Before joining the Seattle Mariners this weekend, the only experience Logan Evans had with T-Mobile Park was from playing the “MLB The Show” video game series.
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That changed for Evans on Sunday, as the right-hander made his major league debut in the M’s 7-6 win over the Miami Marlins. Evans, the 10th-ranked prospect in the M’s farm system by MLB Pipeline, turned in a strong outing in his first career start, tossing five innings of two-run ball while fanning three batters. He allowed just two hits, walked three and picked up his first MLB win in the process.
“I thought pitched an outstanding ballgame,” manager Dan Wilson said. “A guy in his debut seemed very calm, very collected. He was in control of what he was doing the whole game. I
Things got off to a rocky start with red-hot Marlins catcher Agustín Ramírez clubbed a two-out solo home run to left-center field in the first inning, but the Mariners answered back with one run in the bottom half of the inning and three more in the second.
“After we had the big inning, J.P. (Crawford) and Julio (Rodriguez) both were like, ‘We got you, just keep grinding out there, just keep doing it,” Evans said. “And I was like, ‘This is awesome. I watch these guys on TV like all the time, and they’re supporting me and letting me do my thing.’”
Evans settled down afterwards and retired 13 of 17 batters the rest of the way. He ended his debut in style as well, freezing Marlins No. 2 hole hitter Jesús Sánchez with a changeup on the outside corner to strand a runner on second base.
Evans even got a chance to flash his glove in top of the third inning. He barehanded a bunt by Marlins leadoff hitter Xavier Edwards towards the third-base line and fired to first just in time to to get the speedy shortstop.
Evans looked like he will fit right in with Mariners pitching staff that is constantly adding pitches. The right-hander featured a six-pitch mix against the Marlins – a cutter, sinker, four-seamer, sweeper, curveball and changeup. He mostly used his cutter, sinker, sweeper and changeup, but threw each pitch at least seven times among his 78 pitches. Evans’ sinker topped out at 94.9 mph.
“He mixed all his stuff,” Wilson said. “That’s what he does, and I think that’s what makes him successful.”
Evans was making his debut as a result of ace Logan Gilbert going on the 15-day injured list with a flexor strain in his right elbow. The team is also without starter George Kirby.
It’s been a fast rise through the organization for Evans, a 12th-round pick in 2023 who had a career 6.78 ERA in college. The University of Pittsburgh product pitched 15 innings in brief stops with the M’s Rookie League and Single-A affiliates in 2023. He skipped High-A and moved straight to Double-A Arkansas last season. In 32 games (22 starts with the Travelers), Evans went 9-5 with a 3.20 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 98 strikeouts over 107 innings pitched.
The Mariners experimented with moving Evans to the bullpen while he was with Arkansas in hopes he could help the big league club last season, but he ended up moving back to a starting role. He began this year with Triple-A Tacoma and had a 1-1 record with a 3.86 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 23 strikeouts over 25 2/3 innings in five starts.
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