TORONTO -- In a marginal but not major surprise, the Mariners opted for 12 pitchers rather than a deeper bench, which manager Scott Servais had indicated in recent days. In any event, the Mariners have set their 26-man contingent for the best-of-three American League Wild Card Series against the Blue Jays, which opens Friday.

Outfield prospect Cade Marlowe (No. 22 in the organization as ranked by MLB Pipeline) seemed like a strong bet to be included, especially after traveling to Toronto and with how president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto spoke on Thursday about the versatile speedster’s value off the bench. Marlowe has only played 13 games above Double-A and none in the Majors, which would’ve been a pressure-packed landing spot.

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Marlowe is on the taxi squad, along with pitchers Marco Gonzales, Chris Flexen and Brennan Bernardino.

“It's the situation,” Servais said of the decision on Marlowe. “Cade has never played in the big leagues before, but he's here because we believe in him. He's a really good, interesting young player. If there was an injury or something like that, we could slide him onto the roster.”

The Mariners instead will carry eight relievers in addition to George Kirby, who isn’t in line to start one of these games but will contribute this series.

“I think if you get in a game where it could be an extra innings [this weekend], you'll see George out there knowing that he can go multiple innings,” Servais said. “Or if anything crazy happens early in the game, you know what I mean? You've got a guy with length out there. But I really see using George in a chance for us to win the game. That could be in the middle innings, it could be in extra innings, something like that. We trust George. He's had a great season, and I think he matches up well against this lineup."

Lefty Matthew Boyd, a Seattle-area native, is an interesting selection for this matchup given that Toronto’s lineup is packed with one elite righty slugger after the next. But Boyd has shown such value down the stretch, going scoreless in all but one of his 10 appearances since being acquired from the Giants at the Trade Deadline. The veteran can give the Mariners extended innings, having thrown three in his final regular-season outing on Monday. That type of role can be huge in the postseason, especially in a shorter series if a starter gets knocked out early.

The club also opted to carry Luis Torrens as a third catcher and/or bench bat after his strong finish to the season, as he not only went 5-for-15 on the final homestand but also showed a team-first attitude in earning a pitching win in Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Tigers. Cal Raleigh’s sore left thumb has been a lingering issue for three weeks, and though he’s good to go, including Torrens gives the Mariners insurance should the injury flare up.

“He will grind through it,” Servais said of Raleigh. “I feel very comfortable. I think left-handed swinging is not an issue at all; right-handed he will be fine. Things happen, catching-wise. You get your thumb dinged up like that, it can bother you a little bit, but he has caught since he's had the issue. He's worked his way through it. He will be fine for all three games.”

Games 1 and 2 are scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Rogers Centre, with first pitch at 1:07 p.m. PT. If a Game 3 is necessary, that is tentatively scheduled for 11:07 a.m. PT, with the winner moving on to face the Astros in the AL Division Series.

Here is the Mariners' complete roster.

Catchers: Curt Casali, Cal Raleigh, Luis Torrens
First base: Ty France, Carlos Santana
Second base: Adam Frazier
Shortstop: J.P. Crawford
Third base: Eugenio Suárez
Utility: Dylan Moore, Abraham Toro
Outfielders: Mitch Haniger, Jarred Kelenic, Julio Rodríguez, Taylor Trammell
Starting pitchers: Luis Castillo, Robbie Ray, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby
Relief pitchers: Matthew Boyd, Matt Brash, Diego Castillo, Matt Festa, Andrés Muñoz, Penn Murfee, Paul Sewald, Erik Swanson