The summer of Grey Zabel is heating up.
Zabel’s celebrity status within the Emerald City is growing every day, as he is continuing to embrace the city’s sports culture. The Seattle Seahawks’ first-round draft pick threw out the ceremonial first pitch ahead of Friday night’s Seattle Mariners game against the Minnesota Twins at T-Mobile Park. Zabel wore the Mariners’ blue City Connect jersey out on the mound, a getup that the team first unveiled back in 2023.
Zabel did well on the mound, throwing a fastball over home plate to Mariners second baseman Dylan Moore. Needless to say, Zabel’s pitch was one of the better first pitches by an NFL player, as some players have been unable to get the ball over the plate.
Grey Zabel has a baseball background, which he told reporters in his draft night conference call.
“I used to throw around the baseball out on the diamond a little bit,” Zabel said. “I was a little intimidating off the mound, being bigger than most of my guys.
“I was slow enough to where I wasn’t getting much love but I was fast enough to where I was doing alright work on my arm. I was kind of in that low-90’s range. But I throw a baseball left handed. It was a little bit of love.”
We didn’t have a radar gun available to clock the velocity of that first pitch on Friday.
The Mariners wound up losing 12-6 to the Twins in extra innings, but at least Zabel shined during his pre-game appearance. Here’s to Zabel’s next guest appearance this summer!
