Latest / Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast / WOEFUL WEST: Mariners' struggles open door for rest of a mediocre division

Transcript

WOEFUL WEST: Mariners' struggles open door for rest of a mediocre division · Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Play Angel fans and welcome back to Halo territory.
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: I am Mike D.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Giovanna, former La Times baseball writer and hosts of the show,
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: joined by Mark Trumbo, former Angel slugger my co host
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: and joining us from Seattle the longtime Mariners beat writer
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: for the Seattle Times, Ryan Divish. Ryan, Welcome to the show.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us today. How you doing doing pretty good?
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: I mean good good. You know, I'm got the eyes
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: friends of the All Star break, but ah yeah, that's
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: a nice little break for the beat writers. So we thought,
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: with a World Cup induced off day in the middle
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: of this series up in Seattle between the Angels and Mariners,
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: we take a look at the Mariners, who have been
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: one of baseball's more disappointing teams going into the season. Remember,
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: this team was one went away from World Series last year.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: CODA projected them at ninety four wins, that would have
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: won the division by ten games in their estimation. Now,
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: I thought, we did our American League West preview going
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: into the season. I thought the league would I mean
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: the division would be a little more punched up than that.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: I did not expect them to be this far bunched up.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: Seattle right now forty four and forty three, after winning
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: the first two games of this Angels series in second place,
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: a half game behind the Rangers. Now, we know they've
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: had their share of injuries, Ryan, but that can't be
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: the only reason this team is struggling. What's sort of
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: been the story lines behind this team this year?
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the overall has been the inconsistency of execution,
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: whether it's at the play, in the field, on the mound.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: I mean, injuries do play into that factor, but I
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: just think to me, they don't. They have not executed
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: well in situations, whether it's like at the play. You know,
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: they've been really poor with runners in scoring position, although
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: they were actually good on Tuesday Night, But for the
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: most part, they have not done well. Like the outs
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: they make are not productive bouts. They've been heavily reliant
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: on the home run, which they were trying to get
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: away from this year. So and then you know they're
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: they're kind of their biggest hitters, Huluiel Rodriguez and and
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: cal Raley have not produced maybe at the levels they
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: were expecting. Josh Baylor as well, So I mean there's
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: that lack of execution there and that's also you know,
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: possibly due to some injuries as well. But in the field,
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: you know, like winning plays, like they were never going
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: to be a great defensive team, you know, but it's
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: like make the winning play. It's it's not the highlight
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: reel play, but it's the play that decides the game.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: It's a hard, difficult play, whether it's ground ball the
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: backhand side or a ball to the gap that you
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: get there. You know, make those plays. They haven't done that,
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: you know. Same with some of the relieving situations. They've
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: had some issues with some of their middle their their
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: their closer at times, and some of their leverage reliever.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: And then even the starters. I mean, like as good
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: as their starting rotation has been, and it's been really good,
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: you look at it, nobody profiles as being an all
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: star level player. You know. Logan Gilberts had stretches where
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: he wasn't very good. Same with George Kirby. Luis Castillo
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: has been up and down. Brian Wu can't win on
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: the road. So like they're they're not playing to their
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: expected talent or their potential. And I think some of
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: it has to do with injuries, but a lot of
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: it's just lack of performance. You know, like a year
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: ago at this time, Cayl Rawley had thirty five homers.
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: I mean, like that's that's a pretty big difference, you know,
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: And I mean like that was that was the outlier
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: in a lot of ways. But I mean Cal would
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: be the first to say that he hasn't been up
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: to his level. Sure there was the oblique issue of issue,
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: but you know, when he has been healthy or healthy
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: in terms of Cal like being out there, he hasn't
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: produced at the level he's wanted to. Julio had one
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: really hot month the month of May and has otherwise
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: been kind of slow. Naylor has not really performed like
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: they expected. So it's like you're looking at all these guys,
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: all these established guys that you kind of look at
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: their roster. You have all these veteran guys that know
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: how to perform, and they're just not doing it. And
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: some of its injuries and some of it's just you know,
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: just kind of a regression.
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: I guess, Yeah, calor Rally the big jumper. So the
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: WBC may have played somewhat of a part. I saw
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: some comments that killed him. He got some inconsistent playing time.
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: I'm not sure if that's unless there was an injury
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: behind that, But right I wanted to ask you about
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: his offense as a whole. I went through a lot
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: of the savant metrics that I've become somewhat fluent in
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: and can pick out swing flaws.
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: Et cetera.
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: Is there not there's no glaring some of his I mean,
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: he's apparently his contact point is a little bit deeper
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: this year. But the thing that really stands out is
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: his production against the fastball. And I was wondering if
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: he's been asked about it, talked about it, if it's
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: something that you've seen as well, Well, he really looks
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: late and he's getting beat a lot on that pitch
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: in particular, whereas last year it was a huge strength.
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: I mean, just to the naked eye. Is that is
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: that something that you've seen as well, probably fouling a
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: lot of them off or whiffs.
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, No, it's he's very He's been stuck in the
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: in between, the worst place the hitter can be since
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: I think since the season started. You know, the WBC.
