Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - 9-25-19 Locked on Mariners Episode 30: Mariners get tortured by Gerrit Cole yet again in 3-0 loss

Episode Date: September 25, 2019

The Seattle Mariners fell to the Houston Astros, 3-0, behind another masterful pitching performance from Gerrit Cole. Still, there were bright spots - including the pitching of young prospect Justin Dunn. Host Andy Patton highlights the good that came from Tuesday's loss, and then he talks about the exciting wildcard race going down in the American League between the Cleveland Indians, Oakland A's and Tampa Bay Rays. The Mariners have a chance to play spoiler if they can sneak a few wins from the A's. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What is up Mariners fans? I'm Seattle Sports Media's utility infielder Andy Patton, and you're listening to the Locked-on Mariners podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. The Mariners got Garrett Cold yet again yesterday, falling to the Astros three-to-nothing behind another great outing from the potential Sy Young winner. I'm going to talk about that game in segment one, and then coming up in segment two,

I'm going to take stock of the American League wildcard race as we near the end of the regularist season. Spoiler alert, the Mariners have a great opportunity. to play spoiler this season. Finally, we have three Mariner birthdays to celebrate today, including a member of the famous 2001 team. Stay tuned to find out who. First, let's talk about Bombas. Bombas are the most comfortable socks in the history of feet.

With every pair purchased, a pair is donated. Go to bombas.com slash locked now to get 20% off your first purchase. All right, before we talk about the Mariners 3 to nothing lost to the Astros yesterday, I want to point out something that I saw that came through on Twitter. Shedlong is technically no longer a prospect. The line for prospects, for those of you who are unaware, for hitters is 130 plate appearances, and for pitchers is 50 innings pitched. So until you reach that threshold, even if it takes four or five seasons,

until you reach that threshold, you are still considered a prospect. Shedlong in today's game crossed over the 130 plate appearances threshold and is now no longer a prospect. MLB Pipeline, which does top 30 prospect list for every team, updates these things immediately. And so as soon as this happened, they took Shedlong off of their prospect list, and they replaced him with a right-handed pitcher Sam Della Plain, who is now the 30th best prospect in the Mariners Farm System, according to MLB Pipeline. That's kind of fun. Kind of fun to get a chance to be on this list. You know, who knows if he will continue to rise or not. He's a 24-year-old.

He was a 23rd round pick back in 2017. Senior sign, not a guy that they really... expected to probably even still be around, to be honest. A unheralded guy out of eastern Michigan. Throws hard, though. He had a great year this year. He ended up making it up to AA. He threw 37 innings there.

He had a zero or an ERA, excuse me, an ERA of 0.49. Hard to argue with that. 58 strikeouts to just nine walks. So definitely looks like a guy who could find his way into the big league sooner rather than later. Obviously it would be a reliever. Probably doesn't profile as much more than a middle relief guy. but kind of nice to get your day in the sun and get a chance to be ranked among the Mariners' best prospects.

So I wanted to highlight that because the rest of the conversation in this segment is a little bit boring and potentially depressing. You know, you know the Mariners are going up against Garrett Cole. You know the Houston Astros are still playing for home field advantage in the playoffs. They're not resting their starters. So this game kind of went as expected. You know, the Mariners pitching was pretty solid. I like that a lot. We're going to get to that in a second, but Garrett Cole was just an absolute monster.

He threw seven innings in this one. He only gave up two hits. He didn't walk anybody. He struck out 14, which is just ridiculous. He now has 316 strikeouts on the year. That's the most for the Astros since the 1970s and the most in the major leagues since Randy Johnson back in 2002. So Cole's having an awesome year. He's had a lot of that success against the Mariners.

It was a little tough to watch yesterday. Every single person who came up to the plate for the Mariners struck out at least once. Act seven out of the nine guys who came up to the plate struck out two or more times. The only people who only struck out once were Dan Vogelbach, believe it or not, and D. Gordon. Everybody else struck out at least twice. Yeah, this was a tough one. The Mariners only mustered four hits, two of them by J.P. Crawford, two of them by D. Gordon. That was it. Everybody else went hitless.

