Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - 8 BURNING QUESTIONS Before the Seattle Mariners Kick Off Their Postseason Run

Episode Date: October 1, 2025

Ty and Colby are joined by Mariners POSTCAST host Anderson Hirst to answer eight burning playoff questions.Check out our Patreon!Follow the show on Twitter: @LO_Mariners | @TyDaneGonzalez | @CPat11Follow the show on Bluesky: @lockedonmariners | @tdg | @mlbcolbySupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!5-Hour ENERGYEnough with boring, flavorless caffeine, it’s time to give your caffeine a flavor upgrade with 5-hour ENERGY®️ shots. Get the favorites you love or be bold and try something new in-store and online at https://www.5hourENERGY.com or Amazon today. NutrafolSee thicker, stronger hair with less shedding in just 3–6 months with Nutrafol. For a limited time, get $10 off your first month’s subscription and free shipping when you go to https://Nutrafol.com and enter the promo code LOCKEDONMLB. ZippixGo to https://ZippixToothpicks.com and use promo code LOCKEDON for 10% off your first order.Zippix Toothpicks—energy and focus, anytime you need it.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONMLB to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.PrizePicks — Run Your Game.Click Link Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONMLBMonarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONMLB at https://monarchmoney.com/lockedonmlb for 50% off your first year.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Football season is around the corner, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's time for some burning questions about the Mariners' upcoming playoff run coming up here on the Lockdown Marrars podcast. Colby, hit it. You are Locked on Mariners, your daily Seattle Mariners podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Ahoy, Sailors, it is Wednesday, October 1st, 2025. This is Tudding Azales and Colby Petnode for the Lockdown Merr's podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. This episode is brought to you by Game Time.

the GameTime app, create an account, and use the promo code Locked-on MLB, that's L-O-C-K-E-O-N-M-LB for $20 off your first purchase. And as always, if you want to hear from me and Colby even more and help support the show, you can check out our Patreon. All you have to do to check that out is click the link in the description of this episode. Today, we are joined by Anderson Hearst. So the Mayor's Postcast to answer some burning questions ahead of the Mariners Postseason run. Now, I'm more so going to play the role of moderator today. I've got a list of questions. I'll be asking Anders and Colby here covering a variety of Mariners playoff topics.

But before we get into that, firstly, we have some start times for games one and two of the ALDS. Well, kind of. We have the time for game two on Sunday. That's confirmed. It's going to be at 503 p.m. Pacific time. Game one on Saturday will either be at 108 p.m. Pacific time if the Red Sox advance or 538 p.m. specific time if the Yankees advance. I'm not sure why that matters, considering, you know, those two teams play in the same time zone. They would be going to the same place. They're both

insanely popular. Whatever. There you go. So depending on who wins the Yankees Red Sox series, those are your start times for Saturday. Anyway, let's get into these questions here. I'll just ask you guys the most popular question that is being asked all across the Mariners sphere right now. It's the one that we got a lot during mailbag Monday. Who starts game one? For me, it's Logan Gilbert. I think I would still say him even if Brian Wu was healthy. Now I realize that Brian Wu's had the better season overall,

but I still have faith in the guy that has pitched in the postseason before, number one. Number two has just the ceiling where he can dominate a lineup. I know Brian Wu has been really, really good this year, but it's just been more of a consistency good where he just gives you six innings of two-run baseball every single time. Logan Gilbert can go seven, even eight on on occasion, just depending on how that all plays out. And he can throw 14 strikeouts. And he does have the blowup inning every once and a while. But I got to go with the high ceiling guy in game one just to kind of set the tone for

the rest of the series. Yeah, I don't trust Logan Gilbert. Like, I know the numbers are great and all that, but he's got, you know, just as much of a chance to go five innings and give up three runs as he does to go eight and give up one. I mean, the guy can't, you know, he can't pitch efficiently. He's throwing 100 pitches to get through five every time. Now, in the playoffs, that's a little less important. And obviously, you do generally want to miss as many bats as possible. So that does point to Logan.

I think I'd probably go George in game one, assuming Wu is starting game two. I would think I'd probably go George. He's proven to be a playoff, you know, producer as well. And he can definitely miss bats. He's made a little tweak to his two-seamer. which is really helping with the swing and miss. And he's going to throw strikes. He can have efficient innings.

