Locklear is Here! Meet at the Mitt Podcast

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Hello and welcome to the meet at the Mint podcast. I'm Evan James. I am joined by my east coast lookout landing brethren today, Anders Jorstad and Zach Mason. And we have a lot to talk about. Maybe not a ton, but a lot. A couple of good things have happened. One, let's kick it off with the good news today, because everybody needs to hear this. Brian Wu. And to give you an exact quote from Shannon Dreher, his MRI results were perfectly clean. And if you're anything like me, and you have enjoyed watching Brian Woo as much as I have this year that was a real weight off your chest that they said that today. Zach, how did. What kind of relief did you feel knowing that Brian Woo is okay?

Zach Mason
Pornographic. Like it was. This was an incredible, incredible news. I was fully prepared for TJ and to lose Brian Woo, and when you lose somebody in June, you lose them for not just the rest of the year, but the entire following year. It's such brutal timing. And he had been, you know, struggling with this issue for a while, off and on, and missing bullpen days and then to scratch him was just incredibly nerve wracking. So the fact that he's in a.

His MRI is clean, which isn't to say he's in the clear, but the MRI is clean is incredible news. This team is a different team with Brian Woo than without him in a way that is not true of a lot of players.

Evan James
Yeah, I think, Zach, you've mentioned this, and the lookout landing account tweeted it, which I'm guessing was probably Kate talking about, like, the innings that woo, through last year were really a lot for him and how much they were prepared to throw him this year were going to be a lot, too. So, like, load management, even if he's, like, 100% healthy, there's not a sniff of anything wrong with him just because of his existing injury history, but also because of his limited pro innings, I think was always going to be part of the equation. The load management was. So I'm glad that they're being cautious. And I think a lot of times people mistake caution for something being wrong, where sometimes there's, like, something might be wrong, and out of an abundance of caution, a team does something, and then people fire the alarm bells. And obviously, with a pitcher and a pitcher with injury history, I think that that is, like, a rational reaction in a lot of ways.

Zach Mason
People just, like, people want to be nervous. Like, people, especially, like, mariners fans are. Have this, like, shell around them. I think a lot of baseball fans, even fans of good teams, like, act like the sky is falling all of the time and, like, nothing ever good ever happens to their teams. But I do think there's, like, a real deep cynicism baked into Mariner fandom.

Evan James
That, as someone who has generalized anxiety disorder and, like, has heard a therapist say this to me on. On several occasions, like, the anxiety looks for things to latch onto, and when there's nothing to latch onto, it's, like, anxiously looking for something to be anxious about. And so I think that that's kind of, like, the Mariners fandom experience because of how, you know, there usually has been another shoe. And, like, I tweeted out this afternoon, like, kind of tongue in cheek, like, oh, you know, the Astros lost. All the injury news is great. Like, what could go wrong? Like, I feel like that's. I had so many replies being like, why'd you say that? Because I think a lot of people are genuinely, like, waiting for other shoes to drop. And that's all to say, like, you know, when the Mariners do something with a player and they say it's out of an abundance of caution, I think people are probably reacting stronger than the situation usually warrants. And it's often because, you know, the Mariners have a very good history keeping pitchers healthy, all told.

So I feel good that the team, like, has done the right things with Brian Wu because I think a lot of other organizations would not be managing this as well as the Mariners are.

Zach Mason
Yeah, I think that's just, like, a point that can't get overstated is how successful the Mariners have been on this front. And, like, everybody always wants. We talked about this last time. Everybody always wants to call it health luck, pitcher injury luck, and, like, absolutely, there's some of that going on, but when the track record is this long, like, trust them.

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And credit to Brian woo as well for saying something because, you know, how easy would it be for him to just be like, oh, I'm just sore, and I'm going to pitch through it because the team needs me. If he's not right, we want him to say something because he is very essential to what we're trying to do right now. And the results have been so sterling. Like, we got to trust them. Like you said, we got to trust the process with how they've gotten him here and him being assertive about what's going on with him is part of that. We don't want him doing a Matt brash, which is, yeah, I've been throwing the last six days, and I was in pain the entire time, and we're like, oh, well, bad, bad. Don't do that. Um, but, you know, this is, this is good. I honestly feel, like, so palpably relieved. It was almost like a heart attack yesterday. But I want to flip this.

Evan James
And he's been so good, too. I mean, we talked about this in the last show, but, like, that is such, like, watching Diaz, who was fine, but, like, it was remarkable to, like, think about, man, Wu would be doing so much better.

