Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Hey, Neat. Sean Doolittle's a Mariner.

Episode Date: August 26, 2021

Join Locked On Mariners hosts Ty Dane Gonzalez and Colby Patnode get you set for the Mariners' four-game series against the Royals. The duo also breaks down Seattle's acquisition of two-time All-Star reliever Sean Doolittle and takes a look at J.P. Crawford's defense.Be sure to follow or subscribe to Locked On Mariners wherever you prefer your podcasts! For questions and other inquiries, email: [e-mail] the show on Twitter: @LO_Mariners | @danegnzlz | @CPat11For more of Ty and Colby, check out their Patreon: http://patreon.com/controlthezone/Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. 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.

You are Locked-on Mariners. Your daily Seattle Mariners podcast. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. This is Lockdown Mariners. Before we get into the action, let's talk about Lockdown MLB. Join Walking Baseball Encyclopedia Paul Francis Sullivan, and please call him Sully every day on Lockdown MLB for a unique look at the majors, both president,

past featuring exciting guest interviews of routine check-ins from the Lockdown MLB network's team of local experts. Subscribe to Lockdown MLB today on the Odyssey app, or wherever you get your podcast. It is Thursday, August 26, 2021. This is the Lockdown Mariners podcast. Your home for Daily Seattle Mariner's News and analysis of this is your first time stopping by.

Welcome to the show. I am your host, Tidane Gonzalez, reporter and editor at Seahawk Maven on s.i.com. I am joined, as always, by my co-host, Colby Patno. Together, we co-founded a mariner's blog called True to the Trident.com. And we also host an hour-long

Mariner's podcast called Control the Zone twice a week on patreon.com forward slash control the zones. So check us out there. You want to hear us talk more about the Mariners and also some, you know, non-baseball nonsense. We had a pretty good show full of that yesterday. It was pretty fun. And we got a pack show for you today as well. The Mariners are getting back at it tonight.

Starting a four-game series against the Royals, T-Mobile Park. We're going to get you covered on that. The Mariners also made a move today, claiming a reliever you may recognize off of waivers. We'll tell you who that is and what to expect later on in the show. And J.P. Crawford was also named the best defensive shortstop in the American League by MLB managers, scouts and executives. We'll dive into that and talk about Crawford's defense. But first, I want to remind you to give this show a follow or subscribe to it wherever you prefer your podcast. We'd greatly appreciate it. And Colby, it is almost September now, and the Mariners are

just now playing the Royals for the first time this season. Kansas City comes in at a record of just 56 and 70. They're in fourth place of the AL Central, but they're a talented team that's been playing better than their record would indicate they've gone seven and three over. over the last 10 and took three of four from the Astros in Kansas City, then won another game over them down in Houston this past Monday. Interestingly, the Mariners have not announced three of their starters. They've just announced one tonight's starter. You say Cacucci who's pitching tonight against Brad Keller.

The Royals will also be throwing Chris Bubich, Carlos Hernandez, and Daniel Lynch in that order this series. It's possible the Mariners may have switched up the rotation a little bit because they had the off day yesterday. but if not, and it's expected that it would be Logan Gilbert against Boobich, Tyler Anderson against Hernandez, and Marco Gonzalez against Lynch. Colby, which of these matchups stand out to you? And in general, what are your thoughts about the series?

Yeah, it's an interesting series. Like you said, you know, Kansas City's record as just a, you know, 125 game sample or whatever it is, is not good. However, you look at the last two weeks, they've been playing some really good baseball, and as you mentioned, this is a talented team. So it's certainly not going to be a walk in the park, a walk in the park for the Mariners. They're going to have to play hard,

and they're going to have to play well. Pitching matchups not being announced is a little weird. We think we know who it's going to be, but the fact that they haven't announced those yet, I don't know. Maybe there's something going on with Gilbert and they want to skip him or they want to see how everybody feels, but yeah, it's a little bit odd not to have those pitching probabilities already,

even though we know how the rotation is supposed to line up. But yeah, you're going to have to play well with Merrifield. Still an all-star, still a very good player. Salvador Perez, he's headed towards a 40 home run season. So you've got to watch out for him. They have a lot of young talent. They have a lot of familiar names, Carlos Santana and Andrew Penitendi. So this is a pretty solid team that's finally starting to play better.

