Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Can the Mariners Survive Offensive Regression?

Episode Date: May 5, 2025

It's Mailbag Monday! Ty and Colby answer your questions, including how the Mariners might have to pivot if the offense regresses.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!Wonderful PistachiosLooking for a snack that’s both delicious and nutritious? Get snackin’ and get crackin’ with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit WonderfulPistachios.com to learn more.Supply HouseJoin the TradeMaster program today at SupplyHouse.com/TM and start ordering plumbing, HVAC, and electrical supplies with just a few clicks. Plus, use promo code S-H-5 for 5% off your first order. That’s SupplyHouse.com!UpworkVisit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free to connect with top talent and grow your business today! Just IngredientsVisit JustIngredients.us/Bryce-Harper and use code LOCKEDONMLB for 20% off your order! And for more wellness tips, follow @just.ingredients on Instagram.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with MonarchMoney. Use code LOCKEDONMLB at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLBfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.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.

If the Mariners' offense regresses, how can they survive it? We'll answer that and more coming up. Colby, hit it. You are Locked-on Mariners, your daily Seattle Mariners podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Ahoy, Sailors, it is Monday, May 5th, 2025. This is Tedding Azales and Colby. That note for the Lockdown Marins podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team

every day. This episode is brought to you by Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use the promo code locked on MLB, that's LOC, KED, O NMLB at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. 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. All right, let's open up the mailbag like we do here every Monday and see what you want to know. Liam has our first question saying, I think it's fair to say the offense won't be able to sustain this pace over the entire season.

When they eventually do cool down, how will the marries pivot? I think you're hoping for one of two things, preferably both, but one of two things to kind of coincide with that potential cool down. One, the reinstatement of George Kirby and eventually Logan Gilbert, and then your rotation starting to pitch to the level that you expected it to pitch at this year. Or the offense is still producing, just not in the way that it's producing right now. It kind of goes from like this complete team effort that we're seeing from the offense

and transitions more into Cal's carrying things, which you kind of already is at this point. But again, you're getting production throughout your entire lineup. So it's less of that and more like it's just Cal, it's Julio being a monster. It's Randy. It's, you know,

your superstars carrying the load offensively. Yeah. I mean, also like what is the offense regressing to though? because if they're still scoring, you know, four runs a night instead of six or seven like they have seemingly for the last three weeks, that's still fine. I mean, you're still going to win a good amount of game scoring four runs even with just kind of average pitching. So, yeah, you know, we talked about this a lot, how all the injuries that have stacked up, like you've got to stack wins because of it. And you have to hope that you're pitching eventually gets back to where it needs to be.

and, you know, some good news yesterday on that front. George Kirby threw three innings really dominated for Tacoma, and he was up to 98. And so that appears to be right online with what the Mariners were hoping. And then I know Logan gingerly played some catch yesterday, and that got a lot of people excited. We'll see if that means anything or not. I mean, you think that they wouldn't even clear him to throw the ball at any sort of, you know,

or what have you. Yeah, but I mean, we're still, what, four or five days away from when they were going to look at the second MRI or whatever. So we'll see. You never know how those things work out. And so hopefully he's back and, you know, around the same time Kirby is, but believe it when I see it with those injuries. So, yeah, I mean, the rotation's been a little bit better recently. It's, you know, unfortunately, Bryce still working through his stuff. stuff.

But Hancock has stabilized things, and Brian Wu has continued to be incredible. And, you know, Luis, finding ways to get out. I don't think he was spectacular this weekend by any stretch, but he really battled. And he's the veteran. And he does what veterans do when they don't have their best stuff. They battle and they find a way to win you a game. So, yeah, the pitching is going to be big. And then obviously getting brash back, you know, we'll see how quickly he can be thrown into super.

