Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Bullpen Mostly a Hit, Offense Mostly a Miss

Episode Date: May 4, 2021

Despite having to utilize the bullpen for the entire game yesterday, the staff did a very good job, by and large. (The 8th inning aside, of course.) D.C. talks about the game, which for him speaks more about the lack of offense than it did one bad inning from the bullpen. The minor league season starts today, and D.C. offers a quick preview of the two local minor league teams, the AAA Tacoma Rainiers and the A+ Everett AquaSox. (And of course HIS hometown Spokane Indians.) 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, I get more and more inebriated during rehearsals for a live television commercial for a wellness tonic that's 23% alcohol. Welcome to Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Here's your host, D.C. Lundberg. This is also one of the few episodes in which my best friend, Ethel Mertz, does not appear. Thank you very much, Joey Martin. Welcome to another edition of Locked-on Mariners, parts of the Locked-on. Podcast Network, brought to you by Rock Auto. Yes, that's right.

Please remember to download rate and follow this program on whichever podcasting app that you personally care to use. Ask your smart device to play Locked-on Mariners Podcast or any program here on the Locked on Podcast Network or T-L-O-P-N or T-L-O-P-N or T-Lop. And very easy to do. All you got to do is say, smart device, would you please place Locked-on Mariner's podcast? And again, Locked-on TeamNee Here podcast for that matter.

It was another tough loss last night. It was a bullpen game for the Mariners. It was supposed to be Marco Gonzalez's turn in the rotation. But with him and two other starters on the disabled list, Scott Service had no choice but to utilize a bullpen game. And it was actually very, very good aside from one very bad inning. That's not the story for me, though. The story was the Mariners' lack of offense.

Again. Dean Kramer started for the Orioles, whom the Mariners roughed up last time he faced them back on April 13th, and Kramer hadn't exactly been lights out in his other starts either. But last night, he was very good in his six innings of work. It was the first time since his major league debut last September 6th that he pitched that deep into a ballgame. His longest outing this year prior to last night

had been four and two-thirds innings. Kramer gave up only two hits over six innings, walked two and struck out four. He gave up a home run to Tom Murphy in the fifth inning on a low outside fastball. Murphy got the end of the bat on it, not the barrel, but he's a strong man and he was able to push it over the right center field wall. A fan out there walked over a little bit and casually made a perfect catch. That fan, by the way, the Ichie meter lady, Amy Franz, the original Ichie meter is in the Hall of Fame. I've seen it.

You know, I really should try to get her on the show. Ms. Franz, if you're listening, email the show. I'd love to talk to you. Anyways, that was pretty much it for the Mariners' offense until the eighth inning. Former Mariner Sean Armstrong came in to pitch that inning and promptly walked Murphy on four pitches. And the pitches were not very close. After going 3-0 to Taylor Tremel,

he snuck a fast bow in there at the top of the zone, and Tram was taking all the way. take until the pitcher throws a strike. Good, good, good on him. But he grounded into a force play on the next pitch. That brought up Mitch Hanager, and he got something of a hanging slider, squared it up perfectly, and took it over the Oriole bullpen for a two-run home run and reminding everyone why Sean Armstrong was waived by the Mariners. The Mariners got three hits all game, those two home runs plus a Kyle Lewis single. Struck out nine times as well.

The Mariners offense has had its moments, but as a unit, they're just not getting the job done. Even against mediocre pitchers like Kramer, the Ms can make mediocre pitchers look like Sy Young. They're bad right now. This is a bad offensive team. I spent the last year on this program saying that the young bats were ahead of the young arms. I no longer believe that is true.

