Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Brooms Up! Mariners See Rays of Hope

Episode Date: June 23, 2021

The Mariners earn another four-game sweep, and D.C. isn't here to celebrate by saying "brooms up." Instead, Clive Braithwaite IV fills in for him, and he talks about the pitching and the offense in the four-game series sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays. The M's put together a few big innings, including two grand slam home runs. One Mariner who struggled last year is off to a pretty good start this year, and Clive talks about him, as well as some other Mariner hitters. He also highlights one player down on the farm who pay play into the Mariners' future plans at second base. 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.

Today on Locked-on Mariners, D.C. still isn't here. But if he were, he'd say brooms up. Welcome to Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on podcast network, your team every day. Here's your host filling in for D.C. Lundberg, Clive Braithwaite the 4th. Thank you, Joey Martin. D.C. has not yet returned from his pilgrimage to find the world's greatest recipe for Flan, so I am here in his stead. I am his personal secretary, Clive Braithwaite. wait the fourth, and I will be hosting today's episode of Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on podcast network. Please remember to download and follow this program on whichever podcasting app you personally

care to use. Ask your smart device to play Locked-on Mariners podcast, or any of the other great shows here on the Locked-on network. It's very easy to do, just say, smart device, play Lockton Mariner's podcast, or Locked on Team Name Here podcast. DC is not here to say brooms up, a phrase he stole from curling, but the Mariners did sweep beside the Tampa Bay raise over the weekend. It was a four game series, and the second sweep of the year for the M's.

The other sweep was also a four game series, but that was against the Texas Rangers. The Rangers aren't very good, fair last in the American League West, while the rays are quite good. Coming into today, they have a record of 43 and 30, a half game behind the Boston Red Sox for the lead in the American League East, and their 589 winning percentage gives them the fifth best record in the junior circuit. The Rangers incidentally have the second worst record in the AL, at 26 and 46, a winning percentage of just 361. That number is lower than Donovan Walton's O'Piers. The M's got it done with pretty good pitching, with help from a few beginnings from the offence, including two grand slams. As John Miller said last Friday, Justin

Dunn had to leave Thursday night's game with shoulder discomfort after just two innings. He had previously spent a stint on the 10-day injured list not long before, and he is unfortunately back on the 10-day I-L. The Mariners had to use four. relief pitchers Thursday, so they called out two bullpen arms to reinforce the relief corps. Johann Ramirez was called up once again, and up for the first time is Vinaynatoly. Mr. Natoly is a 30-year-old minor league veteran who was originally drafted by the Mariners in 2014, but only pitched with the organization through 2016, only reaching a

advanced a ball. He then went to the American Association, an independent league, before bouncing around the Blue Jays and Diamondbacks organizations. He returned to the M's as a minor league free agent, and got the call to the show on Friday. He has yet to make his major league debut, but congratulations to Mr. Nettoli on finally getting the call he's been waiting for for a very long time. To make room for the extra pitcher, catcher Jose Godoy was sent down to Tacoma. There was just not room for three catches on the roster, and even though Louise Torrens is an awful defender, he has hit quite well since his recall, so Godoy was the catcher who was sent out. More good news came over the weekend, as Eric Swanson might be nearing his return. He was scheduled to

throw an inning for AAA Tacoma yesterday on a rehab assignment, and his return could be imminent. But back to the series' sweep of the raise. I will preemptively apologize to Friday night's starting pitcher, as I am incapable of pronouncing his name anywhere remotely close to what it's supposed to be. Usaki Koochee was just short of brilliant once again on Friday night. The Japanese left hand pitched seven innings, which was very important following Justin Dunn's injury short and doubting the night before, gave up four hits, only one run, it was earned, struck out six, but walked two, and was relatively economical with his pitch count as well, throwing 103 pitches in those seven innings, which averages out to 14.7.

A little on the high side in terms of pitch efficiency, but not bad. Kendall Graveman and Drew Stecken Rider each tossed one inning in relief, allowing a combined one hit, and they each struck out a batter. I'll talk about the offense in this series in the next segment, and will focus on pitching in this one, and I'll move on to Sunday's game, which was started by Marco Gonzalez. He is still not himself, but he did okay on Sunday. He lasted six and a third innings, and gave up five hits and two runs, both of them earned. He didn't allow any home runs, but had trouble with the bases on balls again, walking

three hitters. The great command we saw from him last year hasn't been present this season, he might be slightly out of sorts with his mechanics, or he may have lost his release point. Either way, he hasn't really gotten on track thus far, and he's almost a different pitcher now that what we had seen over the course of the last few seasons. He's walking 3.4 batters per nine innings this year, which is way above his career high. Last year, he walked fewer than one batter per nine innings. He's also allowing far more home runs per nine innings this year than he has in the past.