Zach Mason
And against the White Sox, like, he really could have carved through that lineup, but this team, it's just on such a. I mean, the lead is pretty big, but like, it, it's all on a razor's edge.

And the gap between Wu and Hancock is among the biggest gaps you can get in replacing one player with another in the entire organization. There's like, cal to whatever's behind Cal, Julio to whatever's behind Julio. And then I think woo to Hancock. And so it's just, it's really, really important.

Evan James
Well, and Munoz to stanic, apparently, which maybe we don't need to talk about.

Zach Mason
But, well, I mean, organization wise. Right. Isn't the thing is that like it's Munoz to brash.

Brash to Santos.

Evan James
Santos to Stanix, but all these steps in the middle are gone.

Zach Mason
That's right. Right. Like you're going to plan D, but it's like the organization wide. Like there's Cal and then there's, okay, I guess. So we're going to run Mitch Garver out there every day and, like, hope he holds up with Julio. It's like, okay, so class A is going to be an everyday player and we're replacing our, like, superstar with class.

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A. I don't know, it could definitely get dicey. Um, but I want to, I want to spin this because you mentioned that, you know, woo to Hancock and then to Diaz is kind of like the biggest jump in the organization.

Diaz has had a pretty decent year in triple A, all things considered. He's a bit of a journeyman himself and, like, obviously he's not in the same caliber as any of the starting five we have. But what did you guys see from him yesterday? Because I was too scared. I was going to tweet something optimistic about how he was going to do well, and I talked myself out of it because I was like, don't do this to yourself, man. You can just say nothing. And after he gave it back to back home runs, I felt, you know, pretty good that I had made the right decision on that. But by the end of the night, he had put together a pretty decent start, all things considered, given who he is, given his stuff, given that he, you know, his whip was awful because he scattered around like nine hits or something.

But did you guys like what you saw from him? Because I actually feel better about him as a death piece after watching him pitch last night.

Evan James
Yeah, he did a very good Tommy Malone impression, and that's, I think all that the Mariners could ask of him at this point is, is to be like the Tommy Malone for, for this year's team because he's also younger than Malone. And frankly, I think he's more interesting, but I identified him pretty early in spring training. He either started the first or the second game of spring training.

Um, and I was very impressed by how he performed, of course, at his spring training. But, like, I think for most of March, he was, like, really, you know, showing pretty solidly. And I was wondering if he was going to be one of those pile guys who broke camp with the team. They decided to keep him as a starter, which I think prevented that. But he's more valuable as like, a Tommy Malone than as, like, you know, one of these guys who gets DF eight after pitching in two games, which has happened to, like, eight different relievers. So perfectly fine with him is like the 7th guy right now because I think that Hancock is really the 6th guy. And it seems like with the fact that they're going to throw Hancock on Sunday anyway, that's kind of the. Or I think it's Sunday. They're throwing him the next couple of games.

I think that that's, like, evident to the fact that Hancock is in front of him. But, yes, as number seven, I feel totally fine with him.

Zach Mason
Yeah, Hancock would have been the guy yesterday, except he had pitched too recently. I think he'd pitched on Saturday or something, and the scratch was with too little notice to have Hancock fill in.

Diaz is definitely behind him, and I think, appropriately, I didn't love what I saw from Diaz last night. I thought there were too many four seamers that were wandering either non competitive or meatballs.

He's been good in AAA.

He's been actually, like, very good for the Pacific Coast League, which is odd and surprising given his track record. He had, like, a little bit of a different pitch mix. Jordan Schusterman, one of the barbecue boys, was pointing this out that he'd, like, really become very slider dominant and had abandoned his forcing remore or less during his success in AAA. And then that's not what they did yesterday, which I didn't see him shaking off a lot of pitches. And it seems weird that they didn't have more of a plan for what they were going to do with him.

He's in the. They, like, know the Mariners know what the deal is. Like. They couldn't have told Cal, like, hey, don't call us forcing her that much.

Especially with the White Sox, who, like, are essentially a PCL team.

It was.

I was not that encouraged, but also don't think it was super representative. So I don't know. I'm gonna reserve my opinion on Diaz as a. As a depth piece. It's fine, whatever. Like, who cares? But if he ends up having to actually pitch meaningful games, that's.

We'll revisit the topic.