So it's a bit of a dangerous series for the Mariners in that it seems like on paper they should have no problem with a team like Kansas City. But in all reality, Kansas City is a very tough out right now. I haven't looked into it, but I just checked their last few games. Carlos Santana hasn't played. Do you know if he's on the IL right now? I do not. I had not heard. It would seem like he might be out right now because he was not in their last few lineups.

for them. So Mariners might miss him, I would assume, if he is out. But they still have Andrew Benetitini. They still have Ryan O'Herns had some moments this year. You know, Nikki Lopez, of course. You know, they,

Michael Taylor brings a lot of, you know, good defensive value out in the center field. So, you know, this is a talented team and the pitching as well. They're young. They have talent. Obviously, you know, guys like Brad Keller haven't had the best of seasons, but this is definitely a team you shouldn't overlook by any means just because they're 56 and 70.

This is one of the teams that, you know, I kind of viewed as a dark horse entering the season because they actually spent a little bit of money this, this winter. And they were one of the few teams to actually show a willingness to do so this winter. And then they, you know, they went out and traded for a guy like Andrew Bennett, but, yeah, you know, I think overall, you know, what are your thoughts about the offense going into the series

against this pitching staff and against those pitching problems? obviously they're going to you know they're not going to see a Brady singer they're you know obviously Danny Duffy is now in L.A. You know, some of those guys are not going to be present in this one. But this is still a pretty solid pitching staff with a lot of, you know, high upside young arms. Yeah, there's a like so there's a lot of talent here. So the offense is going to have to score the Royals bullpen. They have a couple of really interesting arms back there, including Scott Barlow. So, yeah.

It's an offense that, or it's a pitching staff that, again, the numbers aren't great, but there's certainly some upside with a few of these guys. You know, Keller probably has the lowest upside. And, you know, he's sinker baller. He's not flashy by any stretch or anything like that. But he has had some, you know, good, solid, you know, seasons. And this year's a little bit different for him. He's not quite as good, but he's still a solid veteran who understands how to pitch and get guys out.

So the offense is going to have to continue what they've done the last few days. They've scored more than five runs in three consecutive games for the first time since like forever. So that's good. It would be nice if they didn't wait until extra innings to score all their runs. But you got to put the pressure on these guys. You've got to make them play from behind. And you'll have an opportunity to do that because you're not going to face anybody with overpowering stuff. but, you know, it's still this offense.

I can't imagine anybody feels good about this offense yet. Yeah, it's still kind of a wait and see type of thing. And they, you know, they might be getting a little bit of a reinforcement here with Kyle Lewis. He's starting his rehab soon, or at least that's what the expectation is over the weekend, I believe. So they might get him back, but they're not going to get him back for this series. and it's really going to rely on guys like Mitch Hanager and Ty France and the usual suspects. And, you know, four guys like Hanigar and four guys like Seeger that have kind of struggled as of late, Jake Freyley as well, this might be a good series for them to kind of get back in the swing of things, don't you think?

Yeah, in theory. I mean, you really want to jump on, it kind of starts tonight. You really want to jump on Brad Keller. It's sinker slider, and then he mixes in a change up. He's got a four seamer. But you look at his numbers this year. it's bad. His XERA is 6.35,

which is bottom 3% or bottom 3%tile in the league. Barrel percentage 9th percentile, you know, X-WOBA third percentile, average X-Blocity, 25th percentile, hard-hit percentage 10th percentile. He's walking guys. He's not getting anybody to swing and miss. He's not getting anybody to chase out of the zone.

