Lookout Landing · Jul 1, 2015
Who stays and who goes when Hisashi Iwakuma returns?
Last night—that's what pitching depth looks like. This was a team that entered 2015 with very little questions. Obviously, there were more that should have been asked, but among the ones that were, perhaps the loudest was what the Mariners had as far as contingency plans for their young and fragile starting rotation.
Turns out they had the contingency plans. We can debate forever on whether they had enough pitching talent (they probably didn't), but if you're talking about depth, this is that. Depth steps in when you need someone to step in, and if you assembled it right, it doesn't kill you.
Roenis Elias didn't kill you, and Mike Montgomery has been even better than that.