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: Was it a factor in his preparation? Yeah, he got
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: nine at bats during the WBC over two and a
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: half three weeks. I think for cal the problem that
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: he didn't like about the WBC was the lack of
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: practice time during the day, Like this is a guy
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: heard a story about it, but this is a guy.
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: Even on a day where they play a game or
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: if he's not playing in a spring training game, he
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: gets at the park at four thirty every day and
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: he does all this preparation, all this work, all this
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: like fundamental work, including lots of swings in the cage,
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: and then when he wouldn't play a Tracts league game
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: that day, he would go over to the minor league
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: spring training game get eight or nine ten at bats
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: in those games, he was just wasn't getting the amount
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: of work that he liked, and he think I think
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: he felt like his timing was off, and what he
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: did was trying like cram it all in in the
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: last three days he was back. It was like me
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: in college for a test. And then I think, and
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: I think that was kind of may have been what
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: you know, kind of pushed that oblique to an issue
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: because you're just trying of volume up over a short
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: amount of time instead of building your volume and staying there.
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: And I think when he got to the regular season
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: that the timing just wasn't there. And he's put a
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: fair amount of pressure on himself. Like I think he
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: knew he was never going to produce what he did
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: last year, but you know, he has an expectation of
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: being a consistent offensive producer for this team, and he
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: just didn't feel right. I don't know when exactly the
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: oblique started to bother him, but there was a stretch
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: he hit a home run off of Jacob deGrom when
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: they were in Texas, and he kind of got going,
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: and I think he hit about seven homers in about
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: twelve games or something, and you're like, okay, here you go.
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: And then after that the oblique cropped up, and then
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: he tried to play through it and it just didn't work.
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: So he's really yeah, like in between, like you watch him,
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: fastballs are kind of getting by him. They're attacking really
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: tight under his hands or elevated above the zone, above
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: the rail of the zone, and he's kind of going
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: after that because you know, he's not seen a ton
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: of fastballs, and then you know that's left him kind
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: of by trying to cheat that. Then the way off
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: on the breaking ball way out in front. You know.
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: The one thing is last year, if you remember when
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: cow was right, he would hammer that the fastball to
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: the gaps over the wall and the gaps, but he
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: would catch the off speed out in front. You know,
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: you kind of do that helicopter swing with one hand
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: where he catched that breaking ball way out in front
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: and just pull it over the wall because he was
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: so strong. We haven't seen any either of those kinds
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: of swings very often. It's weird too, Like since he's
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: been back, he had a stretch where he's just trying
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: to swing at everything because he felt like, you know,
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: I got to get on time. I got to be
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: on time for this. He was swinging a ton of stuff.
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: And then there's been stretches where he just hasn't swung
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: the bat and he has taken a fair amount of walks.
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: But I thought the other day he kind of looped
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: a fastball into the into the left field for a single.
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: He had another ball the opposite way, like for him
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: and Mark, I know you've worked with Edgar, Like he
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: really found something last year with Edgar where he just
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: like the idea of hitting it over the batter's eye,
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: just staying that was his goal hit it over the
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: batter's eye and that kept him on time for the fastball,
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: like the way he wanted to do it, and he
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: just hasn't been able to kind of replicate that. He
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: has a kind of drills and the way his swing is,
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: you know, he kind of hovers that front foot and
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: then what he tends to do sometimes when he's off
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: is he'll kind of lunge into it, you know, glides
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: in and lunges and so is he doesn't stay back.
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: Last year he had a drill and he still does
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: it where it's like he goes straight up. He tries
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: to hit the ball straight up into the top of
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: the cage with one handed and one handed swings back
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: in front, even on a short bat, trying to hit
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: it straight up. So his posture is consistent, and we've
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: seen that a few times early on, where like the
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: posture that he wants isn't there because he's trying so
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: hard to you know, force the result that isn't there.
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: And I think once he just kind of relaxes, I
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: think that'll be the thing. But you know, when you
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: have high expectations for yourself and the team is underperforming
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: and you feel like you're part of the reasons why
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: it's underperforming. Then, you know, sometimes you try and do
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: too much. Everybody's human, as disciplined as that guy is,
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: as a coach's kid like, Yeah, it happens to guys.
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: It happens to the best of them. Where you just
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: you're frustrated, you don't feel right, you don't feel like
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: you're contributing. Well, I got to do this, I got
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: to do that, and I think sometimes that's the worst
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: thing you can do.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we're going to take a quick break from a
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: word from our sponsors. Will be right back with Ryan
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: Divish of the Seattle Times on Halo territory.
• 9:49
  Speaker 4: People dehydration sucks, quints, electrolyte stick packs to the rescue.
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: I order them, I use them all of the time.
• 9:59
  Speaker 5: Somebody you may or may not have had some adult
• 10:01
  Speaker 5: beverages in their life. The next day, you know what flavor?
• 10:03
  Speaker 5: I like watermelon, and I don't like watermelon. I'll go
• 10:06
  Speaker 5: raspberry and it helps me to get my citrus salt in.
