Mariners Moose Tracks, 7/3/23: Luis Castillo, Mark Mathias, Alek Manoah

Roll a Fourth of July weekend into the work week? Don’t mind if I do!

After being a blister away from potentially sweeping the best team in baseball, the Mariners head down to the Bay for a series against the Giants in the midst of what, for many, is their own version of the All-Star Break: an extended-play Fourth of July weekend. Nice work if you can get it, I guess. As Nick pointed out in yesterday’s links, Elon’s “Twitter is my sandbox” approach to running what is de facto one of the largest information services in the world has made things like keeping tabs on our big dumb baseball boys of the Northwest difficult, as well as, you know, actually impeding the flow of critical information (shoutout to Twitter for helping me get my parents vaccinated when that freezer broke at Seattle University, among other ways in which the world’s Worst App has still on balance improved my life). We’re trying to avoid Twitter links where possible because of rate limits or general poor functionality across the app, but sometimes it is necessary; please bear with us as a man who makes more money in a month than I’ll ever see in my life tries to figure out how to run the company he bought as a joke.

In Mariners news:

• If you didn’t read yesterday’s game preview thoroughly (how dare!), you might have missed news of the Mariners’ latest waiver claim, utilityman Mark Mathias. Mathias, who’s been assigned to Tacoma, has ping-ponged through several organizations since being drafted by Cleveland in the third round in 2015, but recently spent time with the Brewers, and our sister site Brew Crew Ball wrote up a comprehensive scouting report on him back in 2019.
• Congratulations to Luis Castillo, who has been named to his third career All-Star Game. Castillo is the seventh Dominican-born player to earn the honor as a Seattle Mariner, and the first Mariners RHP to be named to the All-Star Game since Felíx Hernández in 2015.
• In prospect news, Lázaro Montés hit his first home run of the season with the ACL Mariners, and it was a tank job: 118 mph off the bat.

Around the league:

• Personally I like Blue Jays pitcher Alek Manoah a lot and am always rooting for him. After being busted down to the Florida complex after struggling this year, he made a start in Double-A yesterday and lord have mercy on those poor prospects just trying to learn ball, as Manoah struck out 10 over five innings.
• The Tigers might have a much-needed weapon for their rotation returning soon, as RHP Alex Faedo began a rehab assignment in Triple-A Toledo yesterday.
• Cole Ragans, the headline return from the Rangers to the Royals in the Aroldis Chapman trade, had a rough introduction to his Royals career, giving up five runs in 4.2 innings—although three of them came on a home run.
• Here are the complete All-Star rosters, courtesy of ESPN, along with some commentary. Was Wander Franco screwed? I think so.

Kate’s pick:

Today is apparently National Stay Out of the Sun Day, which as a born-and-bred Northwesterner, I’m sorry, I will not be celebrating. I wait literally all year to feel the sun’s warmth and I will not be denied the pleasure of sitting outside on a gorgeous Seattle day. However, I will be coating myself in sunscreen, as I do every day I know I’m going to be in the sun, because I’m not a dumdum. I love a spray sunscreen as a base layer, and then I boost the areas I know I’ve sun-damaged over the years (hello, blistering shoulder sunburn I got on an ill-fated graduation trip to Mexico) with Supergoop’s light-as-air sunscreen in Play and Unseen (for my face, which gets very cranky with anything too heavy). Apply your sunscreen and enjoy your day, lovelies!