Garion Thorne gives you a preview, prediction and pick for today\u2019s game between the New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners.<\/p>\n
The Yankees have one more game on the west coast before they\u2019ll return to the Bronx for their home opener on Friday against the Marlins. However, this isn\u2019t just some forgettable get-away day tilt. This might be one of the most exciting pitching matchups we see all week.<\/p>\n
New York will send young stud Cam Schlittler to the mound on Wednesday afternoon. The Mariners will counter with George Kirby. Fireworks ensue. Well, probably a lack of fireworks. These two right-handers can really throw the baseball.<\/p>\n
Who will take the rubber match of this series between AL titans? Let\u2019s preview the game and make a couple picks on the DraftKings Sportsbook.<\/p>\n
Yankees vs. Mariners prediction, preview<\/p>\n
There were a lot of Yankees pitchers who left Oracle Park with an ERA of 0.00, but Schlittler\u2019s performance might\u2019ve been the most impressive. The sophomore RHP threw 5.1 scoreless innings against the Giants, striking out eight and allowing only a single baserunner \u2014 a second inning double to Heliot Ramos. That was it. Schlittler fanned 47.1% of the 17 batters he faced and his fastball velocity, which already sat in the 95th percentile of the league last season, ticked up to 98.4 mph. People were already excited about the 6\u20196, 25-year-old heading into 2026, and that showing did\u2019t do anything to dampen that fever.<\/p>\n
Schlittler should have a more difficult challenge this afternoon in the Mariners, though Seattle\u2019s bats have gotten off to a bit of a slow start. In fact, the Mariners are hitting a paltry .205 as a team entering play on Wednesday with a 27.7% strikeout rate that does raise some concern. American League MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh is just 3-for-21 with 13 strikeouts, though he did drive in the game-winning run on Monday night. Meanwhile, Josh Naylor is only 1-for-23 in his first 26 plate appearances of the season, continuing the underwhelming form we saw from the 28-year-old for Canada at the World Baseball Classic. Naylor inked a five-year, $92.5 million extension with Seattle this offseason, and I don\u2019t think this stretch is what either side had in mind from a production perspective. Julio Rodriguez is also 2-for-22, but it\u2019s March. We all know Julio doesn\u2019t start hitting until May at the absolute earliest.<\/p>\n
With their big three bats scuffling, the Mariners have had to win games with a tried and tested strategy: Really, really good starting pitching. Fortunately, the 26-man roster remains filled with absolute studs on the mound, including the aforementioned Kirby. An early injury in 2025 sort of derailed Kirby\u2019s last season, but 2026 got off on the right foot with a dominating outing against the Guardians. Kirby allowed a Chase DeLauter home run \u2014 one of many \u2014 yet that was pretty much it, as he ended his day with six one-run innings and six strikeouts. The former first-round pick might not rack up the strikeouts to the degree of some other AL Cy Young candidates, but Kirby does own a 3.27 FIP over 113 career starts. I\u2019m willing to suggest that\u2019s a large enough sample size to confirm his skill.<\/p>\n
Yankees vs. Mariners pick, best bet<\/p>\n