Pitching is what has clearly kept this team afloat. I don't know if Yusaki Kikuchi can pitch like he did last time out the entire season, or if that was an anomaly. Justin Dunn has kind of been hit or miss. Chris Flex and Pardon Me has been both brilliant and terrible. The bullpen has been this team's strong point. The starting pitching does not always do its job, but the relief court has almost always done its job.

and a lot was asked of them yesterday. And aside from the eighth inning, they came up aces. Eric Swanson got the start, and he retired all six batters he faced. He must not be stretched out enough at this time to have gone three innings, but when you're forced to put together a bullpen game, you will take what you can get, and they got a great effort from Swanson. He was very good once again. Domingo Topia was next, and while he loaded the bases,

he did get out of trouble without a run. crossing the plate in his lone inning of work. Will Vest came in and pitched one in two-thirds, allowing two hits. Drew Steckenrider, who has cut his hair much shorter, boo, pitched one in thirds innings, struck out two and did not allow a base runner. Next was Keenan Middleton for one inning. He was also

very good. He struck out one, the final batter of the inning, and was a little pumped up afterwards. Anthony Mosevic got the eighth inning, and this is where the wheels came off. He walked the first guy, then gave up a home run to Cedric Mullins, which just snuck over Mitch Hanager's glove in right center field. He almost had it, gang. If he were 6'4 3 instead of 6.2, he may have gotten it.

It was that close. Anyways, Mullins' home run gave the O's a 2-1 lead at that point. Austin Hayes followed with a double, was advanced to 3rd on a ground out, and then Anthony Mosevic was removed from the game at that time in favor of White Mills. Mikel Franco hit a sharp ground ball in the hole, almost passed a drawn-in infield. J.P. Crawford made a great diving play to get to the ball, but Hayes was headed home on contact, and the much safer play Crawford had was the one that he decided to make, the throw to first base. Hayes scored, and while Crawford may have had a play on him at the plate looking at the report,

play, he made the right call. Throw the ball to first base and get the shore out. Ryan Mountcastle walked. Then Freddie Galvis hit an opposite field home run to make the score 5 to 1. And the pitch honestly was not terrible. It was at the knees right on the outside corner and he was still able to write it out for a two-run home run. Gotta give credit to Galvis on that one.

Pedro Severino struck out to put an end to that disastrous inning, five runs, two walks, both of which scored. Two home runs. Not good. But aside from the third inning where Topia loaded the bases, this really was the only bad inning from the bullpen all game. The Mariner offense once again did not support the pitching. I'm calling this a good game for the pitchers. Considering it was a bullpen game,

I've made this point on the show before, that you never know what you're going to get from a fresh reliever out of the bullpen, which is why I value starting pitching that can eat up a lot of innings. But by and large, the bullpen was fantastic. yesterday being pressed into duty for a full game. Something that they're not used to do. Something that they're not used to. These were the first runs Anthony Masevich had given up all season.

He'd been stellar. His first bat outing came in an inopportune time. You know, what are you going to do? The story for me, again, is the lack of offense, not the top of the eighth inning. The Mariners are having trouble stringing hits together. They've had to rely far too much on the home run. which is not reliable.

I'll talk about the next two games coming up in B-block, but first, the trivia corner. Well, yesterday was the anniversary of Dan Wilson's Inside the Park Grand Slam. The Mariners were on the wrong side of an unusual Grand Slam. On May 3, 1997, one year before Willey's Inside the Park Salami. I'll tell you about it after I tell you about sports trade. Have you guys heard about sports trade? It's where fantasy sports meets the stock market.

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Get in the game at sports trade.com. Not really a trivia question today, but more of a trivia item, kind of bouncing off the trivia corner from yesterday's program. On Saturday, May 3rd, 1997 at the Kingdom, the Mariners got stomped by, the Milwaukee Brewers. It was a 17 to 4 final. And judging by all the runs given up early in the game, I was guessing that Scott Sanders had gotten the start, but he didn't. It was Jeff DeSaro. But the notable Grand Slam I alluded to occurred in the ninth inning. It was already 13 to 4 at that point. Norm Charlton was on the bump, and a young infielder named Tim Unrow was

at the dish. Not only was this Salami Unro's first Major League home run, but he broke his back while hitting it. A broken bat home run is unusual enough, but with all the other circumstances involved, it made it quite unusual. Coming up, who is starting tomorrow for the Mariners? It's Justin Dunn. Ah, I guess I don't have to do that story now? Maybe I'll gargle stairway to heaven instead. But before I do that, we're going to hear from Blue Nile. This episode is brought to you by 1010, a capsule collection of diamond rings that are responsibly sourced limited edition designs. at fair price points. 1010 is an exclusive collection of 10 creative styles of diamond rings