He's more likely to go seven, eight innings, I think, than Logan Gilbert, just based on what we've seen this year. It's also throwing the ball a little bit better than Logan right now. I know that, you know, Logan had a really nice outing statistically against the Astros. But Logan's starts are like pulling teeth right now. And also I'm kind of thinking, like, who's starting game three while on the road. Logan's swinging miss stuff plays anywhere. but at home, you know, you might want that little bit of an advantage.

So I kind of considered Luis Castillo, too. I wouldn't write him off completely. He's been on a heater and he's very good at home as well. But assuming Wu is starting game two, I probably go Kirby, but, you know, it's a little bit tough because in game two, if you're facing scubel, right, in game two, maybe you do want to go with the highest upside. And that would probably be Logan. So it's not necessarily locking in Wu to game two. but if he is, we're going to assume that. I'd probably go Kirby, but honestly, I really don't think there's a wrong answer here.

Yeah. It's just just roll with your gut and what the matchups tell you. But like, you could give it to Luis and I would totally understand. You could give it to, you know, Kirby or Logan. And I mean, basically anybody but Bryce Miller. And we know Miller's not going to make a start in this series. So, yeah, it'll be interesting to see what they do. It's a good problem to have.

And I honestly would go Castillo game. two no matter what, no matter who you're starting in game one. Because I want to guarantee a start at home for him because I think he is the biggest difference between home pitcher and away from home, especially at this time of the year. So I think that's just, for me, that's the biggest, like, certainty for me is game two is Castillo. And I totally agree with you. Any one of those other three you could name in the game one or game three, game four

slot. So yeah, I think you could go either way. You can't really go wrong. I think ideally, like if you, if it was just health wasn't a factor here, It would be Wu in game one because you know that you can have them for game five. And then Castillo in game two. And then when you go on the road, it's Kirby and Gilbert, you know, for those games. So I think that's how you would ideally line it up.

But the Mariners seem to really want it to be game two. And that's if you can pitch at all. We still don't know if he's going to be able to make that start or not. But, yeah, I would like Castillo at home. And if you start him game one, then you do have an opportunity, game five. If you need it, he would be starting. at home again. All right.

Next question here. If the marries have a postseason hero, who will it be? Now it could be someone who comes through with a big hit, big home run, or just someone who goes on a complete tear over the, you know, hopefully three series that the Marys play this month. I'm just trying to figure out who I want to curse the least. So, yeah, I mean, the easy answer is Cal. It's the year of Cal.

uh, Julio would be another easy answer, but I don't do easy answers. So I'll give you, I know Ty has somebody in mind. He's going to chime in on this question. So I'll leave that guy on the table and Anders might steal him. But I'll go way off the beaten path.

You ready for this, Ty? You'll love this one. Go for it. Emerson Hancock. Oh my God. Emerson Hancock is going to turn himself into the third high leverage reliever of this playoff run.

Um, no. Seriously, though. You know, I think Josh Naylor. I think Naylor is going to be the guy who he's kind of already become that guy, but I just feel like Naylor has another gear. We see him in the playoffs. We've seen him with Cleveland. And we know that he brings the juice every single time.

So I would say Josh Naylor continues to kind of raise his legendary status in Seattle and makes it real hard for, you know, the ownership and the front office to try and justify not bringing him back. So I'll go with Naylor. Anders. Yeah, for me, it's, Randy would be too easy to even answer because of how, how good he is in the postseason. One of my favorite stats ever is the minimum 100 played appearances.

He has the third best OPS of all time behind Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, which is just crazy. But, and he's trending up in a perfect, like, time. He was Cal Raleigh before Cal Raleigh. Yeah, exactly, right? So I'm going to stay off that one. I'm going to go with someone who could do it on both sides of the ball who has already proven this year that he is the man for a big moment on the defensive side.

And I still think that he's going to kind of be the unsung hero, as we like to do on the Mariners Postcast every single episode. It's going to be Victor Robles. I think he's going to play fantastic right field defense, make a couple great catches. And then he's going to scrap together, you know, two hit games here and there and then have a big home run sometime in the postseason. And I just I trust him a ton right now at the bottom of that lineup.

