Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Casey Mize Facilitates the Mariners' Demise

Episode Date: May 18, 2021

Yes, that's unfortunately the best pun I could come up with. But Casey Mize spun 7,2 great innings against the Mariners last night. D.C. talks about his performance, and why he thinks his already good fastball looks may look faster than it really is. Yusei Kikuchi started slowly, but wound up pitching well for most of the game, but the story of the day was too much Mr. Mize. There's an updated to Marco Gonzales' rehab, and D.C. has some kind words to say about now-former Mariner Braden Bishop. 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, four of the best chefs in North America compete to make the best dishes they can in 30 minutes using ingredients revealed just before each round starts. Welcome to Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on podcast network, your team every day. Here's your host, D.C. Lundberg. Another beautiful evening here in the Greater Spokane area, ladies and gentlemen. I am D.C. Lundberg, and I'm here to pilot 8.C.5. another edition of Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on podcast network or T-L-O-P-N or T-L-O-P-N or T-L-O-P-N, of course, brought to you by Rock Auto. 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 of the other great programs here on Tloppin. Well, gang, another day, another anemic performance from the Mariner offense. Although, to be completely fair, Casey Mize pitched like a former number one overall draft pick. Before we get to the game, though, some more roster shuffling to get to. With the bullpen being taxed yesterday, a fresh arm was brought up from Tacoma. Brady Lale, who pitched with the M's last season, was brought up. He had to be placed on the 40-man roster as well, and in a chorus. responding move, Domingo Tapio was designated for assignment. Jack Mayfield was optioned back to

Tacoma to open up a spot on the active roster for Mr. Lale prior to seeing action in a game with the M's. Also, Braden Bishop was claimed off waivers. I'll talk more about Bishop later on in the program, and there's also a bit of injury news, an injury update rather, regarding a mariner pitcher. But now to yesterday's game, and I'll start with the star of the game, Mr. Mye. he has such a variety in his arsenal that his mid-90s fastball looks just that much faster, and that can make a big difference. When he'd get his fastball up in the zone, the Ms couldn't hit it. It also had to have had some late hop on it since they swung under a couple of fastballs

that otherwise looked somewhat hit a ball, and they were late on it a couple of times as well. He went seven and two-thirds innings. The only run he allowed was an eighth inning home run to Tom Murphy, Murphy leading off that eighth inning. Murph jumped on a first pitch fastball, looked like it had some movement to it, but it caught way too much of the center of the zone, and Murph put the barrel on it and rode it out over the Tiger bullpen.

Mays only gave up two other hits, struck out seven and walked three. It was a great game for him. While the Tigers pitching staff had a team ERA of 495 going into yesterday's game, I think that number is somewhat inflated by the bullpen, who had an ERA of over six going to last night's game. That tells me that you have to knock out their starting pitcher as soon as you can to get to that bullpen. Although when Mize turns in a performance like that,

it's a given that he'll be on the mound for a while, and it's tough to knock a pitcher like that out. With five pitches in his repertoire, he got strike three off his four seamer, his sinker, and his knuckle curve. That's tough to beat. The first two Mariner hits came in the first two innings, Jared Kelnick got things started with a single leading off the first, and in the second, Jose Marmalahos checked in with a one-out single.

It was good to see him go the other way with the pitch. He hit it where it was pitched. I've talked about his approach and the adjustment that this untrained amateur thinks that he should make, and he made that adjustment in this particular at-bat. The pitch was off the plate away, and he shot a ground ball the other way. The Tigers had the shift on, and it went through the left side of the infield for a single. I was very happy to see that. If he can start doing that on a regular basis, he'll be much more productive, I feel.

But same can be said for just about anyone who tries to yank everything. Maybe I harp on this point a little bit too much because I have such bad memories of Dustin Ackley. I don't know, but I'm digressing. The bottoms of the first and second innings were both ended by a groundball double, plays, further limiting the opportunities that the Mariners had to get something going, which were scant to begin with. Down 4-1 in the 9th, Mitch Hanigur led off with a solid single. Backing up just a bit, though, Eric Haas had hit a solo homer for Detroit in the top of the

ninth inning for an insurance run to get to that 4-1 score, and with Manninger reaching base to open the bottom of the frame, that insurance run became that much more important for Detroit because it meant that with Manninger aboard, the tying run was then on deck rather than at the plate. Kyle Seeger struck out though. He was fooled on a couple of off-speed pitches in that at-bat, and then Kyle Lewis flew out. He tried to turn on a first pitch sinker that was in off the plate and he missed it. J.P. Crawford was the M's final hope, and while the box score may simply state a ground out to third, it was kind of a short flare. on which he broke his bat.