high leverage spots. Not the easiest landing spot in the world for him in his first game, but not the highest of leverage situations that he's used to pitching in. So we'll see how that progresses. But yeah, you're going to have to pitch, and you're still going to have to find a way to scratch out a runner or, well, three or four. But that's probably going to be about, you know, again,

depending on how banged up some of these guys really are. That's probably going to be about Julio getting hot or Cal. So we'll see because we know Palant, is not going to do this all year. We know JP's not going to do this all year. But right now, Julio's not really doing a ton. And, you know,

there are some other guys who could step up a little bit. But Julio really is the, really is the X factor here because if Julio is good and he's, he's hitting, then everybody else can be operating at like 70%. Like, that's how good Julio is when he's on a roll. Well,

that's why I've said that. I feel like this is more sustainable than maybe some other times that we've seen this offense pop over the last few years at times because Olio's not like he is contributing but he's not contributing as much as you would like to see him contribute and so you know that that's going to change at some maybe that only changes for like a couple of weeks or a month but you know that at some point this year he is going to get hot he is going to be kind of the engine of this offense And yeah, so again, just kind of hope that if this offense does cool down, that that kind of coincides or like the way this offense is producing right now cools down, that that coincides with Julio kind of, you know, getting it together and maybe, you know, pulling off one of those like 140 to 160 WRC plus months that we know that he's just pull out a thin air at any given point.

Yeah. Next question from baseball brouhaha is Lioti Tavaris and his three and a half. half million dollars left on his contract this year worth it to claim on waivers, especially with Randy potentially dealing with a hamstring issue. In a vacuum, I mean, I like Rivera more than Don can't zone. So like if Randy has to go down and it doesn't seem like it, Dan said that it wasn't anything serious. We'll see if he's in the lineup tonight or tomorrow. But if Randy does have to go down for a little while, yeah, I'd rather than take the shot on Tavares. Now, because of the money, are they willing to take that shot?

I'd say probably not, especially for your guy. This isn't even really a Victor Robles situation because he's never really hit. I think his career high, WRC Plus is exactly 100. But he's a good defender, can steal bases, you know, do all that. He's been good for about, yeah, he's been good for about 10 to 15 home runs the last couple of years.

So, yeah, if you want to take the shot, I'd be down. Like, I wouldn't be against it. I just, I think because of the leftover money, not that it's really that significant, but because of the leftover money and because he might just be nothing for them, I don't think they'll touch that, but yeah.

Yeah, I mean, the guy's like 26 years old and you have them for three more years. So it might be worth it. I mean, I'd rather have him than Ryland Thomas than Samad Taylor,

switch hit or two. Yeah. And, you know, like, look, if I'm not going to get offense out of my right field spot,

can I at least get, plus defense and some base running. Yeah, you can get that out of Tavares. So, yeah, it's an interesting call that they have to make again. Do I think that they would give, you know, three and a half million, four million dollars to this guy in May? Like, I don't know. I'd say probably not, just knowing the Mariners' ownership group.

And, you know, Jerry's, if Jerry does it, then he has to try and kind of create more. payroll space midseason, which he's done before. So it's not impossible. But yeah, I mean, there's a little bit of Victor Robles here just in terms of a guy who's, you know, a big leaguer who kind of gotten pushed out of his, of his, you know, the team he came up with and all that. Their top prospects.

Right. You know, they're both at worst giving you really good defense and some base running skills. So there's a little bit of that. But, you know, Tavares never really had the, even in small sample. sizes never really had the success that Robles had before he was DFAed. And I mean, mostly in 2024 or 2023 before Robles got hurt. That's pretty much the success he had.

Also 2019. So, yeah, I mean, like, I wouldn't be opposed to it. I just don't think that the Mariners are going to, going to pay that money to get a guy that they probably look at and be like, oh, well, you know, he's basically Ryanlin Thomas. And it's, I don't know about that, but it might. guess is that's how they would view that. Yeah.

All right. We'll answer more of your questions coming up here in just a moment, but first a reminder, this episode of the Lockdown Marys podcast is once again brought to you by Monarch Money. Ever check your bank account and wonder, where did all my money go? Between dining out, online shopping and entertainment, it's easy to lose track. That's where Monarch Money comes in, your personal CFO giving you full visibility and control over your finances.

Monarch Money isn't just a budgeting app. It's a complete financial command. Center. You can track all your accounts, investments, and spending in one place, so you stop just managing your money and start building wealth. Instead of juggling multiple apps, you can use Monarch to check your finances, track spending, and even plan long-term goals. Managing money with your partner is smoother than ever. You can track shared and personal accounts, set goals, and stay on the same page without the stress. Take control of your finances with monarch money. Use promo code locked on MLB at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.