He just plays his role so well. So Victor Oblos for me. I love that call. Yeah. So when I think about postseason heroes, you know, I don't think about like the faces of the franchise, right? I think about the Travis Ishakawa's and Daniel Murphy's and guys like that, right? So.

It frees. Oh. Yes. Yes. Playoff Domcan's own, baby. It's happening. He's so locked in right now, dude. He's so locked in.

he's destroying the baseball. He's also kind of eliminated his splits problem, which is insane. Because, I mean, he was even struggling against lefties this year down on the minors. But he's come up and he's hit lefties just fine. He's tormenting righties. And, yeah, for like the last year, he's been super, super locked in. So I think he's going to ride that wave of momentum into the postseason. And yeah, I think we're going to get a couple of big dom bombs for the playoffs.

All right. We got some more questions. We're going to talk about Dan Wilson a little bit. Colby's favorite topic. We're going to talk about some key players in just a moment. But first, a reminder of this episode of the lockdown errors podcast is brought to you by Game Time and Monarch Money. There's nothing like catching a baseball game live, the energy, the crowd, the chance to see your team in person. But actually getting tickets, that's the tough part.

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And you're listening to the Lockdown Merrers podcast. And of course, with Anders here for instant reactions following every Mariners playoff game. Be sure to tune into the Marr's postcast with Anders and Christopher Crawford available on both the Lockdown Merrers YouTube and podcast feeds. Doing some burning questions here ahead of the Marrers playoff run. Next question I got for you guys who is an under the radar key player this postseason so obviously you know not cal not Julio etc i want to get i want you guys to get deeper into your bag like who of the other guys is the most important guys of this postseason run for the meres yeah i uh this guy isn't even really that under the radar because he's been such a big part of the team but i'm going to do this

aspect of his game and it's going to be j p crawford's defense uh because he needs to be be like at least average shortstop for this entire playoff run of the Mariners hope to do what they want to do. And to be honest, he wasn't that in the last month or so of the season. So I hope he gets healthy. I heard he was dealing with some stuff. That's why his throws just looked. So there's no confidence in them whatsoever. But you need your shortstop to be able to make plays because just one misplay.

We've seen it already in this early part of the wildcard. Like misplays are everything. So, yeah, you just, I'm in a, I know he isn't really an under the radar guy, but I'm saying that aspect of his game that a lot of people can overlook needs to be elite. Not elite. It needs to be at least an average shortstop, which, again, he hasn't been recently. So, yeah. Yeah.

Don't feel too bad. I was also going to say JAP Crawford. Oh, hang it. I mean, what he said at the bottom of the order? He had a great month at the plate in September, and that that's huge, obviously if Randy's going to get going as Cleveland takes a one-nothing lead. Awesome. So, yeah, I mean, like what JP does at the bottom of the order, especially if Randy's getting

going and then Cal, not a great series to end the year, but, you know, swinging for the fences every time, whatever. Yeah. Yeah, what he does at the bottom is so huge. But to give you another name, I think Matt Brash is a huge one here. The Mariners, they have, they're closed. They have Munoz. They have Spire, who you feel.

great about against left-handed hitters. Bizarro is kind of the do-everything guy, but they don't really have that guy who, like, when you need to miss bats, that's the guy you go to. They don't have it. It's supposed to be Brash. And he's shown that he can be that at times, but he's gone through long stretches where he's just getting a lot of ground balls, which is fine. Like, I mean, it's not bad.

Ground balls are good, too. But sometimes you need strikeouts, and that is Matt Brash's game. So when you get into these situations, runners on second and third with one out, out in the seventh and you're up by one and you need a strikeout. Who's that going to be? It kind of has to be Brash, especially if Dan Wilson isn't going to use Munoz before the ninth inning. So I think Matt Brash plays a huge role here.

They need swing and miss stuff. I understand, you know, he's coming back from a injury and it's his first not even full year back from the Tommy John surgery and all that. So it makes sense that he's not quite, you know, where he was last year. But they really could use 2023 Matt Brash for a couple. couple weeks here and I think that can make a huge difference in the middle of these games. Yeah, Brash is a great call. I'm going to go with a different reliever.