But it's just one of those days. Great pitcher, great team. It happens. Not anything to be remotely concerned about. What I liked in this game was the outing from Justin Dunn. Mariner's rookie reliever, or excuse me, starter, who has been pitching in that kind of opener role because they want to limit his innings a little bit.

But he's the number five starter in the organization. He's the number one, or the number 71 prospect in all of baseball. It was nice to see him finally have a solid outing. His first two outings were not so great. He threw two innings in this one. He gave up one hit. He had one strikeout. He did not have any walks.

This is monumentally huge for him. He walked five in the first two-thirds of an inning that he ever pitched in the big leagues. walks were concerned for him when he came over from the Mets. They were concerned for him out of college. They were concerned for him this year in the minor league. So for him to limit walks against a team that, you know, has really good eyes at the plate and has done a lot of good stuff is nice. Again, it's just two innings.

It's not this huge sign that things he's turned over a new leaf, but maybe he's settling in a little bit. Maybe he's a little bit more comfortable. You know, he faced some really good hitters today and managed to limit any damage. So I was encouraged from what I saw from him. I hope that he can put together one more good outing like this, and then he can kind of end the season on a high note and hopefully come in ready to compete for a job right away in 2020.

Tommy Alone came in after him. Alone was fine. Four and third innings, three earned runs, three walks, three strikeouts, three hits, just threes of everything. He did give up a home run to Alex Bregman. That was his 40th on the season for Bregman, for those of you keep and score at home. Again, he got the loss.

He's four and ten on the season. He's got a 4.76 ERA. Nothing great here. nothing that bad I mean it's about what you'd expect I guess from Tommy Malone so for the mariners like if if they need a guy like this he's the guy that you know maybe they'll bring him back next year maybe he's just a guy that fills this kind of second starter role I don't know I mean he he's not a guy you're going to want around when you're really starting to start in your rebuild or finishing you rebuild I should say but I guess he's he's fine for now

rest of the bullpen looks solid two and two-thirds innings for everybody else that was from Brandon Brennan, who threw two-thirds of an inning, Eric Swanson, who threw an inning, and then Reggie McLean, who finished things out. All of them did well. Swanson, I talked about him a lot on the podcast yesterday. One inning pitch, he gave up one hit, no walks or strikeouts, but still a solid outing. He only threw seven pitches. One of them was the change-up, which is the pitch that I think he's starting to eliminate. One of them was the slider, the rest for fastball. So slider was actually a great pitch out of the zone, but Alex Bregman managed to poke it for a single.

Not much you can really do there. the change-up was a ground-out, so kind of did well there. I'm still excited about his future. Brennan and McLean are guys that I'm not as excited about. I think that they'll just kind of be guys who stick around for a little bit, but Swanson's a guy that I really want to see succeed for the rest of this year, and hopefully going forward. So there you go.

That was the game against the Astros, not the most exciting one, unless you're a Garrett-Cole fan, I suppose, and you want to see him wrap up the Siam. But yeah. So I'm going to take a look at what has shaped up to be another down-to-the-wire battle for those two wildcard spots in the American League. There's only a handful of games left, and things are going to get really, really heated in the last week of the season. So last week, we talked about the race between the Oakland A's, the Tampa Bay Rays, and the Cleveland Indians, three teams all fighting for two spots in that playoff game where they will end up playing each other to see who's going to advance and play likely the either New York Yankees or,

Houston Astros in the first round of the playoffs. None of these teams have separated themselves at all, which is why I think that these last couple of games are going to be a lot of fun. The A's are still up. They have a one-game lead right now. They are currently playing the Los Angeles Angels when I am recording this. So if they end up winning that game, they will be up one and a half games. If they lose, they will be down a half game.