That's monarchmoney.com promo code LOC, KED, ON, MLB for half off your first year. And you're listening to the Locked on Marrars podcast. Be sure to catch Anders and Chris for the first ever Mariners postcast right here on the Lockdown Marr's channel shortly after the Mariners A's game tonight. Let's get back into your questions. Jeff wants to know when Kirby's rehab is up, down Hancock or Evans there might be a third option here maybe if Bryce Miller still doesn't look right maybe that's the point where you put them on the aisle for a little bit give him a blow even if it's not that serious just kind of give them a reset right put them on on the on the on the IL with arm fatigue whatever you have to

call it just give them a little bit of a reset maybe that's what happens there but if not if it is just like who do you send down between Hancock or Evans I think probably Evans right there's still some things they would like him to work through down on the miners yeah

Evans a few times I've seen him he kind of has this thing where things start to unravel on him and he can't quite stop the bleeding and we saw that happen yesterday so yeah and I would guess they just trust Hancock more at this point So, yeah, I think probably Evans goes down.

But yeah, keep an eye on Miller. We'll see. I mean, tough outing for him tonight. He's in that little league ballpark and he's facing really good offense. So we'll see how he manages that and see how the velocity and all that stuff. The fastball command looks for Bryce because last time it was not good. So, yeah, you know, hopefully Bryce starts to look a little bit like Bryce and we can kind of go from there. but yeah, I think it's between those two.

I think they'd almost certainly send down Evans over Hancock. Next question here from Doug, assuming they're available, rank these deadline acquisition targets for the mayor is considering position, need, and cost. We've got Cedric Mullins, Ryan O'Hern, Nathaniel Lowe, Luis Robert Jr., and Lars Neupar. I feel like you're going to go with Mullins pretty high here because you love Cedric Mullins. And he's off to a really nice start, too. Yeah, I mean, I don't know what he would cost to acquire right now. I mean, none of these guys.

I don't really know what it would cost to acquire them right now. So it's almost impossible for me to factor in cost here. But I might go Lars Nupar over because he's got the three years of club control, whereas Mollins only has a couple months. Nathaniel Lowe is probably the safest player to acquire here. You know, Mollins has been great, but we know that he's not this guy, or at least he hasn't been for his entire career. Ryan O'Hern is such a limited player. But, you know, you could use a player like that.

So, yeah, these are all, like, fine. But I think I'd probably go Nupar low. I'm kind of guessing at the cost here. Newbar, low, Mollins, Robert O'Hern. Yeah. Yeah. O'Hern is interesting because he's, having a great year but he's also a rental and again he's a limited player like he said

and while he's been like a pretty solid hitter the last couple of years he's ever been this good so you got to imagine that he's going to rest quite a bit i mean he's slugging 600 exactly i'm i'm interested to see where he kind of just balances out this year louise robert is pretty low on this list for me the money is the the big factor there i'd probably go low one here new bar two um Mullins 3, Robert 4, O'Hur and 5. All right. Next question here from Michael.

Polanco is doing so well right now. I'd be very hesitant to play him in the field at any position when he's deemed healthy enough. I guess it comes down to like how much do you value getting like Mitch Garver more DH time and other guys more DH time, you know, rotating guys through that DH spot over increasing the injury risk of the guy who's your best hitter right now. Now, does that continue for the rest of the year? Who knows?

But like, he's your best hitter right now. How much do you want to expose him to more risk of injury just for the sake of like getting Garver and those guys more, more time in the D.H. spot? I think that's fascinating. And that's the question that the mayors are going to have to answer here pretty soon, it seems. Where do you stand on that? Yeah.

I don't think you can just park Polanco in the DH spot because I still think you want to use that spot to give guys like Randy a Rosarena half days off and Julio half days off and try and get Garvers some at bats against Rite's because he's been pretty good this year, especially over the last couple weeks. So yeah, I don't think you can 100% just lock in that DH spot. I think he can be a primary DH. but there are going to be days where you want to give Randy like maybe today for example Randy's kind of got an iffy hamstring you don't want to push it with him playing in the outfield then maybe you put him in the DH spot

and you want him and Polanco in your lineup and so Polanco has to play second or he has to play first. So yeah I think Polo is probably going to remain the primary DH here but I think he does I think you are going to have to ask him to play out

in the field at least once or twice a week, maybe three times a week. And, yeah, I mean, you're still probably going to have to manage him. Even if he is still hitting, you're probably going to have to give him days off. Just, you know, regular maintenance days. Let's make sure this guy's around in August and September. He has dealt with a lot of lower body injuries in his career. And so you do have to protect that as well. So, yeah, I think primarily DH, but I think you are going to have to play him at second

or maybe even first every once in a while. while because again, you do want to have that DH spot to give guys like Julio and maybe even JP or right, you want to get those guys' DH days because how banged up this team already is, the wear and tear playing in the field every single day. You know, it's tough. And the marriage really don't have the depth to take a lot of those bats out of the lineup right now. So they're kind of in a tough spot, but the way I look at it, I just think Polo is going to have to play in the field at least twice a week. week. Yeah. I guess the solution is just you only do it when you absolutely feel like you have to.