Mint Mobile Unlimited Premium
Yeah, and the key there is we really like him in the 7th spot and we would like not to see him, and that requires other things. Go well. And, you know, as we, as Jersey, you and I talked about spiritedly on the Logan Evans podcast. Like it. We're riding such a fine line with the rotation, but, like, if things are going to be okay, we're going to be okay. And if Brian was going to be our number five starter, I think the mariners are going to be in great shape.

Zach Mason
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There's another guy who got injured over this past week, and that's Ty France, and he got a hairline fracture in his foot. It sounds like that particular pitch. I've watched the replay, and it really frustrates me watching that, because he just got hit in the exact right way to injure himself. And like baseball is one of those things where anything can happen. But that was particularly irritating. The good news is it seems like he's on the mend. But I'm going to flip this again because in his stead, the Mariners have called up. And I know we're all excited for this guy, Tyler Locklear, Ders. He's finally here. It sounds like it's not going to be for a long time. It's going to be for a good time, not a long time. But in the interim, what are you looking for? And I want to kick this off. I saw in his first game, his first game as a rookie. I think you saw everything there is to see from him. You saw a ringing double, you saw a strikeout, and you saw basically what on any given night could be a one or a two for four performance.

But as a start, what are you looking for over however short a time he's going to be here?

Evan James
Yeah, I think that Max talked about Locklear on one of the two episodes. I think it was the one without me.

This is a guy who like, he is your prototypical kind of first baseman in terms of like, he's got the really big power numbers. This is a guy who had 110s exit velocity already in trip in Triple A, and he didn't have a whole lot of opportunities for that. He is kind of a three true outcomes guy because he does walk a lot, he does strike out a bit, but this is like your typical masher. If it all works out, I think that, you know, odds probably are against him being like a, you know, like a Matt Olson. Obviously, I don't think he's going to be that level of guy, but I think that he could be certainly a starting caliber first baseman and a guy who adds a lot of power to a lineup that, frankly, you know, we haven't had a lot of exciting hitters in this lineup this year.

I actually will push back against your he's not here for a long time thing because I think they are getting ready to DFA Sebi Zavala and that that's why we're seeing Mitch Garver behind the plate a lot. And that I think when France comes back, they will just get rid of Zavala. Garver will become the official backup, still doing some DH duties, and they'll just kind of rotate France, Locklear and Garver between the first base DH spots, and we'll probably see all of them play like four to five games a week.

And that may be also like a way to try to get keep France healthy because we know he has kind of a history of these nagging injuries where he tends to hit the Il a couple times a year. So if they want to keep him fresh, maybe they'll, they'll, you know, let them rest a couple days a week. So I think it actually works out quite well. The downside is that they're both righties, and I think that that's what really makes it difficult to work them both into a lineup is because Rayleigh is your, is your lefty hitting first baseman and France and Locklear kind of don't make sense on a roster if they're both just playing first base and you already have the DH spot filled kind of by garver. So it'll be interesting. But I do think they're going to try to get creative to find ways to keep Locklear in the lineup and to keep him up in the big leagues because I think that they're very interested in at least showing him off as a trade piece if not keeping him in the lineup for the long haul.

Zach Mason
Yeah, I think if it gets to a situation where there's not a lot of playing time for him, they'll send him back down to AAA because he's at a point in his development where he needs to be playing regularly, he needs regular bets, and, you know, if he's going to just be on the major league club in order to play two games a week, like, that's not doing anybody any good.

But, you know, I'm happy he's up here. He's. You said he's a true three true outcomes player, which is true, but he's also like, he's a professional hitter. Like, he strikes out a lot, but he's swinging at the right pitches and that's something that he's not Adam Dunn.

Right. Right.

And he's not like Suarez where.

Yeah, who's a three trail outcomes guy but is not necessarily swinging at the right pitches like Tyler Locklear is swinging at the right pitches and sometimes he comes up empty because he's swinging for defenses, which is what he should be doing with that kind of power. He gets the ball in the air. He's like, if he made a little bit more contact, you'd feel really good about his pro, about his prospects. But, you know, until he. Until that clicks for him, which, you know, it still could, he's only 23.

He's going to be. So his ceiling is going to be somewhat limited by that. But it's a more enjoyable plate appearance to watch than other guys who strike out a lot. And there are a lot of mariners who strike out a lot. So I'm perfectly pleased to watch him as a fill in for Ty France, who it sounds like it's going to potentially come back within the next couple of weeks, maybe before the month is out, and if he sticks around a little longer than that, I'm looking forward to it. Like, I'm interested to see see him against major league pitching.

Mint Mobile Unlimited Premium
You know, where I definitely want to give a shout out to Tyler Locklear for his first couple games. Is that first game? There were some defensive web gems from him.