• 10:10
  Speaker 5: But if I do, it helps me to get back
• 10:12
  Speaker 5: to normal, feeling good and ready to go the next day.
• 10:15
  Speaker 4: Yep, tough workout or dry mouth in the morning. Whatever
• 10:18
  Speaker 4: it is, this is going to help you out. Quint
• 10:20
  Speaker 4: always has the best deals for you. You can go
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: on their website and see a number of products we're
• 10:25
  Speaker 4: talking about, not only a product that tastes great, but
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: has zero sugar options that are also Stevia free. Give
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: your body what it really needs to stay hydrated. Go
• 10:33
  Speaker 4: to quints dot com slash foul for free shipping on
• 10:35
  Speaker 4: your order in three sixty five day returns. That's qui
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: n ce dot com slash foul for free shipping in
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: three sixty five day returns Quinns dot com slash foul.
• 10:44
  Speaker 4: These statements have not been evaluated by the FEUD and
• 10:45
  Speaker 4: Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure,
• 10:49
  Speaker 4: or prevent any disease.
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: Hey, welcome back to Halo Territory with Ryan Diviish of
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: the Seattle Times, Mark Trumbo, and Mike d. Giovanna. Ryan,
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: for good reason, a lot of the attention is on
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: on col because the drastic drop off from last year.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: But who are some of the other guys on this
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: club who have been underachieving. We really need to start
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: picking up for this team to get to where we
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: all thought it would be.
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: I mean, like Julio, if you look at his numbers,
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: he's kind of on par with what he's always been
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: and people have complained about him being a slow starter.
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: He yeah, I think ten home runs in the month
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: of May and then it kind of went down. He's
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: starting to hit the ball like kind of all over
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: again and sprang it with some line drives. I expect
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: him to kind of get going. He's always been a
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: guy that kind of gets going right about this time.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: You know, I wouldn't call him under achieving, but you
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: hold him in pretty high regard because the talent is
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: so immense. Naylor has not been kind of what they thought.
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: I mean like he's been fine, but you're just not
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: seeing the power. And he's never been known for be
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: a true power guy at first base. But you know,
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: just some of the they'd like to see a little
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: bit more slug out of him, you know, the that
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: like I don't like the fans here are really been
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: on Rob Refsnyder, who was signed to be kind of
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: a bat off the bench in the platoon situation. He
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: really struggled. Now he's on the IL. I don't look
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: at Rob as being the issue that they have, but
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: you know, he hasn't produced kind of what he's always done.
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: I mean, he's been a guy that really mashes left
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: handed pitching and he just hasn't done it sets knee issues.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: So I just think it's kind of collectively, you know,
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: whether it's like Luis Castill or not maybe pitching up
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: the level you want. Andres Muno is going through that
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: funk in the closing situation where he blew a couple
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: of saves and wasn't throwing strikes. I think that's been
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: an issue. And then obviously Brendan Donovan is the guy
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: they went out and they gave up real prospects for
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: and I think he's played in what twenty some games,
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: and that's that hurts you because he's a guy that
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: really can produce. He gets on base, you kind of
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: set up your team around him, and he just hasn't
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: kind of been there. So I think that, you know,
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: it's it's just collectively that they're not like bad all
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: the time or anything. It's like even like Randy A.
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: Rose Reina goes in spurts. He can be a little streaky,
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: and it's just like when are you going to get
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: the hot Spurts versus the Low Spurts. He's been probably
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: their best player all season, but it's you know, it's
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: also Randy in the field, which can be a little
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: bit of an adventure. So yeah, it's just been kind
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: of They're just I don't think I've seen a ten
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: game stretch where I thought they played really clean baseball
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: for a ten game stretch where you think, Okay, these
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: guys are playing really well. They had that one little
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: burst after they swept the A's, but for the most part,
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: you know, they've been a lot like the rest of
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: the American League where it's just really inconsistent.
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: Is Donovan expected back any time soon? I wasn't sure
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: the extent of his injuries.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: So he's coming off a sports attorney of surgery and
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: it was pretty invasive, and you know, I think he
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: thought that he would it would be easier coming back,
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: and it wasn't. He is supposed to be back right
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: after the All Star break. He is going to start
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: a rehab assignment I think next week, and you know
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: he is actually because he wants to get in at
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: bats and games, is going to go to the Scenic
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: Arizona Complex League and play over the All Star Break
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: because they're the only league that's playing during the All
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: Star break. But he wants games in, so he'll enjoy
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: this nice hundred and five degree weather at seven pm
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: in Peoria to play a game.
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: Fans crushing Rob Retschneider.
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, It's like I kind of made the comparison like, well,
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: they got to get him either and get somebody they
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: can hit. And I'm like, he's a bench bat man.
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: It's like you're fighting a house fire and you're switching
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: up a twelve ounce cup for a sixteen ounce cup
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: of water to try and fight a house fire. It's
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: like it's not the big problem, but you know it's
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: the other day.
• 14:55
  Speaker 6: Yeah, they were like, well, it's like the thing is
• 15:01
  Speaker 6: they're killing the training staff for guys, you know, getting hurt.