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Mariners and your host, D.C. Lundberg. I think Bruneil is an Egyptian brewery. Thank you, Joey Martin. Going to preview the next two games for you here at B Block, and I'll explain why that is in the next segment. Tomorrow, the Mariners will face Jorge Lopez, a

six-year veteran who has had a largely mediocre career. He'll be making his sixth start of the season, and so far he's got a 7-4-8 earned run average, and he's walked nine hitters in 21 and two-thirds innings. He has yet to go longer than five innings at any game this season and has not had a game in which he's given up fewer than two runs.

He's also given up six home runs already, and his last start was the first of the season where he did not surrender a long ball. He's faced the Mariners twice in his career before, one start and one-releaf appearance, six and one-thirds innings total, 284 ERA, six strikeouts, and two walks. He's only faced one batter in Seattle on June 18th, 1999 as a member of the Royals. He struck out Daniel Vogelbach looking, who was no longer a mariner. Justin Dunn will oppose him.

The one really good start he had was against these Orioles. So let's hope for a repeat performance. His third start in Boston was also good, and his last start, which was in Houston, was okay. We're not going to talk about his first start. Write it off. He's been much better since then. Wednesday is an afternoon game, a 1240 p.m. start time in Seattle and Spokane, 3.40 p.m. in Baltimore and Silver Spring. John Means will start for the O's, and he's been very good this season so far. His worst start thus far was against the Meritors in Baltimore, where he went just five innings and allowed three runs and two homers. If memory serves, he blew up in his final inning but was very good up until that point. He's faced Seattle just one other time and has never peaked.

pitched in Seattle. This will be means seventh start in 2021, and he has yet to lose a game. He's 3 and 0 with a 1.70 earn run average and a very good whip at 0.838. He has given up five home runs in his 37 innings, but he's walked only 10 and allowed 21 hits. Ratio-wise, that's 5.1 hits per 9 and 2.4 walks per 9. Long ball's been the only bugaboo, But he pitches in Baltimore. It's a bandbox. Any starting pitcher is going to give up more home runs pitching in that ballpark than any other.

He was an all-star in 2019, where he went 12 and 11, but had a 3-60 earned run average and a whip of 1.135. He was second in the rookie of the year voting that year, losing to Yordon Alvarez. You say Kikichi will get the start for the Mariners, and I'm very excited to see what he can do. He was absolutely brilliant his last time out, a totally different pitcher than what we had seen in the past.

He located his pitch as well. He mixed his repertoire up. He was disrupting hitters timing. He fielded his position very well. He was economical with his pitch count. You could not have asked for anything more out of him. Kikojisan will be making his sixth start of the season. He did not face the Orioles when the Ms were in Baltimore earlier this season.

But he has faced Baltimore, pardon me, once in his career on June 29, 2009. He went six innings, allowed five hits and three runs, but he walked five. But that was the old Yusea Kikichi. Let's see what this new and improved version can do against a lineup that has had its problems, you know, sort of like the Mariners have had. They've got some guys who are doing well, though. Cedric Mullins has not only been one of the most consistent players on the Orioles roster, he's been one of the most consistent players in the American League.

He's hitting 333 thus far and leads the junior circuit with 3. 38 base hits. He has 10 doubles and 5 home runs among those hits, and his full slash line is 333, 389, 553. He went 5 for 3 yesterday. Jeez, that's a lot of threes and fives, isn't it? Veteran Freddie Galvis has also done well after coming over as a free agent. He's hitting 265 with three home runs. It should be noted, though, that he does have a failed PED test under his belt. He was busted in 2012. and suspended 50 games. While their starting pitching has mostly been questionable, their bullpen has been better than their rotation. Going into yesterday, their bullpen ERA was 312 with a whip of just 1.193.