Zach Mason
Oh, great. Defender?

Mint Mobile Unlimited Premium
Yeah, yeah. Great defender. And, like, I didn't really know what to expect. We heard he's a good defender. I know he used to be a third baseman, I think, once upon a time. Not as a major leaguer, obviously, but, um, you know, like, that was excellent. I don't even know if Ty France makes those plays, frankly, and so, like, it. I don't know that he doesn't, for the record, but, like, those were difficult major league plays that he made, and it was. It was really good to see for a rookie, you know, getting his first licks in. And I think that that first game felt so emblematic of, like, really watching somebody put it together, because his first at bat was rough and was rocky, but, you know, it was his first at bat in the major leagues. He struck out. We were all like, okay, come. Come back next time. We'll see what you got next time. He scored a 97 miles per hour out, almost hit it out. And actually, they were talking on the radio. They said if the wind hadn't been blowing in, they think that that would have been a home run. And his second at bat? Third at bat, I think he grounds out, and then his fourth at bat is AAA ringing gap double to score. What, such a valuable hit runs. Yeah, huge, huge stuff.

Zach Mason
And he laid off, like, very a pitch that a lot of guys would swing at, and it was a high leverage spot. It was a moment in the game when the moment could have been too big for him. And I think the fact that he was able to do that in his very first game was incredible.

Evan James
Zach, talking about the, like, the drop off between positions, would you say the France to Locklear is, like, maybe the smallest level of drop off among the Mariners depth right now?

Zach Mason
I'm not ready to say that, but Polanco to bliss?

Well, yeah.

What is Polanco right now? I mean, I think if the answer is yes, that it's the smallest gap, that says a lot more about what's going on at the major league level, at second base and in the corner outfield than it does.

Evan James
I think that I forget how high you are on France right now.

Zach Mason
Well, yes, I am, but also, you know, Tyler Locklear's got 50 plate appearances above Double A, so I'm not quite ready to say, like, he can do it. I'm interested to see what there is, and I'm optimistic, but that's very different from feeling comfortable with it.

I will say the corner outfield, like Dominic Canzone to, like Cade Barlow, like, is that a drop off I don't know.

Yeah, it's not a deterioration, but it's because, like, Dominic Canzone kind of sucks.

Evan James
I will say that to the defensive point. You know, Bliss has been so good defensively at second two with some really impressive plays. It's very obvious those guys have spent a lot of time together. I mean, I guess they haven't really, but it seems like they have made some good chemistry, at least because locklear seems to be, like, on track with, like, bliss's throws. Like, he seems to, like, have a good idea of what's going on.

And it's kind of fun to just watch those guys play together, knowing that they were kind of within the same wave of prospects for the last calendar year or so. So I think that they likely had a lot of time to kind of get used to each other.

Zach Mason
I also think we just haven't seen a lot of great defense on the Mariners in the recent.

Evan James
Not at second base.

Zach Mason
Certainly not at second base, except when Dylan Moore has been there in the outfield. Like, Julio is obviously a Gold Glove caliber player.

Kelnick was great, but the other guys who've been around in the outfield have not been amazing. JP Crawford is unacceptable shortstop, which is whatever the opposite of damning with faint praise is. To be an acceptable shortstop is an incredible accomplishment. But he's no longer a Gold Glover and he hasn't been for years, and Polanco is not that great of a defender.

So, yeah, it's just really nice to see good defense regularly across more parts of the field.

And Ryan Bliss is not just like. It's not just that he's a good defender, it's that he's an aesthetically pleasing defender.

He does a good job of that thing that he likes, manages to make it look easy without making you think that it actually is easy, which, like a lot of guys, when they make it like Julio's range, sometimes you really have to stop and think about how hard of a play it was for him to even get there. And it's not like exactly a web gem and other guys who are extremely high effort, but it's Dominican, right? He makes these high effort plays and he makes the plays and it looks amazing, but also, it's a catch probability of 40% and it's like he should have had it easily.

I'm sorry, catch probability of 90%. He should have had it easily.

Ryan Bliss does a good job. That thing that it's like, it's both well executed and you know how hard it was. I don't know exactly what I'm trying to say, but he makes it look very smooth.

It's kind of Robbie Kano ish.

It's like, it's better range and a worse arm than Robbie, but, like, the smoothness with which he does it, the manner in which he plays defense, is very Robbie canoe.

