for sure. I think we learned a lot about ourselves this year and really set up a good foundation to go into next year. I think the biggest thing we can take from this is we’ve allowed guys to find who they are and be comfortable in leadership positions and go forward and grow. That’s invaluable for us right now.”

The A’s scored four runs off relievers Yoshihisa Hirano and Yohan Ramirez in the seventh and eighth to put the finishing touches on a 36-24 season. Oakland heads to the postseason as the American League West champion, while the Mariners wrapped up the abbreviated 60-game campaign with a 27-33 record.

Mariners manager Scott Servais said there’s a different feel to the end of this season -- and not just because it was shortened by the pandemic.

“The thing that feels most different is, I know the majority of those players in that locker room are going to be in Spring Training with us,” Servais said. “We’ve made the step through the transition. We’re going to continue to add talented players, of course, maybe some veteran players to help out. But the core of our group is going to be back, so the messaging and all the things we’ve tried to hammer on this year and what’s important to us, we’ve laid the foundation and now we can build on that instead of starting all over again next spring.”

Here are three takeaways from a crazy 2020:

1) Kyle Lewis is human … but a very good human

After a monster first half in which he hit .368 with seven homers in his first 29 games, Kyle Lewis returned to Earth with a .150 average and four homers in his final 29. Lewis went 0-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base and three strikeouts in Sunday’s finale to finish the season at .262 with 11 homers and 28 RBIs.

Despite the September fade, Lewis remains a strong favorite to earn the AL Rookie of the Year Award, as he leads nearly every significant offensive category among rookies.

Servais noted that it was impossible to expect Lewis to continue the extremely high batting average on balls in play that he was running early, and he expects the 25-year-old to benefit largely from his second-half struggles.

“Knowing Kyle and how his fire burns, he will be locked in this offseason trying to make a few adjustments, understanding what the league was doing to him as he went along,” Servais said. “I don’t think he changed much in his approach.

“I don’t think anybody expected him to hit .350 all year, but we love the player. He took huge strides forward defensively with his ability to get into center field and do a really nice job out there. I’m certainly pushing for him to win Rookie of the Year and I believe he will. He deserves it."

2) 60 is better than zero

Servais is disappointed the season is coming to an end, noting his Mariners could have benefited greatly from another 100 games in a normal season. But everyone agrees that it was good to get in the 60-game season and happy that the club dealt successfully with the pandemic while maintaining the strict COVID-19 protocols.

“It’s been a very strange season,” veteran third baseman Kyle Seager said. “Sixty games in the course of 162 is nothing. But this year, with all the extra stuff going on, it’s been more of a mental grind than physical, just having to deal with the testing and quarantining and restrictions. That’s what this year was. But we wanted to play and get out there, and thankfully we were able to do that.”

The Mariners had several players test positive for COVID-19 before Summer Camp, with Hirano missing the first month before he was fully healthy. But no Mariners players or staffers tested positive during the season.

“'Bizarre' is a good word,” Gonzales said of the club’s feeling as the unique season wrapped up. “We’ve missed the fans this year. That certainly brings a dynamic to the game you can’t replace, even with pumped-in crowd noise. You really can’t replace that. It is a bizarre ending, but we do feel good about the effort we put into our craft this year. We really haven’t taken a day off. We’ve really worked hard, and I can stand behind that and be proud to say that.”

3) Progress was evident

After starting the season 7-18, the Mariners made some changes and began settling in. A few struggling players -- Mallex Smith and Daniel Vogelbach -- were replaced, the youthful rotation settled in, and the defense and baserunning continued to improve.

The Mariners went 20-15 the rest of the way, catapulting into postseason contention down the stretch under the expanded format and discovering they might be closer than many believed, despite the shortened season.

Rookie southpaw Justus Sheffield evolved into a top-end starter alongside Gonzales, while fellow youngsters Justin Dunn and Nick Margevicius helped solidify the rotation. Dylan Moore had a breakout season, first baseman Evan White and shortstop J.P. Crawford led a dramatic improvement to the defense, and midseason additions Ty France and Luis Torrens made immediate offensive impact.

“We absolutely got better. Nobody that watched us all year long can say we didn’t,” Servais said. “We were able to accomplish a lot of what we were looking to do and maybe it’s happening a little quicker than we thought. That excites me a ton. I know the mindset of our team shifted about halfway through this thing. We’re still focused on developing young players and giving them opportunity, but along the way once the games started, the competitiveness of our group really rose and that was great to see.”