Yeah. I mean, we'll see how Polo's feeling about it too. Just in terms of like how much does he like DHE and how much does he want to be back in the field and all that. So we'll see. But I don't think that you could go the rest of this year without having Polanco playing the field. I want to say somewhat regularly, but certainly not. a little bit more than rarely, but not so much as regular, if that makes sense, like somewhere in between. Well, the other thing, too,

that you have to take into account here is if he's playing presumably either second or third, you're getting worse defensively. Yeah. So, like, you probably don't want to do it that often.

Like, you probably until more gets back, and obviously Demos' defense has been kind of a problem this year, but until more gets back, you probably want revok. and Williamson on the field as much as possible. And then when Demo gets back, you probably want more in Williamson on the field as much as possible.

Probably. So, yeah. All right. We're going to answer a few more of your questions here in just a moment. But first, a reminder, this episode of the Lockdownerror's podcast is brought to you by Upwork. Scaling your business requires the right expertise at the right time. With Upwork, you can find specialized freelancers in marketing, development, design, and more, experts ready to help you take your business to the next level.

Upwork gives businesses flexibility by connecting them with top freelance talent across multiple industries, including IT, AI, web development, and marketing. Whether you need extra hands for a project or a long-term partner, Upwork makes hiring simple and affordable. Whatever it is you need, Upwork can connect you with a freelance expert who delivers incredible results. Visit upwork.com right now and post your job for free. That's UPWRK.com, Upwork.com to connect with top talent and grow your business today.

And you're listening to the Lockdown Marries podcast. Once again, be sure to catch Anders and Chris for the first ever Mariner's postcast right here on the Lockdown Marr's channel shortly after the Mariners A's game tonight. All right, let's get back into your questions. Cotter-headed yokels wants to know, would Miller be on the IL if Gilbert and Kirby weren't already hurt? Kind of interesting. I understand why you asked that. I feel like they could have put them on the IL before Gilbert got hurt.

So I don't know if it's necessarily like to Gilbert landed on the aisle. Maybe Kirby. Maybe they really just really didn't want to put two guys on the IL until they were absolutely forced to with Gilbert's injury. I don't know. The Miller thing is so weird because I don't know exactly what's going on with him. Clearly he is fatigued or maybe at least a little bit hurt. I also kind of feel like just his mechanics are out of whack

and that might be because he is overcompensating for something that he's dealing with. I also kind of feel like his confidence is a little shot at the moment, which kind of goes hand in hand with the rest of the stuff that I just listed. So I feel like it's just a culmination of a lot of different things. So I'm not necessarily sure if an aisle stint is absolutely needed. Like I'm not sure how much he's just physically hurting right now. But yeah, I don't think it was linked to Gilbert. Just to answer your question.

I don't think it was linked to Gilbert. Maybe it was linked to just the fact that they really, really didn't want to put two guys on the aisle. Yeah, it's tough to say. I mean, like the Mariners have traditionally been super. cautious with their arms. So, you know, it would be weird to me if they just decided not to be super cautious with Bryce Miller if there was something seriously wrong there. But, you know, at some point, the results are telling you, I mean, maybe you can't

find something physically or whatever enough to put him on the IL, but dude's walking four or five guys a game. And he's typically one of the best control pitchers in baseball and his Velo's down. And, you know, he's just no feel for the fact. basketball and that's his best pitch. So it's kind of one of those things where it's like, look, I mean, the eyes are telling you what's happening here. And so you kind of have to trust them at some point. But again, it's just one of those things. The mayor's pretty cautious. I mean, George Kirby came out of his first rehab start throwing 98. Like, it feels like maybe they could

have started that a couple weeks earlier, but they didn't want to push it. And they haven't. and because they know that their pitching is ultimately what's going to carry them. And so, yeah, they haven't wanted to push these guys. And so it would be kind of weird if they just started doing that with Bryce. But I don't know. It's a really weird year for Bryce in a really weird situation for the Mariners. So I can't rule it out, but it just seems like the opposite of how they would normally handle situations like this. So tough to say.

