The Seattle Mariners and Cleveland Guardians are looking to build off of their 2022 playoff runs as they open the 2023 season facing one another in Seattle.
Cleveland Guardians vs. Seattle Mariners (-120, 6.5)
The Mariners will give Luis Castillo the opening day start after he blossomed since being traded away from the Cincinnati Reds, posting a 2.86 ERA between his 14 regular and postseason starts in Seattle and closing the season with five runs allowed across his final four starts.
The Guardians counter with Shane Bieber, whose strikeouts per nine innings rate fell to 8.9 last season with a 2.88 ERA despite supplying a consistent 2.48 ERA with 13.2 strikeouts per nine innings across the past two seasons.
Both teams field solid bullpens, with the Guardians ranking fifth in bullpen ERA and the Mariners ranking sixth, but Cleveland’s lack of power hitting means there is no room for error for its pitchers.
The only team that hit fewer home runs last season than the Guardians was the Detroit Tigers. In comparison, the Mariners ranked fourth in the American League in home runs last season.
Seattle also addressed its glaring offensive weakness — the inability to get on base consistently last season — after adding both Kolten Wong and Teoscar Hernandez to fortify a lineup that ranked 28th in the league in batting average last season at .230. Wong has hit at least .249 in six straight seasons, spending the past two seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers while Hernandez had a combined 57 home runs and a .279 batting average in the past two seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Mariners had a 6-1 record against the Guardians last season and will continue that success in their home opener on Thursday.
The Play: Mariners -120