However, they are walking a ton of hitters, 49 in 112 in a third innings, compared to 47 walks in 142 in a third innings by the starters. But both the starters and the relievers are serving up the long ball too often. almost a homer and a half per nine innings for the entire staff. The Mariners' offensive numbers are actually worse than I thought. They've got the second lowest batting average in the American League at 207. Their 287 on base percentage is third lowest in the AL,

and their 366 slugging is second lowest. Their 97 walks are fifth most in the American League, but their third from the bottom with 196 hits, and the 286 strikeouts are fourth from the bottom. They've got work to do. Some bats might be starting to come around, though. Dylan Moore had a good series against the Angels. Tom Murphy has gained a little consistency of late as well.

And remember, Kyle Lewis's season is really just beginning, so he's still settling in. Mitch Hanager and Ty France are both slumping just a bit right now as their averages have fallen to 268 and 259 respectively. they're better than this. They showed it last year. Dylan Moore is not a 138 hitter. Tom Murphy is not a 148 hitter. Luis Torrens is not a 197 hitter. This is going to get better, but right now they're just not doing the job. Hopefully it gets better sooner rather than later, because the pitching can only bail them out of so many games.

Do you have a question or a comment? I encourage you to send it over to Lockdown Mariners at gmail.com if you do. Questions and comments on any subject are encouraged. Just don't say anything that I would have to bleep because it most likely would not make it on to the show. Coming up, what exciting event is taking place today? It's not, not the beginning of the minor league season. But first, this word from betonline.ag. I had to find the sponsor there.

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need. What's gotten into me? Rock Auto.com, gang. Now back to Lockdown Mariners and your host, D.C. Lundberg. Thank you very much. Once again, J.M. Ladies and gentlemen, the reason that I previewed the next two games in the previous segment rather than just the one game is because

there is going to be a show tomorrow. I originally, I said yesterday that there was going to be no show at all on Wednesday. I've changed my mind. There will be a show tomorrow, but it's going to be an late afternoon, early evening show. After the Mariners game is concluded, it's a 1240 start time. Remember that. Because tonight, I will be at Avista Stadium cheering on my hometown Spokane Indians to open up the Northwest League season. That is right, ladies and gentlemen. The minor league season starts today. The AAA season, however, starts on Thursday. That's where the Tacoma Rainiers play there, AAA baseball,

and they get their season started underway Thursday evening in Cheney Stadium. It'll be a home game versus the El Paso Chihuahua at 7.05 p.m. Pacific time. And the minor leagues are doing it a little bit differently this year across, I think across every single level. They're going to have this, they're going to play the same opponent for six games, have a travel day, go to a different season, City, play that team for six games, travel back home, and play another team, and so on down the line. So they got six versus the Chihuahua. Then they travel to Salt Lake to play the

Osmond's for six games, then travel back to Tacoma to play the Round Rock Express. Some of the prospects that are on the Tacoma Rainier's rosters, some that you might recognize, pitcher Logan Gilbert, who may very well be up of the Major League level sometime this season. Johann Ramirez, who was a Rule 5 draft pick last year and spent the entire short in season at the major league level. Struck out a lot of guys. Didn't give up a lot of hits, but gave up a lot of walks. He's in minor league ball this year.

Cal Raleigh will also be in AAA Tacoma this year, as will be the big one, Jared Keldick. Well, not necessarily the big one, because I'm going to talk about Julio Rodriguez here in just a little bit. But Jared Kelnick will be starting the season at least in AAA Tacoma. He's not yet on the 40-man roster. Neither is Logan Gilbert. Both of them are expected. to be up at the Major League level at some point this season.

Some other names that you might recognize. Aaron Fletcher pitched a few games for the Mariners last season up of the Major League level. Was not impressive, but he still needs to develop. Donovan Walton, Sunshine Superman will be playing for the Rainier's, as will Braden Bishop. Their manager is Christopher Negroen, who used to play for the Mariners, I think about one half season where he was kind of something of a telegram Sam Hagridi type.