Mint Mobile Unlimited Premium
I wanted to ask you guys, do you think bliss sticks around when Polanco and some of the other guys come back? Because I really like what I've seen. He's been a little spark plug for this team, a little, you know, shot of adrenaline to the infield. He's been really effective on the bases. Obviously, we're raving about the defense, but I have a hard time finding a spot where I see him getting consistent playing time. Same with Locklear, same class A. It's like he's. He's worth giving the plate appearances to in Triple A. Do you think he sticks around up here?

Evan James
Yeah, I think that the Mariners. I think it's more likely that they send bliss down than Locklear, because I think Locklear provides a little bit more what they need, which is they need a competent hitter more than they need, like, a swiss army knife kind of. Kind of guy because he's, you know, more. Kind of makes him more or less redundant, I would say.

Zach Mason
I think these things have a way of working themselves out. We got positive entry news in today's update on literally every major league player who's on the injured list. We got positive news about Wu, about Munoz, about Santos, about France, about Polanco.

We got positive news about Gabe's fire, Gabe spearhead.

So that's unlikely to continue to be the case. Like, there will just be a spot, and it'll be clear which person is supposed to take it.

Mint Mobile Unlimited Premium
Fair enough.

Fair enough. We're gonna. We're gonna keep it short today, so we're gonna do one more topic and wrap here at about a half hour. Little mini pod. But Zach has brought up several times over the last year the point that the Mariners central players, their core prospects are right up the middle. They are Cal, they are Julio, and they are JP. And I want to talk about those three guys, because I think over this current series against Chicago and especially over the last series against Kansas City, where every inning and every outfit, like, having your nails pulled out, those guys really stepped up. And I'm very encouraged with what I saw, obviously, Cal, with the walk off, three run grand slam and the Rodriguez to Raleigh pipeline last night, seeing Julio get on in front of Cal, steal a base wind up at home. When Cal hits, I feel the team has such a different look when they're playing like they're supposed to, even if they're not, like, killing it. They're not juggernauts out there. They're still scoring three, four runs a game, but they look so much better. And Cal in particular, his numbers in the clutch situations this year are out of control. He is legitimately one of the best, most clutch major league hitters. The base is loaded with a full count. Um, and obviously, the big news yesterday was that he got that hit on a 30 count because the Mariners have apparently told him to start swinging at more 30 pitches because they just believe in him as a fastball hitter. And when I heard that, I was a little skeptical because I was like, hey, maybe if Cal's gonna walk, we should let him.

Right? You know, like that. That seemed like an okay outcome to me, but then it was explained in the context of, like, he's been getting good pitches in those situations. He's going to get a can of corn. Why not let him hit it out? And, you know, the rest is history at this point with the grand slam. But Zach, with these guys being so important and especially with, you know, JP was injured this year, and Julio's really struggled, and cow is so inconsistent. What do you think for each one of these three guys has been the secret to unlocking their. Their more recent performance? And maybe that's a complicated question.

Zach Mason
Yeah, I think with, with JP, it's just like he was a little bit cold to start the year because players do that, and then he was injured and now he's back and he's back, and I'm very encouraged by that.

I'm not sure I've seen a dramatic difference with Julio and Cal other than honestly the quality of opponent.

I think the Mariners were very smart to fire Brent Brown when they did, because if you wanted to build momentum and build, get players feeling like they were feeling like there was success and that there was something that had changed, and if you wanted to get the fans off your back, I would definitely fire Brent Brown right before the team was going to play the Angels, the A's, and the White Sox all in pretty quick succession.

That's a smart thing to do. And indeed, the team WRC has been raised by, like 20 points since before that firing and after which, maybe some of that has to do with firing him, but I think much more likely it has to do with, like, just who they've been playing. But these things can be self reinforcing. You get guys on a hot streak, and they just start feeling more confident at the plate. They start feeling better. They start feeling like they're seeing the ball better. And I think the mental side of the game is like, it's very hard to analyze. And I think for the aneclytically inclined folks who listen to this podcast, who read Lookout Landing, who write for Lookout Landing, who are on this podcast, it's a little bit hard to get into that, but I don't think it's not real.

So I think there's some of that going on that just, like. Success breeds success.