I'm going to go with Edwar Bizarro. I mean, he's been so heavily relied upon this season. And I mean, to me, he's the unsung hero of this entire team this year. And yeah, I mean, they're going to go to them in some big spots over the course of this postseason, probably at some times where maybe you think, you know, they should go to Munoz here. It's probably going to be in an attempt to not burn Munoz earlier on in games. Bizarro might have to take on, you know, the heart of the Yankees order, the Blue Jays order,

you know, the Tigers, whatever, you know, in the sixth or seventh inning and a moment that could very easily flip a game and flip a series. So, yeah, to me, it's bizarre. So this isn't going to be Dan Wilson's first postseason, far from it, but it's his first postseason as manager. So scale of one to 10, one being not at all, 10 being absolutely, what is your confidence level? And Dan Wilson, Colby, you want to start us off? I know this is your favorite topic. Two? Like, I mean, I expected it.

He's gotten better as the year goes on, as you would expect. You know, you get used to the job and roles start to define themselves and all that. but there are times it feels like Dan can't help himself. And it's like I'm going to show every I'm going to bunt right here, even though I know it's stupid just because that's, that's what I want to do. And I'm going to trust this guy to get this last out, even though he's clearly gasped like Carlos Vargas.

I'm going to ask Vargas to get the Jeremy Payne out with the bases loaded and two outs. I don't trust Dan. Like, and it's one of my big. biggest concerns about this team is like, is Dan going to pull the right triggers? And I don't know that he is. There's also, we've seen him be very hesitant to go with like a hands team late in game. So like there's a high probability.

You're going to be up by two in the ninth inning someday. And Dan's going to be like, yeah, J.P. Crawford, Gino Suarez, Jorge Polanco. That's fine. That's fine. Randy and left field, yeah. I know we have, you know, Robles and, you know, Rayleigh on the bench. And I know that we have Rivas and Williamson and blah, blah, but nah, no.

We'll spend veterans. And it's like, I mean, you can do that, but I, I don't like that. I don't, I don't think Dan's very good at this yet. Again, he's gotten better. He's a long way off from good. And all I want my manager to do is be fine. Like, that's all I'm shooting for. And he's not there yet.

So I don't trust Dan Wilson. But, I mean, the culture stuff is great. But that doesn't really matter in a playoff series. Now it doesn't. This is where managers make their money. It's the in-game decisions they make in the playoffs. And I don't think Dan's very good at it yet. Now, real quick, before Anders answers here,

we talked about this a little bit, you and I yesterday, like specifically with the bullpen management, the playoffs allow for things, especially like, you know, with the playoff rosters and all that, they allow for things to be a little bit more foolproof. So do you have less concern maybe about the bullpen management? because he also is going to have, you know, Bryce Miller available to him,

maybe also, you know, like a George Kirby or Logan Gilbert available to him if he wants to, like, it pushes him further and further away from his favorite toy, Carlos Vargas. Like, does that help at all?

Three out of ten. Okay. Okay, there you go. I don't trust the guy. Anders. See, for me, the question you just posed there, I almost feel less confident. Now,

I have a higher base. level of confidence than Colby does. I've been a big, Dan Wilson critic for most of the season, but I think he's done a really good job in coming around into the role, kind of learning his way through it. And I think a lot of what he was doing,

I don't know this for a fact, but a lot of what he was doing was kind of playing the long game, so to speak, and it did pay off with a lot of guys, right? Let's be completely honest. Someone like Jorge Polanco,

who was having a terrible maze, so many people are like, why is he in this lineup? He ends up being one of your best hitters by the end of the season because he's stuck with him. He's like, no, you're going to go out there every day, figure it out. So like,

Dazzardo is another good example of that, by the way. Exactly. And so, but now that you give him more options, it's like that gives you more opportunity to not choose the right one for me. It's like, I know it gives you better options, so to speak, but that means there's just less of a plug and play aspect to things when it comes to bullpen decisions specifically. But in terms of overall confidence, boy,

If he's the same postseason manager as he was a postseason player, we might be in trouble, guys, at least from the offensive side of the dish. But no, I just had to give him that little dig there. I'd say about a four or five. Earlier in the season, it would have been like a two or a three. But this last month's plus stretch, I think he really has come into the role a little bit and gone to not get in the way, as kind of Kobe was referencing there, just don't get in the way of your guys.