The third baseman had to range in to get it, and Mr. Crawford was hustling down the line, ladies and gentlemen, going all out to try to extend the game. He didn't make it, and it was close, but I was impressed by that effort. Kyle Lewis grounded out earlier in the game, I forget which inning it was, and he was busting it down the line as well,

making that play way closer than it had any business being. It wasn't close, but still, you have to admire that sort of effort from those two young men. While the M's only got three hits, there were a couple of atom balls, so to speak, that were pretty well struck. I think Manninger had one. It was hit right on the screws, but right to the left fielder. And I think Donovan Walton had another one that was hit right at the right fielder.

A little bad luck, but mostly just a strong effort from Casey Mize proved to be the Mariners D. Yes, that was terrible. We'll talk about Yusay Kikichi's Day in the next segment, but first, the trivia corner. Today is May 18th. That's not the trivia item for today, but this not only is the anniversary of the eruption of Mount St. Helens, but Mike Blowers did something very special on May 18th, 1998, as a member of the Oakland A's. What did he do? This one shouldn't be as difficult as the usual trivia questions, and if you are

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slash locked on MLB to get started growing your savings. Go to Wealthfront.com slash locked on MLB and get started today. Answer to the trivia question, ladies and gentlemen, on May 18, 1998, Mike Blowers hit for the cycle in Kimisky Park in Chicago in a 14 to nothing A's win over the Chicago White Sox.

Blowers completed his cycle with an eighth inning triple off Larry Cassian. Cassian, by the way, was in the midst of his final Major League Baseball game. A little bit of trivia there as well. And on May 17, 1993, Blowers hit a grand slam. He had also hit a grand slam in the previous game, and at that time became the 13th place. player to hit salamis in consecutive games. They talked about that briefly on the telecast yesterday, and Blow recalled that the grand slams

were off of Bobby Witt and Craig Lefferts in Old Arlington Stadium against the Rangers, and that he almost came up with the bases loaded the next game but didn't get an opportunity. Coming up, applications are now being accepted for the first annual Locked-on Mariners wet t-shirt contest. I will provide details on the other side of this word from Rock Auto, which is a family business serving auto parts customers online for 20 years. Go to Rock Auto.com to shop for auto parts from hundreds of manufacturers. Whether it's for your daily driver or classic, get everything you need and a few easy clicks delivered directly to your door. Best of all prices at Rock Auto.com are always reliably low and the same for professionals and do it yourselfers.

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all the parts your car will ever need, rockado.com. Now back to Lockdown Mariners and your host, DC Lunders. Thank you very much, Joey Martin, for introducing the show again. That was terrible. Getting back to last night's game, ladies and gentlemen, starting pitcher Yusay Kikachi, started the game looking like the old Yusay Kikachi, that is not a good thing.

He struggled early. Through the first two innings, he had thrown 50 pitches, walked three, and allowed three hits. Two of those three hits were a pair of home runs in the second by the aforementioned Haas and also Jonathan's scope to give the Tigers a three-nothing lead. Scope's home run actually wasn't on a terrible pitch. It was on the low outside corner, maybe caught a little bit too much of the plate for sure, but Scope impressively was still able to pull it with some authority and drive it out to left center field. That's the kind of pitch that probably should have been shot the other way for a single,

but give Scope credit. He came through for his team. When the third inning commenced, though, Kikichi regained the form that we had seen from him over the previous few starts. Final line on him, innings, three hits, three runs, all earned, four walks, two home runs, and eight strikeouts. The only blip on his radar after the second was a sixth inning two-out walk to Nico Goodrum, and six of his eight strikeouts came in innings three to six.