Evan James
Yeah, I do think that. What I was going to say is that Julio just looks more confident in general. Julio is one of those guys who wears his emotions on his sleeve. And you could tell that he was kind of in his head, especially in May and early June here before the brown firing, that he just, like, he knew he was in a slump. And I think he very badly wanted to get out of it. And you can just see how he's just playing with a lot more confidence because he knows that he's been hitting, like 300 or whatever over the last ten games or whatever it is, and he's just feeling, you know, feel a lot better as a performer. Cause he knows he's helping the team. Cal is one of those guys, like, you will never know if Cal is, like, feeling good or not because he's just like. He doesn't really show very much emotion, and he plays like that, too. He's very steady, like, whether the team is playing well or not, you know, you'll get a hot cow game. You'll get a cold cow game here or there.

But what makes Cal look good is when you set him up in good situations. So, like, when the. When JP gets on and Julio gets on and Rojas gets on in front of him, and then, like, he gets the chance to knock some guys in, that makes Kyle look a lot better than if you just hit a double with nobody on base.

So this is not to say, you know, Cal has obviously stepped up to the moment, and there's nobody better at stepping up to the moment than JP, who I. That's kind of one thing I'll shout out to him is, like, when he gets his situations, he's a lot more confident, and he's a lot more able to do damage. But I think Hal looks a lot better because of the situations he's been placed in.

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I agree with both of you guys. I would. I. Especially to the point about this, the psychology of it, of them, them all being in a better headspace. You know, winning solves a lot of problems, right? When you think about last year and how the Mariners winning was so localized to one month, it was a glorious 30 days. I don't think any of us would trade it for anything in the entire world. What we might have traded it for is a little more stability over the course of the actual full six months. And what's been such a relief about the way that the team has played this year is that there's not really anybody nipping at their heels there. There is, but they're not right there. So the team isn't looking over their shoulder with a team right behind them or right in front of them, and everybody can just play their game. You know, I don't know if Taylor Saucedo, you play nine innings, you don't freak out. You play nine innings would have been the Mariners theme last year. Cause they had to freak out because they weren't playing very well. You don't have to freak out when things are going well, and I do. I completely agree. It's not an analytical perspective to say that because the team has played well, they've continued to play well. Like, that's sort of like a non sequitur. But there is 100% when I. Especially when you look at Scott and you hear his postgame comments, when, when we beat the Royals in that final cursed game, Scott said, we had them the whole way. They did not. They absolutely did not have them the whole way.

But they felt like they had them the whole way because this team believes in themselves because they have seen results they did not get last year that were so hard fought last year, and they didn't have. They didn't have them all the way. I watched that game. They did not. They did not have the royals that whole game.

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Zach Mason
Let me ask you this.

Why do you think it is so hard for the Mariners and Royals to play a normal baseball game?

I have some thoughts on this. I have a couple of ideas.

Mint Mobile Unlimited Premium
What do you guys have thoughts?

Okay, go first.

Zach Mason
So I think.

I think two things. One is the styles of play are so contrasting, right? Like, the Royals are such a get on base, make things happen, keeps the line moving, small ball, create some runs kind of team. And the Mariners are such a, like, singles are for suckers, strike out and hit home runs, and like, both on the, in the lineup. But also that's how the pitchers are. Like, the pitchers do not really walk anybody, and they're like, their weaknesses, that they get hit hard.

And I think when you see those two forces, like, running into each other, just like, it becomes very, I don't want to say chaotic, because that's such a loaded word in, like, Mariner fandom, but it becomes very chaotic.

My second theory is the Mariners have also played.

This is like a three year phenomenon at this point. And the Mariners have also played a number of very, very weird games against the Orioles in that time. There's that game that you and I went to, Ders, that was like back and forth and ten innings with the, like, two Mike Ford home runs and the Julio home run robbery. There was the time that George Kirby pitched nine shutout innings, and then we lost in the extras. There was the time with the, like, Cedric Mullins home run robbery and then, like, the Dominic Canzone home run and then Cedric Mullins, like, the home run after that.

And so I wonder if there's not something to the trioka of Julio, Bobby Witt Junior and Adam Richmond. And like, that, those guys are just, like, part of each other's stories. And so my little research project is going to see, have the Orioles and Royals games been super weird over the past few years? And is that what's going on? Is it that, like, those three guys are just, like, in it together?

Evan James
I think that there's just something similar in terms of, like, how these three franchises are all, like, what they're all doing right now, because they all, to your point, zam, they all have, like, their one superstar who they, you know, raised to their farm system, and they all have, like, several other good players that are, like, noteworthy, but they have that one guy and they're all, like, kind of, like, scrappy in, like, the grand view of teams. Like, when you look at the Orioles and the royals, you don't think, like, oh, that's like a dominant super team. I'm scared to play them. Right. I think all three teams really have this perception of, like, they're pretty good. You know, they're really annoying to play. And so when you have these, these forces all meeting each other, you have these, like, three underdog, little brother kind of style teams.