1.9 long balls per 9 innings, also way above his career average. However, his last outing was better than his previous ones since coming off the injured list. Let's hope he continues to improve, and corrects any inconsistencies in his delivery he may have. The bullpen held the raise score list the rest of the way out, including Raphael Montero throwing scoreless top of the tenth inning, to help set up the biggest hit in shed. long junior's career. More on that later, but I want to talk about the bullpen. They were spectacular for the most part during the four game series. They threw 17 innings, and an aggregate ERA of 265. They struck out 21 in those 17 innings, and allowed five runs,

seven hits, and two home runs. Four of those runs were allowed by J.T. Shaw Gwar and Rafael Montero on Thursday night. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the Bullpenny-R-I-A-R-I was 0-0. Paul Seawald pitched in three of the four games, and didn't allow any runs. It was a well-pitched series for the most part. If you don't pitch well, generally you're not going to win many ballgums. In addition, the Mariners only committed one fielding error over the course of the four-game series, And it was a botched pick-off attempt by Marco Gonzalez on Sunday.

The Mariners are now two games over 500, at 38 and 36, and they beat a very good team to get there. We'll talk a little about the offence in the next segment, but right now it's time for the trivia corner. Today we have a hall pass. This gentleman played 15 major league seasons as an outfielder in the 1960s and 70s. He only had a batting average of 250, but an on-base percentage of 366, and his slugging percentage was 436. He clubbed 291 home runs, drove in 964 runs, stole 225 bases, and walked 1,224 times.

He laid his league in bases on balls twice, walking an incredible 148 times in one season. He was a three-time All-Star, and received MVP votes in three different seasons, placing as high as fifth. Would you consider those Hall of Fame credentials? I'll tell you who that he's after this word from Wealthfront. Decades of data show that investors that trade individual stocks underperform the market every year. In fact, only 1% of day traders beat the market.

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Go to Wealthfront.com slash locked on MLB and get started to. Today. Today's hall pass subject was the man known as the toy cannon, Jimmy Wyn, the former Astros outfielder. He also spent time with the Dodgers, Braves, Yankees, and Brewers. In fact, his only two seasons in Los Angeles were both all-star seasons. His first All-Star game was as a Houston Astro. He walked an incredible 148 times in 1969.

and also led the National League with 127 walks in 1976. He drew 100 or more walks six times. With his ability to draw bases on balls and his ability to hit for power, he would have fit right in on those Oakland days teams of the early 2000 dots. Coming up, while DC continues his search for the perfect flan recipe, I tell you about the mariner offense. But first this story. word from Freshly. Dinner time can be chaotic, but with Freshly, it's easy. Their chefs take

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Go to freshly.com slash locked on for $40 of your first two orders. That's freshly.com slash locked on for $40 of your first two orders. Now back to Lockdown Mariners and your guest host, Clive Brom. Great Wait the 4th. Thank you once again, Jayon. DC told me he's a bit under the weather, but John revealed what he's really been up to the last few days on last Friday's show. We talked about the mariner pitching during the four-game series sweep of Tampa Bay in A block, and we'll talk about the offense here in B block. While the Mariners still have the worst batting average in the American League, it's up to 216.

sounds wildly unimpressive, but at one point it was below the Mendoza line. The Mariners scored 13 runs in the four games against the Rays, and outscored them 23 to 13. That's the most runs they've averaged in a series all season, 5.75 runs per game, and they did it by and large with big innings. The M's put together a great inning right away in the first inning on Friday night, sending nine men to the plate against Michael Walker. J. P. Crawford got things started with a double, his 17th of the season, and his fourth leading off an inning. One out later, Kyle Seeger drove him in on a single to tie the ballgame. Mr. Seeger had a great series, and we'll talk more about him

a little later on. Tie France then hit a single of his own, sending Seagre to third. Another single followed, this one off the bat of Jake Bowers, and the M's had a two-one lead. Following a fly-out, Shedlong Jr. hit yet another single, this one plating France. Louis Torrens then hit the Mariners' fourth single of the inning, which scored Bowers with the M's fourth run. Taylor Tremel flew out to end the inning, but those are the types of innings you love to see. Hitting can be contagious, and the M's proved that Friday night. night. They'd add another run in the third, but they wound up not needing it, as you say Kikuchi