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: And I'm like, this is happens. You know, Brandy's thirty
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: years old, he's played, he played in seventy one straight games. Yeah,
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: samsring gets tight and you know how he hurt. It
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: was running towards first and lunging at the bag and
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: hitting the bag awkwardly, Like how many injuries have you
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: seen from that? That's not the trading staff's fault. You know,
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: like they're they're trying to be reacted and get you
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: back as fast as possible. They can't prevent some of
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: this stuff. I mean, like that's sometimes it's on the
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: players and it's tough, like like it's we live in
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: a different world, I mean with with Twitter and the
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: reactionary stuff. And Mark, I know you dealt with it
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: when you're playing, but it's just a different world. And
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: if I was a player, I would stay so far
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: away from and I know a lot of them do
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: it to build their brand, but I would stay so
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: far away from social media. I would. I mean, like honestly,
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: if I didn't have to do this job, i'd probably
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: stay away from social media in a lot of ways.
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: But all the best people are on Twitter. I don't
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: know about you, Mark Gohos he.
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: Started up the other day, Mike, I did want to
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: ask the offense. I think they're going to have a
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: big second half or a better second half. Part of
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: it's because the instruction there. I mean, they have proven
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: hitting coaches, Edgar Martinez, Kevin Sites or Bobby Magians. They
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: got a It's not for lack of coaching. I think
• 16:27
  Speaker 3: it's it's going to be up to the players to
• 16:29
  Speaker 3: do what they can to dial it in. But is
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: there anything like offensively is all you've described it. But
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: they're really ranked pretty low in most categories twenty fifth
• 16:40
  Speaker 3: or worse. They do they take some walks? Do they
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: strike out more than they should compared to like the
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: offense of the A's. The A's have a better offense,
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: they play on more hit or friendly ballpark two. But
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: it just looks like the Mariners are really reliant on
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: the pitching and the defense seems average to a little
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: bit above. But you're gonna need more hitting if you're
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: not dominating on the mound like like they're supposed to.
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: I think it's they've definitely underachieved offensively. They really can
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: get carved up by left handed pitching because they have
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: a ton of left handed hitters. I think that it'll improve,
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: Like like I said, if you get Brennan Donovan back,
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: you're talking about a guy that flirts with three hundred,
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: has a career like what three seventy five on base percentage,
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: So you get him back in the lineup consistently. I
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: don't think Kal is going to stay at these numbers
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: all year. I think, you know, obviously not going to
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: get back to where he was last year, but I
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: think he'll be more productive. I said, Julio gets better,
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: and really like they've gotten contributions from guys you're not
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: expecting Cole Young, Dominic, Ken Zone, Luke Rayley. You know,
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: they're good players, but they've been some of their better
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: players this year. I think it'll get better. They're they're
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: putting out a better lineup, but they just haven't. You know,
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: even now, Rayley's got a forearm shoe, can Zones batting
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: the hamstring, Randy Rose Raine has been battling a hamstring issue.
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: They're not able to put out their best lineup most days,
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: and really that's part of baseball. But you know, you
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: still expect, like if you for over one hundred and
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: sixty two games, you'd like to be able least to
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: put out your best lineup that you possibly can for
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: fifty percent of that. And I think they're at about
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: twenty percent of it right now. So I think it'll
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: get better, you know. Like the one thing is too
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: is like Kyle talked about it, they have just they've
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: had times where they get too big and runners in
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: scoring position. They're trying to hit homers, and I think,
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: you know, Nelly Cruz always hid home runs happen more
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: often than not, and I go, well, they happened a
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: lot with you, dude. But like, I think that's one thing,
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: and they've really tried to work back to that as
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: be unselfish when you have runners in scoring position, take
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: the single if it's there, don't try and do more
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: than you have to. And we saw that last night.
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: I mean, they scored eight runs with twelve singles in
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: the double. I've never seen them. They haven't done that.
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: They haven't scored eight runs without hitting a homer since
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty two, so I mean it is they are capable,
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: but it's just kind of the discipline of it all.
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: It's like, hey, you know, just take the single, take
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: the walk, don't try and hit a bomb all the time.
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: And I think they'll get better. I think some of
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: it's just there's gonna be regression to the positive side
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: because the hitters that they have have a track record
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: of putting together pretty good seasons. So we'll see that
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: pick up. And maybe it is the cooler weather at
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: T Mobile, but they played a lot of games in
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: warm weather where they weren't hitting either.
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: I had to look it up Mark to make sure
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: I got all right. Justin Hollander, the former Angel, the
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: exec now Mariners GM refer to the good folks on
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: Twitter as our x as the Lunatic Fringe.
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah good. He said that. He said that multiple times,
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: and I'm like, hey, man, that's like Lunatic Fringe by
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: Red Riders, like one of my favorite songs. They used
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: it in Envision quess like don't don't quit Twitter. People
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: with a good song like that find a different way
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: to describe it.
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: Hey, they can be harsh, but they're also our fans.