Zach Mason
They are all very annoying. Yeah.

Evan James
Yeah.

That's just what you end up with, I think.

Mint Mobile Unlimited Premium
To your point, too, derrick, they all have very young energy. They're teams where, like, the superstar players are very young. They were just prospects. They've all come up together. They're succeeding at the same time. Now. They've developed. Yeah, 100%. And I think, zach, you're totally right about Bobby Wittge, junior Adley, Richmond, and Julio.

Not just them being the superstars representative of their teams, but of their whole teams kind of being like that, being prospecting and being young and being hungry and being Taylor Saucedo. You play nine innings esque, and, like, those games were wild, man. Like, say what you will, I mentioned before the podcast that the royal series was the first series I think I've watched this year where I felt like I was previewing the Mariners in the playoffs. Right. Because, like, and you could say that about the Orioles and maybe the Yankee series and, like, those didn't go as well. But when I watched that royal series, I got flashbacks to us playing the Astros because it felt that same kind of like everything we were getting, we were clawing away and everything, they were getting there, clawing right back the next inning. But I had fun watching it. Was that, did you guys have as much fun as I did actually watching that series, even with the losses?

Evan James
Most royals. Royals, yes.

Watching the Orioles play the Mariners is like, a uniquely stressful situation for me. And Zach probably can. Can relate to this because I know so many people who are Orioles fans personally that when those games are, like, super weird, it's just like, it adds this energy I'm not ready for.

Zach Mason
Yeah, I agree with that. The Royal series was sort of painful because we've seen the offense be, like, really the biggest weakness on this team. And, like, they were, the offense delivered in that series against very good pitching, and there were, like, there were some blow ups with the starters a little bit, but also, like, the bullpen. I mean, the bullpen just needs help, and we're not used to that. And it was so on display during that series, and that really stresses me out because Andres Munoz is among the best in the game, and Ryan Stanik has been doing an incredible job. We are like, where would this team be without Ryan Stanik?

And then past that, they are. They are in trouble.

Evan James
Mike Bauman is a setup man. The backup setup man is not an ideal situation.

Zach Mason
No. That is, ask him for trouble. And Trent Thornton has been, like, a capable player.

Like, he's a guy who, like, you would not have complaints about being in a playoff caliber bullpen, but is not suited to the 8th inning. Really. I mean, look, he was outstanding this week, but, like, past that. I mean, Taylor saucedo is, like, a serviceable, low leverage lefty, but when you ask him to be more than that, like, I know people love him and, like, he's local. Beyond that, I don't really get what the appeal is, but, like, they're asking him to get one out.

Mint Mobile Unlimited Premium
Every time he goes out, he's getting one out. So, like, in. Yeah, he's just not very.

He's not that.

Zach Mason
Yeah, he's not that good. If he doesn't get the lefty out that he's been brought into face, the Mariners are in trouble, and he's like, he's acceptable. I don't want to trash talk him and say that he's bad, but he's being asked to do more than he's really up to, I think.

And that's Austin both is also in the same boat. He's being asked to do much more than he is capable of. And then past those guys, you're just shuffling people in and out of Tacoma. And I just thought by June, the mariners would be past that, and they're not. They need an arm that's, like, deadline. Everybody's talking about getting, like, a difference maker, and they should. And I, like, I think we all believe that, but, like, they also really need an arm, and I don't think the mariners are you. The Mariners fans are used to needing an arm like this.

Evan James
I legitimately think it's possible if they go get Paul seawall back from the d backs, and it would be super weird and chaotic if they did, but I think everyone would be super excited, see wald included, and it would be just like a great marriage.

And I think. Yeah, I think it's. I think that would be like a really good.

Zach Mason
Diamondbacks would take Dominic Canzone for two months of Paul Seawald just.

Evan James
Just canzone.

You can have the. You can have the third. The third place finisher of those. Of those guys who got back.

Zach Mason
Oh, I think. I think it's.

Evan James
So you're gonna. You're gonna talk crap about. About Ryan Bliss. And I'm not here for.

Zach Mason
No, not on this podcast.

You gotta give the listener something different.

