Gonzales finds success in debut

Rocky Mountain graduate settling in after signing with Seattle

Ask anyone sitting in the stands that May day at All-City Stadium in 2010, when Rocky Mountain southpaw Marco Gonzales became the first and only player in Colorado prep history to earn four straight championship wins, and they’d tell you the pitcher’s professional success seemed preordained.

The sensational 11-2 freshman season that followed at Gonzaga — which earned Gonzales co-West Coast Conference player of the year honors — seemed to cement his destiny toward greatness, and he was selected in the first round (19th overall) of the 2013 draft by the Cardinals.

Then, after a quick ascent to the big leagues, adversity called the Fort Collins native’s hardball fate into question.

First, it was shoulder inflammation that limited him in 2015, and then he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2016.

But two years removed from that surgery, Gonzales made his 2018 debut for the Mariners on Tuesday, when he followed up a strong spring training by limiting the Giants to three runs in 6L innings in Seattle’s 6-4 win.

It was a marquee start for the 26-year-old for a number of reasons, as Gonzales never lasted more than five innings in his seven starts with the Mariners last year after being traded from St. Louis on July 21.

Seattle clearly believes in Gonzales, considering general manager Jerry Dipoto took heat for not nabbing a free-agent starter in the offseason — a clear vote of confidence for not only veteran ace Felix Hernandez to regain his Cy Young form, but also for Gonzales to become a bona fide major league starter.

Gonzales showed that potential against San Francisco with an arsenal that included fastball, changeup, curveball and cutter, a pitch he recently reacquainted himself with in spring training.

And as the pitcher emphasized to The Denver Post shortly after his arrival in Seattle last summer, Gonzales is finally pitching with peace of mind about the health of his arm — something that showed in his dominance on Tuesday, especially through the first five innings, in which he allowed just one run.

Gonzales, whose eight total starts last year were a career high, is scheduled to pitch Sunday against Minnesota at Target Field. He is one of nine Colorado products on opening-day rosters.