and company shut out the race the rest of the way out, allowing only that lone run in the first. The Mariners put together beginnings on Saturday and Sunday as well, capped off by Grand Slam home runs off the bats of J.P. Crawford on Saturday and Shedlong Jr. on Sunday. While I wouldn't classify Sunday's game as a pitch as duel, both pitching staff stayed pretty well, and the score was tied at two all after the Regulation 9 innings. Rafael Montiero stranded the race free runner in the top of the 10th. Thai France was the scheduled free runner for the Mariners in the bottom of the 10th, but he

was pinched run for by the fleet-footed Taylor Tramel. Dylan Moore was first up, and the Mariners were clearly playing for one run, as he bunted the ball back to the pitcher to advance Tramela on to third base. But he wound up being safe, and without having seen this play, I don't know whether it was sloppy fielding, or just a well-placed bunt, but either way, Mr. Moore had to be hauling down the first baseline, and was given credit for an infield single. Jake Bowers then hit a grounder to the short stop, Tremel was headed home on contact, but he was thrown out.

Bowers reached first on a field as choice, a more goes to second. That brought up Luis Torres, who found himself in an O2 hole, but then took four pitches out of the zone to draw a base on balls. The pitch tracker shows that the first ball should have been called strike three, so the The Mariners definitely caught a break. Jake Fraley then came up with the bases loaded. He had made a great catch earlier in the game in the fourth, robbing G. Mancho of extra bases, maybe even a home run.

There was a runner on first as well, so he probably saved at least one run. If not for that catch, the game wouldn't have been tied after nine innings, and therefore would not have gone into extra frames. he flew out to left field, not deep enough to score more from third, but that was only the second out of the inning, so the M's still had a chance to bring home more to win the game. They had also won in the bottom of the 10th on Saturday, but it was a cheap win since the difference was the extra inning free runner. But the free runner wasn't on base in this instance, as he had been erased in off-fielders'

choice. The bases were loaded with legitimate runners for Shedlong Jr. and on a one-one count, got an 88 mile per hour pitch near the middle of the zone in the upper right-hand quadrant, and took it out to right field for a game ending Grand Isolami. That trip around the bases must have been so sweet for Mr. Long. Not only to win a game with a Grand Slam, but to do so in extra innings, which also secured a four-game series sweep, and against a team that came into the series with a winning percentage well over 600. In addition, it was a man who had a terrible 2020 season, had off-sise and surgery, and only came back to game action recently.

What a great moment for Mr. Long. Without question, his biggest hit as a Major League Baseball player. Mr. Long has only played 11 games since returning, during which he is slashing 244, 279, 439. He has driven in 10 runs in those 11 games, however, and is hitting 357 with runners in scoring position. Over his last 7 games, he is slashing 320, 346, 600. Half of his hits have gone for extra bases, two doubles, a triple, and that grand salami, and all ten of his RBI have come during that span.

D.C. often said that last year was a throwaway for Mr. Long. It was a weird year, and he just never got it going. But he wasn't the only one who struggled. And remember, during his first cup of coffee in 2019, Long slash 263, 333, 333. 43, 454, and hit 5 home runs and 12 doubles in 42 games. He showed good pop and decent on base skills, and while DC contend that his strikeout rate was too high, it was right around league average. Long has been splitting time between second base and left field this year, but has mostly

been playing left while Dylan Moore has been at second. Moore is the superior defender at second base, but long has been in second base, but long as is three years younger. I'm not sure who the Mariners plan on for their second baseman of the future, but I'll throw in this curve ball. There's a young second baseman drafted last year named Caden Polkovich who might figure in the M's future plans. He's currently playing for the Everett Aqua Sox, and is slashing 266, 382, 490. He has seven home runs and 11 doubles in 143 at bats, and has walked 24 times in 170 plate appearances. He's also stolen nine bases. His best position is second base, where he isn't bad, but he's never going

to win a gold glove either. He's also played shortstop, third base, and center field for Everett, but hasn't done very well at either of those three positions. He's a few years away from the majors, as he's only an advanced day, but he might be one to keep an eye on. It's also reported that he has a very good work ethic and a big heart. Two very important traits. We are going to continue to discuss the offence shortly, but first, if you have a question or comment for DC, send it to Lockton Mariners at gmail.com. He was planning on doing a mailbag segment today, but obviously that's not going to happen.

He wants to do one Friday. Ask him about anything. Send him jokes. Send him random statements. Ask him about what he's found on his quest for Flan. Coming up, I do DC's job since he can't be bothered to do it himself. But first, this word from bet online, the fastest and easiest way to bet on all your sports action. Baseball season is in full swing and you can track all the action. and track all the action at BetOnline. Get all the latest news odds and info for all your sporting needs, including Major League Baseball, the NBA, the NHL, and all your UFC slash AMMA action.