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: They're also our listeners, so we try not to offend
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: them too much. Hey, we're gonna take one more quick
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: break for a word from our sponsors. When we come back,
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: we'll get into this Mariners starting pitcher piggyback plan which
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: has been pretty interesting, and a couple of their top
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: pitching prospects. We'll be right back with more Halo Territory.
• 20:24
  Speaker 7: This episode is brought to you by FanDuel Baseball Fans.
• 20:28
  Speaker 7: The MLB season is in full swing, and FanDuel is
• 20:31
  Speaker 7: giving you a chance to call your shot, with Daily
• 20:33
  Speaker 7: Dingers joining the action.
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: Is easy.
• 20:36
  Speaker 7: Just make your free pick on who's hitting a home
• 20:38
  Speaker 7: run in their game, and if you're right, you'll get
• 20:41
  Speaker 7: a profit boost to use on your next bet for
• 20:44
  Speaker 7: a chance at extra winnings. It's just another reason why
• 20:47
  Speaker 7: FanDuel is the home of home runs. So are you
• 20:50
  Speaker 7: ready to play your game? Head over to FanDuel dot
• 20:53
  Speaker 7: com Slash podcast to get started. That's FanDuel dot com
• 20:56
  Speaker 7: Slash podcast. To opt in for daily dingers, you pick
• 21:00
  Speaker 7: on who's hitting a homer playball swing for the Fences
• 21:04
  Speaker 7: on FanDuel, an official partner of Major League Baseball. No
• 21:08
  Speaker 7: purchase necessary, opt in required, bonus issued, does non withdrawable
• 21:12
  Speaker 7: profit boost tokens. Restrictions apply, including any token expiration and
• 21:16
  Speaker 7: max wager amount. See terms at sportsbook dot FanDuel dot com.
• 21:19
  Speaker 7: Gambling problem caller Tex one eight hundred Gambler.
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: And Welcome back to Hilo Territory with Ryan Divish, Smart
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: Trumbo and Mike D. Giovanna. O. Ryan, when and why
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: do the Mariners go to this piggyback plan with their
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: starting pitchers? How is it going? Are they all on
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: board with it?
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's interesting strategy. They went to it When
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: Bryce Miller came back from the IL. It was you know,
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: I think for them, it was a good problem to
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: have Emerson Hancock seated expectations this early on in the season.
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: He was one of their better pitchers, and you know,
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: you bring back Bryce who pitched well all spring, and
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: you're trying to figure out a way to make it
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: all work. So they decided on this piggyback thing to
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: keep Luis Castillo, who at the time was probably performing
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: the worst, stretched out for multiple reasons. So like, this
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: piggyback plan is about long range, a long range goal
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: of keeping six starters stretched out and pitching well without
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: having to send one down to Tacoma. And then also,
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: you know, if you were to trade one of them,
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: say Castillo, he has his value as a stretched out starter,
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: versus if you move him to the bullpen, he has
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: no value as a starter. So that's kind of like
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: the longer range plan of it all. It's it wasn't
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: communicated well to the pictures, I don't think initially, and
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: we saw the reaction from Castillo and some of the
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: comments from Bryce Miller. They've done a better job of
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: communicating with the pitchers about it. They've done it. I
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: think what five times or maybe four. They were going
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: to do it again with Logan Gilbert and Emerson Hancock
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: when we were in Cleveland, but a couple of pitchers,
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: you know, they're in the grind of the season and
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: they ask for an extra day and can they scrap
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: it and get the extra day of rest? And so
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: they did that, and so I don't know one rush
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: going to see it again. We might see it one
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: more time before the All Star break, but right now
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: they're just kind of kind of run with it. Fans
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: hate it because they're looking at the here and now
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: and they see the one game where maybe it doesn't
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: work or how it affects a game. But like the
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: Manners are thinking about the longer rings plans, and I
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: think if they can't really just come out and say, oh, look,
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: we're doing this so we have a chance to trade Castillo.
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: But that's one of the reasons why they're doing it.
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: You can't trade him if he's not stretched out, he
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: has no value to teams. And I mean, like I
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: think he could have value. You know, if the Cubs
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: or the Yankees or one of these teams is trying
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: to compete, you know, they lose another starter right before
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: the deadline. Yeah, you can move him, even though he's
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: owed a lot of money. I think the one thing
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: is that guy Poe he's going to pitch. And I
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: think people don't realize the value of having a guy
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: that can take the ball every five or six days
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: and you just know it. You don't have to worry
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: about him being able to take the ball. And that's
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: one thing Castile will do.
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: Has it he used the burden on the bullpen at all.
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: Somewhat? I mean there has been times where it's put
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: more burden on the bullpen because you're down a guy,
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: But like, really, you know, you have an eight man bullpen,
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: you're a long guy or whatever. How often do they
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: really pitch? You know, it's not I remember like Cooper
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: Criswell went like seven days without pitching at one point.
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: I mean, like, so it's not you only it's funny.
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: It's like the shift. You only think of all the
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: negatives when it doesn't work or something goes against it.