In his first two innings, he faced 12 batters, and he threw at least one ball in each count to 11 of those 12 hitters. Only Jonathan's scope did not get a ball out of the zone. That was the ad bat in which he hit the home run. In the fifth or the sixth inning, I forget specifically, when Kikichi-san had gotten the hitter into a two-strike count, I thought that I heard over the stadium PA, Purple Hays, and I didn't think I was hearing it right. But Dave Sims on the TV broadcast commented on the choice of music and confirmed that indeed what I was hearing was the Hendricks Classic. And then Mr. Sims went on to say that he had the opportunity to see Jimmy Hendricks,

live in Philadelphia in 1969. What a great experience, pardon the pun, that must have been. I know there's a segment of Mariners fans out there who don't particularly care for Mr. Simms' style too much. I'm not among them. I very much like the way he calls a game, and he's a kindred spirit as well when it comes to music. Anyways, J.T. Chagua, the name I can't pronounce,

pitched two innings, two his things. and two walks. I try his name, ladies and gentlemen. It's the first syllable that gets me. I have gua, like guacamole, which is why I call him the avocado. But in any case, two innings from the avocado, two hits, two walks, but nothing more. And Brady Lale, just up from Tacoma, pitched the ninth inning in a close game. He allowed that aforementioned solo home run, Haas' second of the day on a slider in the upper left-hand quadrant of the zone that was in a little bit too far. Kikichi San, his best game remains that 1-0 shutout on April 29th in Houston, where he went seven innings.

In every other start thus far, he's allowed, pardon me, at least two earned runs, and he's walked two or more hitters in five of his eight starts, including last night. Although in his last start in L.A., he looked great most of the way, but got tired and left the game with two men on base, who later scored. I think Masevich was the pitcher, but I could be wrong. on. Last night, again, it was the first and second inning that did him in. He's pitched better than his lines have indicated this season. For the sake of argument, let's say

that Masevich strands the runners that Kikaji had put on base. His season ERA would go from the 432 that he currently has to 396. And also for the sake of argument, let's say that the Bob Jonathan Scope hit didn't leave the ballpark, but rather was a ground out. His ERA would drop to 360. There are little things. There are little things here and there that have kind of inflated his numbers somewhat, and I know inflated probably is not the right word. But as good as he's looked over his last three starts prior to last night,

I was surprised to learn that in his prior two, he'd given up six runs and 13 in the third innings. Of course, when I saw the pitching lines, I remembered the circumstances, and again, two of them were inherited runners. His worst start of the season clearly was the game in Fenway Park. If you take that game out of the equation, his season ERA drops from that 4-3-2 all the way down to 3-77. And if we take away those four earned runs that I had erased earlier, it dips below 3 and goes to 298. I know that all of that is hypothetical, almost ideal scenario-type situations. But I really feel as if he's pitched betters than his numbers would indicate. And he's providing something very valuable for the Mariners right now.

innings. He follows the bullpen days in the rotation for a reason. He can give the Mariners some length. In all but one start, which was the Red Sox game, he's gone at least six innings, and he's pitched seven innings three times. That's very important to give the guys in the pen as much rest as possible following a day in which they have to cover an entire ballgame. For that reason alone, Kikajan is valuable. But many of the innings have been quite. quality innings. Some have not been, obviously, but the length he provides following a bullpen day is very important. If you've got a question or a comment, please do email it to Lockdown Mariners at gmail.com, and I will most likely read it on the air in a future mailbag episode. Remember, we're doing it, not a whole episode, but we'll open the fan mailbag

on Friday. Questions and comments on any subject whatsoever are highly encouraged, does not have to be about baseball does not even have to be about sports anything at all anything that's on your mind send it over to locked on mariners at gmail dot com coming up i talk about marco gonzalez while i eat an entire jar of garlic kosher dill pickles but first this 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 at bet online get all the latest news odds and in for all your sporting needs, including Major League Baseball, the NBA, the NHL, playoff season gang, and all your UFC slash MMA action.

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BiltBar, a mind is a terrible thing to waste. Welcome back to Locked-on Mariners. Here once again is your host, D.C. Lundberg. That was Locked-on Mariner announcer, Joey Martin, don't you know? There is some encouraging news regarding the rehab of a pitcher who is on the disabled list currently. And that would be one Marco Gonzalez.