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He told me he wasn't feeling well today, but I think he's lying. I also think that this whole request for Flan is a ruse. I'm pretty sure something Jason Hernandez said a couple weeks ago is closer to the truth. I have it on good authority that DC has been spending quite some time in one particular restaurant in post force over the last few days, and there's a little strawberry blonde who works there named Maisie. I'm sure that's just a coincidence. We are going to highlight a few more mariner hitters, then set up to night's picture. matchup before calling it a show. One player DC has talked about quite often over the last few weeks is shortstop J.P. Crawford, and he has not let up. For the month, Mr. Crawford is

slashing 364, 414, 584. Three of his five home runs have come in the month of June. In the lead-off spot, he's hitting 333 with an on-base percentage of 380. As the first hit of the game, he's hitting an even 300, and has a 364 on base percentage. Those are excellent numbers from Yule Doffman. Either last week or the week prior, DC said that he thought Kyle Sego was finished. But he had a fantastic series against Tampa Bay. In those four games, he hit 385 and drove in two runs. But prior to the Tampa Bay series, he had been hitting just 177 for the month, and 181 since May the 1st. On this home stand, he's hitting 240, which is above his season average of 2.17.

Hopefully he can continue this hot streak when the Mariners begin their series against the Rockies tonight. If you want to talk about someone in the hot streak, we have to talk about Jake Bowers. his first game as a mariner on June the 10th, he's slashed 326, 356, 419. He's come up with some key hits in those 11 games, has driven home five runs, and has scored seven. Remember that Cleveland gave up on him, and designated him for assignment. He hit only 190 for Cleveland, and hit a mere 154 in his final seven games.

But the difference since coming to the Mariners has been night and day. And he's still relatively young, he won't turn 26 until October, so he could be a part of the M's future. He's a first baseman by trade, but also plays the corner outfield spots. Thai France hit exceedingly well after coming off the injured list, but went through a minisk lump. But over his last 10 games, he's turned it back on. He has a slash line of 381, 471, 690 during that stretch, has four doubles and three home runs,

and has seven RBI. Since returning from the I.L on May the 24th, he's slashing 323, 398, 505. The Mariners begin a brief two-game series against the Colorado Rockies tonight in Seattle, And if their offensive output against Colorado is anything close to what it was against Tampa Bay, they shouldn't have a tough time. The Rockies have the number one batting average in the National League, but don't draw very many bases on balls. They hit a lot of doubles, but not many home runs.

And their pitching is atrocious. Their 4-97 ERA is next to last in the National League. Their starters have a 4-8-2-ERA, while their bullpen ERA. is 524, next to last in all of baseball. Kyle Freehland will get the start for the Rockies, and he's been nothing short of dreadful. He's failed to go more than five innings in any of his five starts, and has given up at least five runs in his last three outings. His ERA for the season is 958, he's walked 11 men in his 20 and the third innings of

work, has given up 36 hits, and allowed to 9 home runs. His whip for the season is 2.274. Opposing Mr. Freeland will be Chris Flexen, who put together his finest major league start last time out. Eight innings, 4 hits, 8 strikeouts, no walks, no runs. Mr. Flexen has had some very good starts, but he's also had some very bad ones. But he doesn't need to be spectacular tonight against the Rockies, as the Mariners should be able to handle the Colorado pitching staff. They did very well against the Reyes staff, who has the second best ERA in the American League, so they should have no trouble with the Rockies. Having said that, watch Mr. Freeland spin seven scoreless innings while Mr. Flexen blows up

like he did in San Diego. I hope that doesn't happen, it's a lot of. shouldn't happen, but you never know. That will be all for today. Tomorrow, DC should be back, unless he still hasn't found the world's greatest flan recipe. I still think that's all crap though, I still think he's hanging around post falls trying to chase that strawberry blonde waitress I told you about. Either way, whether it's DC or another guest host, we will recap tonight's game against the Rockies on tomorrow's show. Please remember to download and follow Lockton Mariners. Look for us on any podcasting app you can think of.

Leave a rating and review if your podcasting app of choice so allows. I am Clive Braithwaite 4th. Thank you very much for listening, and have a good evening. Get all the sports news you need in under 20 minutes with the Locked On Today podcast. Host Peter Bukowski will keep you updated on the latest news in every evening. every major sport with Lockdown's team of local experts. Follow the Lockdown Today podcast on the Odyssey app or wherever you get podcasts. This is Joey Martin speaking for Lockdown Mariners, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network.