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: But when the times it does work, where they've had
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: some outings like that or they never had to use
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: a bullpen arm, you don't remember that as much. So
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: I think it's been moderately successful. And if the overall
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: goal is to keep everybody stretched out in case there
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: is an injury, or to move Castillo, and you know
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: you're still online with that. And I mean, obviously people
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: will talk about I know we'll talk about it, but
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: you can move Castillo. And even if a guy got hurt,
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: you have Kate Anderson waiting to be called up and
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: join the team.
• 25:15
  Speaker 3: Sniped to me. My next question, how often does a
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: long man get used?
• 25:24
  Speaker 5: Uh?
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: You got to look at what team you're covering.
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's sure some more than others.
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: All right, Well, what you got the name out there,
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: Kate Anderson? What more does he have left to prove?
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: When are we going to see this guy? You guys
• 25:37
  Speaker 3: too many starting pitchers from what it sounds like, but
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: dominating the minor leagues, drafted third overall, the team we
• 25:45
  Speaker 3: cover drafted second overall, passed on Kate, and Kate is
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: with the Mariners. So, I mean, Jerry Depoto has said
• 25:53
  Speaker 3: he looks better than Gilbert Kirby. Wuh, you know, I
• 25:57
  Speaker 3: don't know if that's just something you say or he really.
• 26:01
  Speaker 3: I mean, Jerry's a pretty honest guy. I think that
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: they probably believe that.
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, kid has been outstanding. I don't know
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: how much more has to prove. They're not going to
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: put him into COMA. I don't think they want him
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: pitching in the PCL just they feel like that can
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: lead to bad habits for pitchers, just because of some
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: of the you know, you go to a place, you
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: saw what happened in Las Vegas when Major league teams
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: are there. I mean it's still like that with minor
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: league teams, Triple A teams. So I don't think they
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: want him there. So he's going to continue to pitch
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: a Double A. I think we'll see him at some point,
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: maybe in August or September. You know, obviously if somebody
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: were to get hurt, or if they move Castille or
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: he's the next man online. It's great. It is. I
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: always joked with Hollander and Jerry I and Scott Hunter,
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: they're director of scouting, Like when when the Angels didn't
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: take Kate, how fast did they get that pick to
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: the commissioner just in case like like probably yellend no
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: take backs. You guys did this, And I understand what
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: the Angels in the in the Nationals did in the
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: sense that like they were trying to spread out their
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: their bonus pool money so they could get more value.
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: And the Mariners have done that in the past two
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: with guys, but like Kate Anderson to everybody I've ever
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: talked to, so that he was the best player in
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: the draft that year, and the Mariners are like so fortunate,
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: Like they had a decent season, they still manage to
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: get the third overall pick and then they are able
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: to get like, you know, the top player in that draft.
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: That doesn't happen very often. I think they feel very fortunate.
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: You know, a lot of things went into it. It was
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: like Michael Mike Rizzo getting fired at the Nats and
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: then them having a new front office, them deciding to
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: kind of go with a high school kid and then
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: spread some money around. Same with the Angels. Mariners feel
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: very fortunate. They feel like they've got a lefty that
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: that they can lock into the rotation next year and
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: he'll be there for seasons to come. And he's got
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: I know, like some people compare him to Max Freed.
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: He reminds me like his mentality and his willingness to
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: just attack the zone and not care about anything else.
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: Other than an attack, and his belief in himself and
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: its kind of his nature. He reminds me of Cliff
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: Lee so much, just like I'm gonna come right at you,
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: you know. And he's he kind of talks like Cliff,
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: like slow. He's from the South, you know, just really chill,
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: and he's he's great. And I mean, honestly, his counterpart
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: there in Arkansas, Ryan Sloan, the right hander, might have
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: more overall talent than kid. I mean, like, this is
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: a kid that's six five sixty six. He looks like
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: he looks like Garrett Cole with a baby face, and
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: he might have the biggest legs I've ever seen for
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: a pitcher. Like just he's just a unit. And so
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: they've got a lot of people believe they have the
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: best lieutenant starting pitching prospect in the best right headed
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: starting pitching prospect in baseball. And Sloan who throws hard,
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: you know, and got three fastballs and the slider and
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: the changeup. I could definitely see them putting him on
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: in the playoff roster and using him out of the
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: bullpen as well as a one inning guy. I just said,
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: here you go, empty the tank for one inning. Especially
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: in September. Once those guys reach their limits.
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: Well, you're dropping some pretty good comps there. On Kate Anderson,
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: Ryan Hey, speaking of trade deadline, you mentioned Castillo. What
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: kind of players are the Mariner's gonna target? We know
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: Jerry Depoto has been very aggressive at the trade deadline.
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: What sounds like mag I don't know, you know, with
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: your situation at third base, if that's a target. But
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: who do you think the manors go after? What types
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: of guys?
• 29:32
  Speaker 4: Well?
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: I think their priority is a leverage reliever. Another right hander.
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: Matt Brashes is on the I L again and he's
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: probably not back tell the All Star break, and when
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: he comes back, you know you're not gonna be able
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: to run him really hard and use him in back
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: to back. So they need another right handed arm. They're
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: trying to build, you know, build out the bullpen to
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: have options, so you know, like every other team, I
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: think they'll be looking for a right handed reliever they
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: can get some swing and miss. You know, they could
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: use the right handed bat. Like I mentioned, they were
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: not good against left handed pitching. I don't know that
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: it'll be the premium right handed bat that everybody wants.
