M’s lefty just wants to do his job

PEORIA, Ariz. — Left-hander Marco Gonzales is considered one of the Seattle Mariners’ building blocks after a breakout 2018 season, but he does not define his role in those terms.

He just wants to do his job and let the results speak for themselves.

“In my mind, it has always been that I have to earn everything that I get,” Gonzales said. “We’ll see where we are at when the season starts, but I am going to do everything I can to help us win games. Whatever you want to call that, that’s what I’ll be doing.”

Gonzales did it well a year ago, when he went 13-9 with a 4.00 ERA in 29 starts in his first full season with the Mariners after being acquired from St. Louis for outfielder Tyler O’Neil at the 2017 trade deadline. The southpaw was among the best pitchers in the American League during a 10-week midseason stretch, when he was 9-6 with a 2.61 ERA in 12 starts beginning May 23.

After three weeks on the injured list with a neck strain in August, he picked it up again, going 1-0 with a 1.74 ERA in four September starts.

Gonzales and Mike Leake are likely to follow Yusei Kikuchi in the Mariners’ rotation, although the two-game series against Oakland in Japan on March 20-21 could skew the alignment early in the season.

“Marco really matured as the season went along,” manager Scott Servais said. “He really took a step forward as the season progressed in understanding how to use all of his pitches. And then getting great results allowed him to get deeper in games.”