Mint Mobile Unlimited Premium
I think you're. You're totally right about the bullpen. I continue to actually be very impressed with the results they put up because they are a shaky, shaky bunch, and they have been pretty darn good, considering the pedigree of what's actually been in there. Like, you know, we've done the Coldie Bolton, Cody Bolton, Colin Snyder, Edward Bizarre. Like, these are not names of playoff caliber relief pitchers. And so the fact that we've made it this far, and I feel like you can count the number of games the Mariners have actually coughed up because of the bullpen on one hand, that's a small miracle, given this reconstruction. Like, just crazy. And even to your point about the Kansas City game where Stan, it coughed it up, he got the two ground balls he needed to get out of the kning. It's not Rojas's or JP's fault. They couldn't turn those. Those were incredibly difficult plays. Those were ten out of ten difficulty plays. But he did technically get the ground balls. It was just right.

Zach Mason
Stanick executed.

Evan James
I agree.

Mint Mobile Unlimited Premium
Yeah, he executed. And I. Again, I don't even think the defense was bad. I just think those were really, really tough plays. Sometimes in baseball, somebody takes a major hack and hits a swinging bunt like, 3ft in front of home plate and winds up on first, and it's just how it is. And so, yeah, I agree that they need somebody else, that they've been walking a fine line, but I think the results have been mostly okay. And when I see people on Twitter bashing stanik, I'm like, you guys know, we pulled him off of, like, the scrap heap the week before we were supposed to go into the season. He's not some kind of a major building block for this team or a cornerstone of the bullpen. He's a fill in guy who's become essential, and we've needed him. And I was.

Zach Mason
I was texting with Kate about this, too, and so, like, she should talk about this, but the next time she's on, you should have her talk about this. Evan, like, Stanik has been a real, like, positive presence in for the bullpen. Like, personality wise. He's been, like, a very good leader for them, it sounds like. So make sure to talk about that, too. It's not just in the on field stuff.

Mint Mobile Unlimited Premium
I will. We're going to have Kate and John on Monday. Back to basics. You know how it is.

Guys, we're at 40 minutes, and I gotta go tuck some chickens in. Do we have any other final thoughts for today, or do we think the Mariners are gonna sweep the White Sox?

Evan James
I just win today and tomorrow, which is.

I think that the lead feels a lot smaller than it is, but if. And by the time people are listening to this show, people will know whether this has happened or not. If here on Wednesday, the Mariners win and the Rangers lose, the Mariners will have the second biggest division lead in baseball after the Phillies, who have a ten game lead. And so I don't know if they're going to be caught on that front, but, like, they already have the biggest division lead in the American League, which is pretty wild.

So it's just been great to, like, enjoy a month of the Mariners in first place instead of, like, the one weekend we got last year, so. Just happy about that.

Zach Mason
Yeah.

Yeah. The Fangraph's playoff odds go back to the 2014 season.

That's. This is the 11th season with them. And the Mariners odds of winning the division have never been as high as they are right now. As we're recording, they said it's 72%. That will probably have changed in one direction or the other by the time you're listening, but it will also still be true that it's higher than it's ever been. Um, so I'm, you know, feeling good.

Mint Mobile Unlimited Premium
We're all feeling good. You know, who else is feeling good? And this is important, and we talked about it. Mariners and Scott service, and there are a few things that make me happier than the reaction that Scott service had after the game the last couple of nights seeing him, how proud he is of this team and how they've developed. And I think when Cal succeeds, he feels more happy than anybody else because he is a catcher, and he identifies a little bit with that. So seeing that proud Papa moment with Cal two nights in a row has been.

It's been really fun. And, you know, last year was so hard. I don't think people understand, not just, like, behind the scenes at lookout. Landing with the Mariners in the fandom, like, last year was really hard. It was hard to see the team be that good under the surface and just not put the results up basically ever. That was really tough for us as analysts and as people who like the team.

This is much more fun. This is just way more fun. We're loving the Mariners right now, so watch the game tonight. I think they're going to sweep the White Sox. I don't think they have a prayer. I really don't so shout out to McDougal bats. Use the code goems at checkout. Get 20% off. Get us a little kickback. We will be back with John and Kate on Monday.

The three of us might talk this weekend depending on what happens, but if not, we'll be back next week. Go Mariners. Biggest lead in the American League and as Andrew said, potentially in all of baseball.

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Or Vos for video.

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Locklear is Here! Meet at the Mitt Podcast

Primary Topic

Episode Summary

Main Takeaways

Episode Chapters

1: Opening Discussion

2: Tyler Locklear’s Debut

3: Team Strategy and Fan Reactions

4: Managing Player Health

5: Reflections and Predictions

Actionable Advice

About This Episode

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Transcript