The storyline of Monday’s Mariners Cactus League game against the Kansas City Royals was supposed to be Nathan Karns’ bid for the fifth spot in the starting rotation.
Instead, the decision earlier in the day to send down James Paxton means Karns has won the job and can use the game against the Royals as a tuneup. Karns will likely also start the final spring game against Colorado Saturday.
The lineup against the Royals again features a number of regulars who also went most or all of the way against the Cubs on Sunday as manager Scott Servais wants to get them a lot of work in consecutive games before tapering down a bit later in the week in preparation for the season opener a week from today.