And I feel like that's kind of what he was doing in that last month of the season or at least the last two and a half weeks of the season. So that's kind of where I'm at with him right now, but that could easily change as soon as playoff because playoffs are just different. You have more players to choose from, as we just said, like it's less of a long game. You have to win this game right now. And I just don't know if he's going to be that urgent with things.

I hope he will. I think he might, but I just don't know at this point. So I'll say about a four. Okay, fill in the blank. The Mariners won't go on a run unless Blank performs. Oh, God. Julio.

Yeah. I think that's an easy answer, but you saw what the Mariners did when Julio was literally the most valuable offensive player in the American League in the second half of the season. And I think that contributed to their massive run. Cal is going to put up good at bats. I think even in that last series of the season, yes, he was swinging for the fences a lot, but he still took a couple, had a lace double down the line.

He's still doing exactly what he needs to do. His approach hasn't changed. I trust him in every single moment possible. Randy's going to be Randy in the postseason. I think Jorge Polanco is one of the most consistent hitters. A lot of those guys, the variance isn't very high, but Julio, it is. When he's on, he is on, but then when he's not,

and this is one of the reasons, not one of the reasons, one of the things I'm worried about with this week off is that, you know, he was in such a good rhythm coming towards the end of the season. And I hope that doesn't go away because we see every year how long it takes him to find it again. So it has to be Julio Rodriguez. Yeah, agreed. You know, I've said this often this year. Cal's the most valuable player on this team.

Obviously, he's the most valuable player in the American League. Julio is the most important player because what Julio is able to do on a night-in-night-out basis when he's playing at even his, you know, 80th, 90th percentile, he can make up for three or four other players having a down game. That's how good he can be as an offensive player. So if you want to go to the World Series, if you want to win the World Series, I don't see any way you get there without Julio.

You know, at least, I mean, maybe he's not driving the car, but like he's he's got to be riding shotgun with Cal or Randy or you know somebody like that like you need a couple of stars to step up in the postseason and Julio's you know Julio Star can shine brighter than anybody in baseball. So it's got to be Julio and you know I guess the good news here is that he took the All Star, he got on a little bit of a heater right before the All Star break came out of the All Star break and was even better. So maybe that's, you know, a good sign here. But yeah, it is, it's it's it's julio i mean you have to we we've seen this team with you know great hulio with okay julio and with bad hulio and and the team goes as julio does and that's including with

cow having a season where he hits 60 home runs it was still julio was driving the engine so um i i do think that julio is the easy answer there one quick shout tire before you pop in uh i think it is julio but someone who can carry an offense when he gets hot is a johenio suarez uh yes he starts to play like the way we know he can, man, he can literally carry the offense. So that's another kind of secondary one that I'm looking at. Yeah, and that'll just come out of nowhere. No warning signs, nothing. All right.

We got a few more questions to go over here in just a moment. But first, a reminder, this episode of the Locktime Airs podcast is brought to you by Fandul. The NFL season is here. And Fandul is making sure you're ready for kickoff with a can't miss offer. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. and if your bet wins, you'll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. FanDuel makes every game more exciting whether you're watching your team or just keeping an eye on your fantasy lineup. It's quick, easy, and the best way to add a little more energy to Sundays.

So are you ready to play? Download the Fandual app now by visiting fanduel.com to get started. That's fanduel.com to place your first $5 bet. And you're listening to the Locked-on Airs podcast. Got a few more burning questions for Anders and Colby here, head of the mayor's playoff run next up here. Which potential opponent concerns you the most, whether it's the, you know, the guardians or the tigers or, you know, a potential ALCS matchup or anyone, you know, who comes down the, uh, the national league pipeline in the world series. Who concerns you the most?

See, going into the playoffs, I would have easily said the Yankees, um, but maybe it's recent to see bias watching what Terrick school did yesterday. Uh, really scares me. and especially again, like how many left-handed pitchers are in this postseason so far, you're going to see Mitch Garver against lefties guys. I just, I'm just putting it out there right now. You're going to see. Post-season hero Mitch Garver.

Did you guys know that he get cleanup for a World Series champion just two years ago? That's right. That's right. Did you know that? Unfortunately, I did, yes. But I don't know. Someone, someone like that can just absolutely. absolutely carve up this offense.