Gonzo threw off a mound yesterday for the first time since his last start. He's been on the shelf with a forearm strain since the very end of April. According to a Daniel Kramer penned article on MLB.com, he lightly threw 15 or so pitches off the mound yesterday and is set to throw a regular bullpen session and honest-to-goodness bullpen session on Friday. That's good news. And the better news is that while he's obviously anxious to get back to game action,

he's being smart about not rushing the process, even though he feels as if he's, quote, hanging the bullpen out to dry, end quote. Quoth, Gonzo again. I've been through my fair share of injuries before, and the way to get through it is to take it day by day and not let the frustration overcome you at all, and to channel it into the exercises and workouts, and unfortunately I've gotten good at that, end quote. unfortunately indeed. And as someone who's tried to rush back from back problems, not once but twice, I can speak from experience that you cannot rush rehab or else you're going to cause bigger problems. Mr. Gonzalez says that he may be able to return to game action in a few weeks, but that's just kind of a guess at this point in time. In addition, that return to game action will in all likelihood be a rehab assignment.

I'm assuming that that rehab start will either be in Tacoma or Everett. So I checked the Aqua Sox schedule just on the off chance that they'd be here in Spokane during that time frame, and alas, they will not be. But going out a few weeks, the Aqua Sox would be at home against the Eugene Emeralds. So I'll try to keep an eye out for an announcement for the date of his rehab start, so you out there in the Puget Sound region could potentially get tickets to that start. That might be a good thing to go check out. If you can get those tickets, that is. If it's anything like Spokane, tickets are going to be really hard to come by. They go really fast because of the limited capacity in the ballpark.

We will wrap up today by talking about Braden Bishop. I don't ordinarily spend a lot of time talking about a player who's left the organization, but I will in Mr. Bishop's case because he was a popular player, popular both with fans and his teammates. He has been claimed by the San Francisco Giants Organization. The first thought I had when I found out where he was headed was, cool, he's going to go to his brother's organization. Hunter Bishop gang is a top 100 prospect currently playing for the Advanced A Eugene Emeralds.

So if Marco Gonzalez's rehab is against the Eugene Emeralds, he's going to be playing against Braden Bishop's younger brother. My housemate in high saw the younger bishop play in Spokane on opening day a few weeks ago. But the senior bishop brother never really developed offensively as the Mariners hoped or thought he would. He does provide outstanding defense, though, at all three outfield positions and runs the base as well. But the bat just never came around. In limited action in the big leagues, he is slashing just 133, 188, 156. He saw action in eight games with the Ms this season, mostly as a defensive replacement,

and went one for four at the plate with a sacrifice bunt. Bishop's work ethic caught the eye of his teammates, and off the field, he is an impressive young man as well. If you don't know the story, his mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and passed away in October of 2019. Mr. Bishop founded a charity that raises funds for Alzheimer's research and support for caregivers called 4MOM,

and the younger Bishop brother is all. also a part of this charitable endeavor. I'm sure that they will continue their great work together in the Bay Area. We wish Mr. Bishop nothing but the best in the Giants organization. Not only is he in the same chain as his younger brother now, but if he gets called up to the big club, it will be a club that's in contention. The Giants are having a surprisingly good season. And while I cannot say that I'm much of a Giants fan, honestly, I have too many friends and also an uncle who are Dodger fans, I hope that Mr. Bishop can find success in San Francisco. He was a University of Washington product, but he's a Bay Area native. If any organization was going to claim him, I have to think that

the Giants would have been near or at the top of his wish list. Before I close the show, I want to share Mr. Bishop's words with you. He said this in a message to Mariners fans. Quote, Seattle, it was the pleasure of my life to represent your city and organization. I am grateful for so, many things and so many people. I tried to represent the city best I could. Truly, I can't say thank you enough for helping this 18-year-old Husky." End quote. He's a class act all the way, someone you just cannot help but root for. Tomorrow we will talk about tonight's game. Starting off for the Mariners will be Mr. Justin Dunn, and the Tigers will give the ball to Spencer Turnbull. Joining me to talk about the game tomorrow will be Stephanie Tanner, Horace Horse, Horse,

collar and a napkin ring. Please remember to download, rate, and follow Locked-on Mariners. Look for us in any podcasting app that happens to spring into your mind. Leave a rating and review of your podcasting app of choice so allows. That's the show, gang. Tomorrow on your lunch break, the week will be half over already. Keep that in mind as you go about your day today. I'll talk to you tomorrow again.

Take care. 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 major sport with Locked On's team of local experts. Follow the Locked On Today podcast on the Odyssey app or wherever else you get your podcasts. This is Joey Martin, speaking for Locked On Mariners, part of the Locked On podcast network.