GLENDALE, Ariz. -- In a spring headlined by prospect promise, Kyle Lewis took his turn in the spotlight during Seattle’s 9-3 win over the Dodgers on Friday.
Lewis crushed an opposite-field grand slam in the seventh inning to give credence to a few hard-hit outs he’s had recently. It was Lewis’ second homer this spring, but he's gone 1-for-19 otherwise.
“I don't really feel like I'm in a funk,” Lewis said. “I feel like I've been hitting the ball hard and fairly consistently. It's getting caught, but I mean, I continue to hit it hard and swing at the right pitches, which I felt like I was doing that all night.”
When Lewis is right, his power is center-to-right field -- just as it was on Friday and for much of September, when he homered four times in his first six games. While Nos. 1 and 2 prospects, Jarred Kelenic and Julio Rodriguez, have drawn more attention during the first half of camp, Lewis has reached prospect graduation and is preparing for the rigors of a 500 at-bat season, with four plate appearances on Friday.
“To get four today, I think it was definitely a different feeling,” Lewis said. “You're able to get into the game more, later in the game more, more at-bats. You see about 15 pitches up to that fourth at-bat and it's a lot easier to get your body in rhythm.”
Here are other observations from Mariners’ Spring Training on Friday:
Intrasquad rolls deep
Relievers Sam Tuivailala and Matt Magill each faced live hitters for the first time this spring as part of a “B” game on a back field in Peoria. Both have been dealing with shoulder issues while competing in a wide-open competition for high-leverage innings, along with offseason acquisition Carl Edwards Jr. and Yoshihisa Hirano. The Mariners won’t have a full-time closer for now.
Tuivailala gave up a homer to Shed Long and had a few deep fly-ball outs over the six batters he faced, and Magill gave up a hit and struck out one over an inning.
Tuivailala and Magill followed Mariners No. 1 starter Marco Gonzales, who was scratched from the start against the Dodgers to give the Mariners’ greener group of pitchers a chance against tougher competition. Gonzales threw 61 pitches against Long, Dee Gordon, Cal Raleigh and Austin Shenton with his family -- and dog -- in attendance.
Margevicius duels the Dodgers
In place of Gonzales, Nick Margevicius started at Camelback Ranch and showed polish with his fastball over 2 2/3 innings while striking out A.J. Pollock and Max Muncy twice apiece.
Margevicius might not see many Major League innings this season -- he’s just 23 and last year jumped from Class A Advanced to the Majors with the Padres -- but the Mariners admire his stuff and are in the market for gauging long-term talent.
Margevicius most likely will spend most of the season with Double-A Arkansas, where the club plans to develop most of their up-and-coming pitchers, due to the proliferation of offense in Triple-A Tacoma’s Pacific Coast League.
“Really good strike-thrower. He's got all four pitches,” manager Scott Servais said. “I don't think people realize how quickly he got to the big leagues. He had one or two years of pro ball under his belt and then started in the big leagues. That's kind of unheard of. He's very young.”
Roster moves
The Mariners optioned right-hander Art Warren to Triple-A Tacoma and outfielder Jose Siri to Arkansas, trimming Seattle’s Major League camp roster to 60 players.
Warren found himself in a crowded competition for relief innings, which took a downturn after giving up six runs to the 11 batters he faced over his two outings. The 26-year-old had a productive 2019 at Double-A (1.71 ERA over 29 outings) and could see MLB action after making five appearances as a September callup. Siri was vying for an outfield role following Mitch Haniger’s setbacks.
In addition, the Mariners announced that the remaining 29 players with less than three years of service time who hadn’t yet signed 2020 contracts reached agreements or renewals with the club Friday.
Up next
Veteran starter Kendall Graveman will take the hill against his former club when the Mariners host the A’s for a 12:10 p.m. PT Cactus League tilt at Peoria Stadium on Saturday. The game will be carried on ROOT Sports Northwest, and live on MLB.TV. Graveman has been one of the more impressive pitchers in Mariners’ camp, hitting 95-96 mph on his fastball as he works his way toward his first regular-season action since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2018.