Which, again, makes me wonder if he's actually. that hurt or if it's something more deep rooted here. Tide Dangerous Gonzalez at I love Thanksgiving wants to know. Johnny Farmello is off to a hot start and has returned from ACL surgery.

Can he surpass Colt Emerson as the top prospect in the system by the ears end? I think part of that depends on who they take at number three in the draft this summer. I think if they're taking Jamie Arnold, he's probably number one no matter what for me. Yeah, probably.

Um, but yeah, I mean, like, I think there's a couple of guys that could surpass Cole Emerson by, uh, years in. I think Farmello certainly has a shot. I think Feld and Seleson, though, has an even greater shot of doing that. Yeah. Um, and that's not really of anything of like, uh, Emerson's fault. He's been good. It's just, Farmello is really fun. And Selleson is really, really, really fun. Yeah, I mean, Colt Emerson's been really good, you know, down in Everett. And, you know, it's kind of like the, you know, the, you know, the Harry Ford thing from a couple years ago. We're like, look, Harry didn't do anything wrong.

It's just better prospects are, you know, came into the system and all that. And they kept on pushing down. So, yeah, there's definitely a shot. Barmello's super interesting. Still got kind of that arm bar swing, but it's working for him right now, and they're not going to change that until it's no longer working for him. But yeah, Freak Athlete, the ACL surgery doesn't, so far, hasn't appeared to hamper his athleticism, really in any way.

He came back much quicker from that than I think a lot of us were expecting, and he just raked. So, yeah, there's still a lot of polish that Formelo needs that Emerson kind of has right now. So it's possible, sure. But I would say that Felnan is right there in that conversation as well. And, you know,

I don't think LAS can get to number one just because it's bat only. Yeah. But the bat is really good. So, yeah. Yeah, and then whoever they take at number three has a high probability of being at least top three.

And so that's going to push a couple guys back. anyway. So it's definitely possible. Again, we don't have to do our re-ranks now for another two and a half months, give or take. Yeah, that's a lot. So, yeah, we'll get to it then. But yeah, Formello definitely interesting. And seeing him bounce back as quickly as he has and play as well as he has so far.

Yeah, but I mean, like, let's talk about this in a month. See how Farmello handles the load of playing every day in Everett and see if you can sustain some relative success. We'll see. But yeah, Formelo, Felman, Arnold, possibly, Arquette. Like some of those guys might push Emerson out of the number one spot in a couple months. Sure. Scott has our last question of the day.

Which position player and pitcher would you trust the most with the ABS system? George has to be on the top of that list. I would say, yeah, George for pitchers or Logan. Cal Rale or JP Yeah, Cal Raleigh. Yeah.

I think Cal's in a tear all his own there. I mean, JP's really good too. No, no. J.P. will sometimes take like a fastball that's up and in, but clearly a strike, and he'll be like, come on, man.

And it's like, no, no, JP, that's Cal. Yeah. I mean, whether behind the plate or at the plate. Plus, it wasn't Cal like nine for nine in the Cactus League

with the challenges. I don't know. I wasn't keep a truck. I'm pretty sure he was perfect in challenges in the Cactus League. So, yeah, and I think,

honestly, I don't, I think if I were the Mariners, I would tell pitchers, you're never going to use challenges. You let Cal use the challenge. Okay. Yeah.

Yeah. But, yeah, if any pitchers going to do it, it would definitely be like, George would be like, screw you. I know what a strike is. And he'd do it right away.

And, you know, pretty decent chance you'd be right. But, yeah, it's Cal number one with a bullet. And then on the pitching side. Yeah, probably George. You could maybe see Brian Wu being pretty good at it too. All right. That's going to do it for our show. Thank you so much for joining us here on the lockdown.

Marriott's podcast for Colby Patnode. I'm Ted and Gazzal. Let's be sure to give us a follow on Twitter at L-O- underscore Mariners. You can follow me at Tidey Gonzalez and Colby at C-Pat 11. That's C-P-A-T-11. We're also on Blue Sky. You can follow me at TDG, Colby at MLB Colby in the show at Lockdown Mariners. You can also find us on Instagram and TikTok at Lockdown Marinerers. Have yourself a beautiful baseball day. We'll see you next time. Peace.