That scares me a little bit. So again, it's probably the Yankees, but I'm going to cheat and say it because I watched it yesterday, Terrick Scoobal and the Tigers. Colby. Yeah. I would say it's the Phillies. Yeah. The Phillies are the best team in baseball, in my opinion.

Now, that's kind of cheating because, like, you don't have to worry about them until. you don't really have to worry about anything because they're in the World Series, so you're feeling pretty good. In the American League playoff field, I think Boston in particular can cause some problems for Seattle because they play a brand of baseball that has been difficult for Seattle to defend. They steal bases and they're athletic and they play pretty good defense. And the back end of their bullpen is very good. Now, obviously, like every other team, they have their warts, you know,

and the rotation's not incredible outside of crochet. And they don't hit a lot of home runs, which is typically what you need. Like I think the leader in home runs for the Red Sox this year is story with like 26. Yeah. Like they don't hit a lot of home runs. And typically that's what you need to do. But that ballpark, it's not a great fit for Seattle and what they like to do either.

So I think Boston in the American League maybe. But yeah, having to face Scooble twice in a five game series would suck. You better make sure you don't have to face them twice. is kind of the point. And, yeah, New York, New York's a good one because that bullpen, my God, tons of names, no production. So, yeah, like, I think you're the best team in the American League on paper. So I think most of my fear lies in the National League, but it's the playoffs. Anything can happen.

You can lose to anybody at any time. And having to face scoble twice could be a, you know, a great equalizer. And obviously playing at Fenway could be, you know, an equalizer. could be, you know, an equalizer there and they run around and they play good defense and, you know, they're athletic. Cleveland even, they don't strike out a lot. They make a ton of contact and your defense is a little suss. So, I mean, they could have their own problems.

But push comes to shove. I would say Boston is probably the team that I am most worried about, which is funny because nobody has mentioned the Blue Jays yet and they were the best team in the American League this year. I was going to because they put the ball. and play a lot. They don't strike out. That's a particularly bad matchup for someone like Logan Gilbert. That bullpen is a big

weakness for them. So you want to get in there. But can you actually do enough damage against Kevin Gossman, who's been incredible, especially in the second half? Can you do enough damage against him, for example, to get into that bullpen? So yeah, Toronto presents a lot of unique challenges. Boston,

like you said, because they're incredibly athletic and all that. You've got to face crochet at least twice. like that's that's a massive problem i mean we just saw what he did it to the to the yankees in that stadium like that's ridiculous now put him in t mobile park and see what happens like yeah that's a that's a that's a little terrifying um that's true that's true though yeah that's true like the the marys have actually off of them to win two to one take that and hey mitch carver had a big head against him in fenway earlier this year and i mean they beat scoble twice

that is true you can kind of spend this any way you want again it all it all yeah it all leads back to Mitch Garber. It all leads back to Mitch Garber. But, but, uh, but yeah, Toronto doesn't have any lefties, right? So maybe we do want to face Toronto. Less Garter. Fluority and little out of the bullpen. I don't, do they have a lefty start?

I don't think they do. Anyway, so, um, yeah, so on the AL side, it's, it's Boston and Toronto for me, for the most part. Really, though, like, I see 10 teams here in this playoff field that I'm like, yeah, I, I, I have confidence the mayors can beat, uh, can beat them. Philadelphia is the one exclusion though because I look at that club even without Zach Wheeler and I go and you know we saw how that

three game series went in Philadelphia now that that was at like the lowest moment in the season for the Mariners but still Philadelphia is really good. That's also a team that is built to dominate the playoffs. They hit home runs. They have great starting pitching dominant back into the bullpen like that team is built

for October to to steal a line. This year. Yeah. So, yeah, they are the best team in baseball.

I agree that. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Last two here. If the Mariners don't make it to the World Series, it will be because?

I have faith in starting rotation. I have faith in most of our lineup, and you're going to get ups and downs. There's just less offense in, you know, the playoffs in general. So you don't need to have everyone going at once. It's going to be because you,

the bullpen before Andres Munoz wasn't good enough. And I think that's going to be the main reason. And it's an easy one because everyone points the bullpen during the postseason. But I think it's especially true with this team because that's, I think, the weak point of this team. Even you guys pointed out, Edward Vizardo, he was awesome throughout the entire year. Me and Chris have been always like, man, when is his arm going to fall off because of how much they use him? Maybe we started to see that in that last series, guys, or his last two appearances were not great. I hope that's not a trend going into the playoffs.

