gouge

I apologize for my camera work :)

No concern at all , pretty much normal.

You are going to have small nicks, gouges and scratches in natural wood just from handling it.

What I am seeing can be taken care of with nothing more than a small hand wood chisel, medium and fine grit sand paper.

If the builder is a good one that takes his time to look at the wood closely as he builds. Such defects can be hidden by turning them to the inside, using them in corners near the house or cutting them out if possible. I like to lay the wood out and inspect it before I start. That way I can plan the best use for such wood with defects, And When working with heartwood on a deck. I like to take the extra step and lightly sand it with 400 to 600 grit paper using a 3M rubber sanding block before applying the finish... Something I do not have to.. But people loves the outcome.

ok thanks, what about that lighter area of the wood? looks like sapwood to me, what do you guys think?

Very possibly not stacked correctly and bleached by the sun is what it really looks like

Not sun bleached, unless sun bleaching can extend several inches into the wood :)

Sorry, you can't see all three sides here, and I'm at work now, but it's pretty clear there's a whole triangular wedge of wood that is lighter in color, starting at the end and extending about 1/3 of the way up the 6x6.

Looks the same after sprinklers and sanding too.

well, contractor came out today, agreed it's sapwood

so we'll see what the mill says about taking it back