Since joining the Mariners via trade in 2017, Marco Gonzales has been a model of consistency, quietly ranking among the most productive starting pitchers in the American League. He was a steadying presence in the Mariners rotation last season, posting career highs in wins (16), starts (34), innings (203) and strikeouts (147), and was coming into the 2020 season looking to embrace a leadership role with a slew of young, talented prospects in the system.

After Major League Baseball canceled the remainder of its Spring Training games, and also announced that the start of the 2020 regular season will be delayed due to the national emergency created by the coronavirus pandemic on March 12, Mariners players were left in limbo on exactly what was going to happen next. After the Mariners Spring Training facility closed a few days later, Marco along with his wife Monica and their bernadoodle Louie, decided to make the 1,400 mile excursion back to the comforts of their home in Seattle. Now the Gonzales’ are back home in Seattle and adjusting to a new normal: waiting until the season begins.

We recently caught up with Marco and he was candid about what the last few weeks have been like, how he is staying mentally and physically in-shape and the outlook on the 2020 upcoming season.

What have the last couple weeks been like for you?

It’s been a little bit limbo-ish trying to figure out what our next moves are. Obviously when the spring training facilities were shut down the easiest thing for us was to drive back up to Seattle and avoid the airports. So, my wife and I packed into our rental car and drove up last week. We have some gym equipment, so I’ve been able to save a little bit busy. Other than that, just trying to find things to pass the time and trying to stay up to date on all the news.

How was the drive to Seattle from Peoria?

We listened to a lot of podcasts, just tried to engage, tried to you know, have thoughtful discussions in the car with our dog and, just kind of, stopped in some interesting places. We had definitely had our fair share of Red Bulls and cold brews stashed up in the car trying to stay caffeined up. The biggest for me it’s like flower seeds, too, just to help me stay awake. I crushed about three bags of sunflower seeds. It took us awhile, but we grinded through it and we survived, so it was all good.

What are you doing while being quarantined?

My wife and I have tried to figure out different games to play, a lot of puzzles. Fortunately, we have our dog so we have been going on a lot of walks taking him to the park. Just trying to stay as active as we can. We try to find a chunk of the day where we can get outside and avoid some rain and go and exercise, and go on a run, those type of things so trying to build some healthy habits. Trying to stay on a routine in this time is definitely difficult to do.

Are you communicating with the rest of the team and coaching staff?

Quite a bit, actually. I’ve been really, really proud of our communication through this. The coaching staff has been checking in. Each coaching staff member has been assigned a group of players so they kind of had their list of guys to check off and make sure they keep up with, so that’s been great. Our training staff, at least one trainer has been checking in with me a week, to check on my health, make sure I’m not experiencing any symptoms or anybody that I know is experiencing symptoms, so the level of communication has been really good.

What is your current workout routine and are you continuing to throw?

We have almost a full gym in our basement. We have full rack of dumbbells, treadmill, water rower, kettlebells, bands — just a lot a lot of things. You can get enough of a workout in for sure. And throwing, yeah, right now it’s long toss. I’m kind of treating it like it’s early December. I’ve been throwing with Patrick Wisdom, and they’ve been using our gym a little bit too. Right now, no bullpens just kind of keeping my arm strength built up. Keep it in this kind of sustainable stage of long toss right now for maybe a few more weeks, and then we’ll kind of work into some mound work, but fortunately you know we built up a lot of strength in camp and, we’re kind of given a chance to maybe add on a little bit to that, without creating any more tension without, you know, creating, any injury or anything like that. We’re just trying to stay loose and maintain what we had.

What have you learned about the communication between Major League Baseball and the Players Union?

What I learned is that both the MLBPA and the MLB are very, very adamant about playing as many games as we can this year. I think in discussions, when we were figuring out a deal and listening in on conference calls with the MLBPA, that was our main focus to get in as many games as possible, and we’re staying on the same page with MLB to do so, so you know the tiny logistics here and there, stuff to be figured out, scheduling, spring training, there are things that are still up in the air because we don’t know what our timetable looks like. I think that we reached a great agreement for the players. And I’m excited for hopefully what this brings going forward because I think when we do have this kind of common issue, we did see that we were able to come together on an agreement.

How did it feel to not playing on Opening Day?

I don’t really know how I feel. It’s definitely weird, knowing that we should be playing baseball right now. So, trying to think of myself on that schedule and trying to envision myself going to the park, it is a tough time. But, I’m staying in touch with my teammates, I’m getting in good workouts, and got a good sweat in to kind of relieve some stress. I’m trying to take my mind off of that and trying to look forward.