He could play any position, can hit for a little contact, and he is now a minor league manager in the Mariners looking over some of the rest of the coaches on the rainiers Eric Young Jr. is one of their coaches. I remember his father playing. Anyways, the Everett Aqua Sox get started tonight. They've gotten in a way game versus the Hillsborough hops and they'll play six games in Hillsborough.

Then they will come home and start a six game series in Everett versus the Tri-City Dust Devils at 7.05 p.m. Pacific time. Some names that you might recognize from this roster. The other big one, Julio Rodriguez, he will be right in Seattle's backyard. He can travel a few miles north to Everett to watch him play some Aqua Sox ball this season.

Emerson Hancock and George Kirby, both are starting pitchers who are recent draft choices. Zach Deloche is a recent draft choice, as is Caden Polkovich. And the Everett Aqua Sox play in the Northwest League, I'm going to save the Spokane Indians for last, If you were in the Tri-Cities area, the Tri-City Dust Devils also get underway tonight. They've got a home game versus the Vancouver Canadiens.

And then they travel to Everett. So if you're from the Tri-Cities but living in the Seattle area, you can watch your former hometown team in Everett starting the week of Tuesday, May 11th. And then, ladies and gentlemen, yes, the Spokane Indians get started tonight at 6.30 p.m. against the Eugene Emeralds, their six-game series will end on Sunday. Monday will be a travel day for advanced A-ball, and then the Spokane Indians will go to Vancouver and play the Canadians for six games. And then starting Tuesday, May 18th, the Everett Aqua Sox come to Spokane.

I wish I could go to one of those games. I am going to tonight's game. I had to decide between going to opening night and seeing the Aqua Sox. I chose opening night. But in any case, the Aqua Sox are coming to town for a six-game series. I'm excited about that because one of those games is going to be televised, and that is going to be super fun to watch some of the future stars of the Mariners playing in my backyard, right up the street in Spokane Valley, actually.

The stadium is in Spokane Valley, Washington, but they are the Spokane Indians, and I am so excited. One more quick thing before we wrap up for the day. history was made on Sunday at the World Women's Curling Championships. If you know how curling is scored, this is going to be very exciting to you. And if you don't, it's going to mean nothing. But in any case, in the Switzerland-denmark game, Switzerland scored eight points in one end that had never been done in a world curling championships

either in the women's game or in the men's game. 13 to 4 was the final score in this one. 13 is just an enormous score, and 8 points in one end is basically unheard of, especially at this world-class level. Congratulations to Silvana Tiranzoni and her Swiss curling team for making history at the Women's World Curling Championships. Get all the sports news you need in under 20 minutes with a locked on today podcast. Host Peter Mikowski updates you in the latest news in every major sport

with the help of our local experts. Follow the locked on today podcast on the Odyssey app or wherever you get podcasts. That'll do it for this one, ladies and gentlemen. Joining me tomorrow to talk about the next two of Marriott's games. Remember, it's a late afternoon, early evening show. I'm not exactly sure what time it's going to be published. It depends on how long it takes me to record and edit, quite honestly. But my guests will be Sergeant Phil Fish, Rosie Jetson, and a salad bowl.

That's a conversation that you do not want to this. That might be the best panel we've had all season. So download rate and follow the Locked-on Mariners. Look for us in any podcasting app that you can think of so you'll never miss an episode. Leave a rating and review of your podcasting app of choice so allows. Thanks for listening, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. I hope you enjoy the beginning of the minor league season.

If you're in the Seattle area and want to go see the Everett Aqua Sox tonight, go do well, they're probably sold out since a stadium's only 25% capacity. Just like a Vista Stadium is only 1,700 people are going to be allowed of the ballpark, I'm lucky to be among them, where I consider myself lucky to be among them, I'm really looking forward to it. In addition to talking about the next two Mariners games on the next episode, I might talk about opening night just a little bit. Either way, join us for the next one, and in the interim, have a great day.

This is Joey Martin for Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network.