But if it is, then, man, you're really running out of options that you believe in heading into Andres Munoz. Spire's been nails and Munoz has been nails. But Brash was a little iffy towards the end of the season. Same with Bizarro. That's where someone like, I know you were joking, but you were saying Emerson Hancock, I honestly wouldn't be entirely surprised if he comes out and is like, you know, a starter gets roughed up. He comes out in like the third or fourth inning and throws four innings of,

of just dominant stuff. So, I mean, you never know what can happen at this point, but that will be the reason why I think if the Mariners don't do what they want to do, that it'll be mainly because of the bullpen. Yeah, I mean, there's a pocket of Ritey's in the lineup. Hancock that we saw against the Rockies, now granted, he was basically pitching against the Arkansas travelers. But that low arm slot with that sweeper, like,

that's going to be tough for Rides. So he could play a role here. And maybe I just, does he earn that? trust quick enough to get you there to kind of replace a tired bizardo. I feel like bizardo and Brash needed this five-day break more than anybody on the team. But yeah, they don't get there. It's going to be because Dan Wilson. No.

I am ultimate. I mean, yeah, it's a viable answer. It's very possible. I can definitely imagine us doing a show here in the next week or two and being like, yeah, it was, it was Dan. I mean, that's our leading story here. Yeah. I think, you know, the middle, middle innings, the bullpen depth is something legit. And it's why I really wanted them to get another reliever at the deadline and not Caleb Ferguson, who's been fine, but not, you know, better, better than that. Maybe Bryce Miller is that guy. So maybe. I'm pretty concerned about the defense.

Yeah. I know it's about home runs. That was going to be my answer. Yeah. I know it's about home runs. I know it's about home runs. I know it's a lot. about pitching and all that, but, like, defense is part of pitching. And the Mariners are, I would say, at best average to below average, at second base, shortstop, third base, left field. And depending on who's in right field, right field, like, if it's can zone, it's below average. If it's Robles, that's good.

So, like, you're only going to be plus defensively at catcher and center field for a majority. and I guess first base. Naylor's probably more above average, but it's first base defense. So I think the defense is what concerns me because I've watched Randy. And I know that they're like what the six highest fielding percentage in bait? Like who cares about fielding percentage? It's a terrible stat.

So yeah, it's the defense. I'm a legitimate concern, concerned about that. And it really mostly the left side of that infield with JP and Gino. that's not a lot of range there. So maybe the answer to this final question is just they answer your concerns that you just aired. But if the Marys make it to the World Series, win the World Series, what have you, it will be because Dan Wilson. That's right. Made out of their way.

Rug pull on all of you guys. If they win the World Series, it'll be because the starting rotation turns back the clock and is like the April 2024 version of themselves. Yeah. I'll go a little more specific. Sorry if I interrupted you, Colby. I'll go a little more specific and say at least one of your four starters turns into a true ace. because I don't think that any one of those guys has been a true number one ace that you're like,

we are leaning on you, we're bringing you in in a high leverage situation because you are by far the best pitcher on this team. It's more of a, you know, strength in numbers sort of situation there. But it's like four number twos, I guess you could say. So, but if one of them, maybe more, but if one of them turns into a true ace,

whether that's Logan like he was in 2024, whether that's Castile like he was in the postseason in 2022. I could see Brian Wu taking a step up, even with his injury. And George Kirby, we saw him in the postseason in 2022 as well. If he turns into that plus the 2023 Kirby, then if one of those four things happens, I think that'll be the main reason why. All right. Well, that is going to do it for our show.

Thank you so much for joining us here on the lockdown Marriss podcast for Colby Patnode and Anderson Hearst. I'm Tiding Gonzalez. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter at L.O. underscore Marrers. You can follow me at Tiding Azalus. Colby at C-P-E-P-E-E-1, and Anders at Anders-Hurse. We're also on Blue Sky. You can follow me at TDG, Colby at MLB-Colby, and the show at Lockdown Merrers.

You can also find us on Instagram at Lockdown Merrers. Have yourself a beautiful baseball day, and we'll see you next time. Peace.