Or they'll still be up a half game over the race. The Indians are only a half game away from Tampa Bay. So even though Oakland is over both of those teams, it's very conceivable that they don't even make the playoffs. and that will be up to the Seattle Mariners who get to play them for the final four games of the season. As you may recall a couple of years ago, the Mariners were playing the Oakland A's

at the very end of the year for what could have been a spot for the playoffs, for the Mariners, and the game ended up, I think it was like in the third inning of a game against Oakland where it was found out that they were going to be mathematically eliminated regardless of whether they won or not, which was a bummer. I remember that very distinctly. I was at that game.

The Mariners have a chance if they play really well and some other things fall their way to be the people who eliminate the Oakland A's this year as well. The last week has been crazy. All three of these teams have played supremely well. Since we checked in last Wednesday, the Indians have gone five and one, which you'd think would put them into the spot to be in the playoffs, but the Rays have also gone five in one. So the Rays have maintained that lead over the Indians,

and the A's have had a couple of off days, but they're three and one. So that pending tonight's game, so they could be either three and two or four in one. but it's I mean you kind of got to feel bad as an Indians for Indians fans I mean their team can't there's seven and three in the last 10 but so is Tampa Bay and Oakland's eight and two so you're just you can't gain any ground if the teams in front of you are going to keep winning that's what makes this so fun all of these teams have somewhat favorable schedules going forward obviously Oakland has a game against the Angels tomorrow or today and then they got all four against the Mariners they're going to be in Seattle so it's not going to be easy necessarily

but that's, they really have to try to, the best case for them is obviously to win all these games. Even if they lose two of them, there's a chance that that's enough to bump them out of the playoffs if these teams keep playing well. The Ray's got one against the Yankees today, then they have an off day, and then they finish out with three in Toronto against the Blue Jays,

also not the most difficult assignment to end the season. And then the Indians are playing the White Sox today and tomorrow, and then they have three against the nationals, which is a weird draw to end the season. they have to go all the way out to Washington, play a National League team. Now, the nationals have already clinched a playoff spot. I'm not sure exactly where they are in terms of getting a home field advantage or if anything like that. But there's a chance that they rest some of their starters, which could actually be in the Cleveland's favor.

Although Washington resting some starters is probably still on par with the Blue Chase and the Mariners, to be perfectly honest. So I think all three teams have somewhat of an even draw depending what Washington does. they all got to win a lot. I mean, these teams are all hot right at the right time. The A's got Frankie Montes back, which is a huge get for them. The Indians, Jose Ramirez, had a pair of home runs today, so he's looking great. Blake Snell's back for the raise. All these teams seem to be peaking at the right time.

This is going to be a really, really fun weekend of baseball, and the Mariners get to be involved, which is fun. I mean, I guess it's the best you can ask for in this situation. Mariners fans tend to like to see Oak and Luce. They're not super-heated rivalries, but geographically they're, I think, the closest team to the Mariners. So we can kind of drum that up as a rivalry and try to play spoiler in this series

because that's kind of what we're playing for at this point. So hopefully they can have a good series. Obviously, we'll see Felix's last start. We'll get to see Justice Sheffield again and, you know, maybe have a chance to end somebody else's season. Guys, let's talk about sex. Good sex. Remember the days when you were always ready to go?

Now, you can increase your performance and get that extra confidence in bed. Listen up. Bluechew.com. That's blue like the color blue. Bluechew brings you the first chewable with the same FDA-approved active ingredients as Viagra and Cialis, so you know they work. You can take them any time, day or night, even on a full stomach, and since they're chewable, they work up to twice as fast as the pill,

so you can be ready whenever an opportunity arises. Now, this isn't just for guys who can't perform. It's for any guy who wants extra function to enhance their performance in the bedroom. For instance, most guys talk a good game, but if you're one and done, Blue Chew can even help you follow through for round two. Blue Chew is prescribed online and ships straight to your door in a discrete package, so no in-person doctors visit, no waiting in the pharmacy, and best of all, no more awkwardness.

They're made in the USA, and since Blue Chew prepares and ships direct, they're cheaper than a pharmacy. Right now, we've got a special deal for our listeners. Visit BluTru.com and get your first shipment free when you use our special promo code MLB. Just pay $5 shipping. Again, that's B-L-U-E-C-U-E-Coo.com promo code MLB to try it free. Blue Chew is the better, cheaper, faster choice, and we thank them for sponsoring the podcast.