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: I don't know how many there are. I mean, like
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: there just isn't a lot of good right handed hitters available.
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: There's just not a lot of right handed hitting right now.
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: You know that is like on the market or even
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: on the free agent market. Like we were joking, but
• 30:25
  Speaker 2: Randy a Rose Arena hasn't couldn't have picked a better
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: time to become a free agent next year. I mean,
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: like the Red Sox are probably gonna give one hundred million,
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: one hundred and twenty million because there's nobody that they
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: can't find a right handed bat. Mark you retired at
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: the wrong time, man, You're in the wrong era where
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: it's like they're just not you know, like it is
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: so crazy, like how difficult it is to find competent
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: right handed hitting. And so I think that's that that
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: would be the nice piece, preferably that they could play
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: right field, to be a part of that platoon with
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: like Luke Rayley, you know, your guys old friend Taylor Ward.
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: I mean, like he would fit that really well. It's
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: whether or not the Orioles would want to trade him,
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: but he's you know, he's going in to be a
• 31:07
  Speaker 2: free agency so he's rental definitely somebody that would fit
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: them very well. You know he's going to take a
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: walk and he's got pop from the right side, say
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: as Azuki. Some people think the Cubs may move him
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: because he's going into free agency as a rental. So
• 31:21
  Speaker 2: I mean, like there are some options out there, I guess,
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: but to me, I don't know that that's I think
• 31:26
  Speaker 2: they're going to end up more with like a bench
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: type of guy like Willie Castro or somebody like that
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: that can fill the ref snider spot or at the
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: right handed slot in the bench than maybe a premium guy.
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: But I think for them they would love to get
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: a leverage right handed reliever and even maybe a middle
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: reliever like from the right side to supplement their bullpen.
• 31:46
  Speaker 3: You're good. It beat me at Award good fit the
• 31:50
  Speaker 3: Orioles think they're going going nowhere fast. I don't know
• 31:53
  Speaker 3: what's going on over there, but not nothing good. Buxton
• 31:57
  Speaker 3: his name has come up to but he might not
• 32:00
  Speaker 3: have any willingness if he's got ten and five, I believe, uh,
• 32:04
  Speaker 3: And I don't think the Twins have said that he's
• 32:07
  Speaker 3: going anywhere, So the options are are pretty uh limited.
• 32:12
  Speaker 3: Like the Reds might be sellers JJ Bluday, he's left handed, younger,
• 32:18
  Speaker 3: I don't know if they'd be willing to move him.
• 32:20
  Speaker 3: Uh you Henne Osuarez. Uh maybe, I'm not sure what's
• 32:26
  Speaker 3: going on with that, but I guess overall, like from
• 32:29
  Speaker 3: the al West, I mean, we've seen the teams that
• 32:34
  Speaker 3: have come through. The A's mentioned them one last time.
• 32:38
  Speaker 3: Their pitching is really going to hold their chances back.
• 32:41
  Speaker 3: I think it's it's you know, a lot leaves a
• 32:44
  Speaker 3: lot to be desired, but they can really hit, they
• 32:45
  Speaker 3: play nice defense. The Astros have been better than I
• 32:49
  Speaker 3: thought they would be, but still an aging team. L
• 32:53
  Speaker 3: two A not what he once was Korea, And I
• 32:57
  Speaker 3: guess the Rangers are somewhat of a surprise to me.
• 32:59
  Speaker 3: We haven't seen a ton of them, but they're doing
• 33:03
  Speaker 3: better than I would have expected. What the Als as
• 33:05
  Speaker 3: a whole. Can you give some thoughts on just the
• 33:08
  Speaker 3: other teams you've seen and why this division is kind of,
• 33:11
  Speaker 3: you know, as close as it is when maybe on
• 33:14
  Speaker 3: paper at the beginning of the year you wouldn't have
• 33:16
  Speaker 3: thought so.
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: Uh yeah, I mean the only reason it's close is
• 33:21
  Speaker 2: because the Mariners have not played well. Like if you
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: look at just on paper and just potential wise, the
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: Mariners are are far better than these other teams going
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: into the season. You knew the the the weaknesses were
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: obvious for the A's, Like the A's will wear you
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: out in a series. They will beat you up. You
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: beat up your bullpen, you know, especially their first five
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: or six guys you know, will cause a ton of problems.
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: But they just don't pitch it. Their bullpen is weak
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: and they don't have the arms. And like you're right
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: about Houston, Like when marriage play Houston earlier there, I
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: think they won six out of seven games maybe or
• 33:58
  Speaker 2: all seven, Like Houston didn't have any starters at that point,
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: and they still don't know. They've got Hater back and
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: some guys healthy, and they've played better than I thought.
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: But you know, is that sustainable? I don't think so.