All right, three birthdays that we're going to celebrate today for the Seattle Mariners. First up, it's a happy 41st birthday to Joel Pinnero. Joel Pinniero was a rookie in 2000 and made his kind of first really foray into the big leagues during that magical 2001 season, just like pretty much everybody on that roster. Joel Pineiro had probably the best season of his career. He appeared in 17 games, 11 of them were starts. He threw 75 in a third innings, and he had a 2.03 ERA, which is amazing. He went 6 and 2, 56 strikeouts, 21 walks, just a fantastic year all across the board.

Pinero ended up having a very solid career in the major leagues. He lasted until 2011. That's a nice 12-year career. 4.41 career ERA. He had a couple more really good years with the Mariners in 2002 and 2003. Then things kind of started to fade off. 2004, 2005, and 2006 was a pretty ugly area, 6.36 ERA. Ended up in Boston for a little bit, then spent three years in St. Louis, had a little bit of a rebound there,

then spent his final two years in L.A. Overall, not a bad career. One of my favorite fun stats, Joel Pinnero led the league in Complete Game Shutouts twice, which is a pretty odd stat for a kind of middling starting pitcher who only appeared in 12 seasons. But in 2003, he had two complete game shutouts, and in 2009 he had two complete game shutouts. So I'm sure he tied for the lead, but still kind of a fun fact for Mr. Pignero. Anyway, happy 41st birthday to him. Next up is Reggie Jefferson.

Reggie Jefferson is celebrating his 51st birthday. He had a nice nine-year career. He was a designated hitter, played a little first base in Outfield. spent most of his career in Boston and Cleveland, but he did spend sandwiched in between there. He spent the 1994 season with the Seattle Mariners. He was age 25. He had a really good year. He was like a reserve outfielder for them.

He had 327 with a 392 on base percentage, eight home runs, 32 RBIs. Really nice little season for the Mariners. Didn't end up sticking around. I assume the strike probably had something to do with that. I ended up over in Boston and actually had a couple great years with him. He hit $2.89 in 1995, and then he hit 347 with 19 home runs in 1996. Definitely a career year there. Didn't end up lasting a whole lot longer than that.

I'm not sure if it was injury-related or just kind of got phased out. But still, pretty solid nine-year career for Mr. Jefferson. Happy 51st birthday to him. Last but not least is Mike Stanton. Mike Stanton is a funny one to me in the sense that there were two prominent pitchers named Mike Stanton who played in the major leagues. The first one is the one who played for the Mariners. He debuted in 1975, didn't come back until 1980,

but then played 1980 through 1985 with a bunch of different teams, including the Mariners in 82 through 84, excuse me, 82 through 85. It's been most of his career there. 3.90 ERA, well, with the club was almost exclusively a relievery. Ended up with 23 saves. In 83, games finished, 226 total innings. pretty solid career. He had a 3.41 FIP, so he probably got a little unlucky. Didn't strike a whole lot of guys out, didn't walk a whole lot of guys either, just kind of got the job done.

But what I find funny is that there was another Mike Stanton who played for the Yankees for a really long time. It's not that common of a name for there to be two guys named Mike Stanton whose career is nearly overlapped. And then, as you guys may remember, Jean-Carlalton, the stud designated hitter for the New York Yankees. When he came up originally, he was also Mike Stanton. and he ended up deciding to change his name. I don't know. Maybe it's not that interesting, but to me, three people with a name that, you know, it's not John Jones or anything.

You know, it's a somewhat unique name, Mike Stanton, and there was three of them. Anyway, happy 67th birthday to the oldest Mike Stanton. All right. I'm going to recap Seattle's Wednesday game against the Houston Astros on tomorrow's podcast, and we will have a real blast from the past in our weekly throwback Thursday segment. Once again, I am Andy Patton. You can find me on Twitter at Andy Patton, S-E-A.

You can find the Locked-on Mariners podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts. Thank you for listening, and go Mariners.