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: Texas has got bullpen issues as well, Like they don't
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: score at home. Of course, Seeker has been down that
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: you know, hasn't been produced at high levels. I don't
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: know how they're doing it. It's it's really like when
• 34:23
  Speaker 2: the Mariners kind of got up a couple of games
• 34:25
  Speaker 2: in the division, I thought, Okay, they're never going to
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: go back they'll they'll hold the lead the rest of
• 34:29
  Speaker 2: the year, but of course they didn't. I still think
• 34:32
  Speaker 2: that they'll they'll win the division by four or five games,
• 34:36
  Speaker 2: but yeah, I don't. I just think it's just like
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: the teams that aren't very good have kind of played
• 34:42
  Speaker 2: better than you thought, and then the team like the
• 34:45
  Speaker 2: Marriers have not played well at all, and then you
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: know it's, I guess who can who can beat up
• 34:50
  Speaker 2: on the Angels. But the Angels took the series and
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: in Anaheim over the Mariners because Joe Adell went crazy
• 34:56
  Speaker 2: in one game and made three catches. You know, that
• 34:59
  Speaker 2: are ridiculous, Like, I mean, it's so much of it
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: is in a season is when you're playing teams too,
• 35:05
  Speaker 2: if they're playing well, and how that kind of manifests.
• 35:08
  Speaker 2: But yeah, it's just it's like you look at I
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: watched the Doshers play the other day and I'm like, Okay, yeah,
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: this is just this isn't this is a different kind
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: of baseball than what I've been watching in person. And
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: then like even like when we went to San Diego
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: earlier this year, which I love for the Vetter Cup,
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: which I was going to tease Mark about because that
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: that guitar that they use in that series, that's signed
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: by Eddie Vedder and that sits in the Mariner's clubhouse.
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: It's pretty it's pretty freaking cool. It's it's so cool
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: because I remember when Mark's when Mike McCready was doing
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: the anthem and Mark went and got his guitar and
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: ran out there to see mccreedy play.
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: Uh.
• 35:51
  Speaker 2: It's like the Podres, Like you look at their lineup
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: and what they can what they're capable of doing, you know,
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: they haven't done it, Like I just you just want
• 35:59
  Speaker 2: to how these American League teams are gonna do it?
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: Like who's good in the American League. The Yankees just
• 36:06
  Speaker 2: they got swept by the Red Sox and the Marors
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: lost the series the Red Sox, yeah, four games, you know,
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: and then they got shoved on yesterday. And then you've
• 36:14
  Speaker 2: got like the Rays have an exceeded expectations, but you
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: know they're not really built for the playoffs. You've seen that,
• 36:21
  Speaker 2: Like they're good for the rail season, you get to
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: the playoffs, they don't perform. You know, the White Sox
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: they have serious bullpen issues. You know, Cleveland is Cleveland.
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: They always overachieved given the talent, they play hard. Stephen
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: Vote does a great job, but you know they don't
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: score runs either. It's like it's just not very good.
• 36:43
  Speaker 2: And then the crazy part is is like you get
• 36:46
  Speaker 2: in the playoffs even if they play the Dodgers. You
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: just don't know. All it takes is one bad start
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: from a starter in a seven game series, and all
• 36:52
  Speaker 2: of a sudden, the tides turn. I mean like I
• 36:54
  Speaker 2: would have never thought the Blue Jays would have competed
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: with the Dodgers the way they did last year, and
• 36:58
  Speaker 2: they did. I mean, look at the Blue they were.
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: I thought, you know, they had been killed by injuries.
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: You know, Addison bargers out again, like like it's just
• 37:08
  Speaker 2: who can kind of withstand the injuries and everything else.
• 37:10
  Speaker 2: And then that last month because the Mariners last year
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: weren't great, and I remember I got back and they lost.
• 37:18
  Speaker 2: They were awful in Tampa, got their ass kicked by
• 37:21
  Speaker 2: Chris Sale and all of a sudden, like it's spiraling,
• 37:24
  Speaker 2: and all they win two of the next They win
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: the next two games in Atlanta and just went on
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: a heater to close out the season. Like I think
• 37:30
  Speaker 2: people fans tend to forget, like it wasn't smooth for
• 37:33
  Speaker 2: the Mariners last year. That it was back and forth.
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: They weren't great, and they got They had an epic season,
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: like a historical season from their catcher, and they still
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: had the dog. It was a dogfight to really take
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: the division until like the last two weeks of the season. So,
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: I mean, I honestly think that American League, all these
• 37:51
  Speaker 2: races are going to come down to that last three
• 37:54
  Speaker 2: weeks of the season. It's going to be crazy because
• 37:56
  Speaker 2: they're actually playing teams. That's another thing with the new schedule.
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: You're not playing divisional opponents as much you was at
• 38:02
  Speaker 2: six less games. That changes the math and how things
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: play out a lot more than it might have in
• 38:07
  Speaker 2: the past.
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: All Right, we're going to close a show with that.
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: Ryan Divish, the Seattle Times, longtime Mariner beat writer, Thanks
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: for joining us. Mark Trumbo as well. Hey, thanks for
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: tuning in, Thanks for listening. Please like and subscribe and
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: we'll see you next time on Halo Territory.