You need to jump on Keller tonight. Yeah. and it's like I said, it's a sinker slider guy. So it's a pretty good matchup for those lefties that you mentioned, particularly Fraley. And Kelnick we saw kind of start to get things going again in Oakland. Yeah. And you hope that carries over into tonight.

But we still have the lineups yet, so we don't know how many lefties are in there. But it's pretty safe bet that Scott's going to stack as many lefties as it can in there against Keller. And it would be nice to see a couple of them. really have a game here against uh against color tonight well when the mariners play tonight they'll have a new face in their already good bullpen we'll tell you who that is in just a moment but first a reminder that this episode of locked on mariners is brought to you by built bar don't you hate it when you're out and about and hunger strikes but the only convenient options are unhealthy and going to make you feel

worse in the end that doesn't have to be the case anymore if you choose built bar bill bar is providing folks with a healthy nutritious and delicious alternative for snacking Built bar has a plethora of delicious flavors ranging from coconut to cookies and cream, mint brownie, and so, so much more. Overwhelmed by the amount of good options, then try one of their mixed boxes, which gives you two bars per nine flavors. Each bar includes 17 to 18 grams of protein with calories ranging from the low, low numbers of 130 to 180. They only have 4 to 5 grams of sugar and 4 to 5 grams of net carbs and all the flavors are amazing, tasty, and most importantly, healthy. Go to built.com and use promo code Locked 15 and you'll get 15% off your order. That's LLC KED-15 for 15% off your order at built.com.

Jerry DePoto is staying plenty busy despite the trade deadline passing nearly a month ago. Last week he added reliever Matt Andres to the mix and now he's brought in another reliever who you may be familiar with. The Mariners on Thursday announcing that they have claimed left-handed reliever Sean Doolittle from the Cincinnati. Maddie Reds to make room for Doolittle. The Mariners designated Keenan Middleton for assignment. Doolittle, of course, a core member of those mid-2010s Oakland bullpins, two-time All-Star and a World Series champion with the Nationals in 2019. But this year with Reds 446 ERA with a 455-fip and 38 in a third-endings pitch,

963K per nine, but a four-two-three walks per nine. Lefties hitting 229, 276, 429 off him, and righty's hitting 3.3K. 300, 400, 538 off him. He ranks in the seventh percentile and average X velocity. And remember the lower the number, the worst he is. 12th percentile in a hard hit rate,

44th percentile, and X-Woba, 44th percentile and barrel percentage, 34th percentile and whiff rate, 45th percentile and chase rate. This is definitely not the Sean do a little of old, the Sean doodle do a little that we've come to expect. But also, you know,

whenever the Mariners acquire a reliever, Colby, you have to take notice, especially when it's someone like Doolittle. What do you think about the move? Yeah, it's pretty interesting. We saw him get DFA'd yesterday, and I posted on the True to the Trident Twitter account, which ironically is at Control the Zone. That, you know, it was an interesting name. And Doolittle is certainly a guy who, you know, is very outspoken about things. he's a really good clubhouse guy by all accounts. And he's definitely pitched in his fair share of big games,

including the 2019 World Series, where he was a major part of that, that Nationals victory. So yeah, this is a guy who's got, you know, he's got the pelts on the wall. He's been there in the big games. He understands what it's like to be in a pinnage chase. So from that standpoint,

including the thing about him being, you know, really great in the clubhouse, makes a lot of sense to bring in a guy like this for the stretch run. with a young team that most have never really been in this situation before. So from that standpoint, it makes sense. From the pitching standpoint, you know, it'll be interesting to see what his role is. He hasn't gone back to back since May and back-to-back day since May. Like you said, his number is not all that impressive, better against lefties than righties, but you have the new three-batter minimum rule, which, you know, I mean, it kind of nerfs potential Lugies.

So it's an interesting move. We have to see what the Mariners think they can help him with. It's worth noting that he was very good in May, very good in July. And he was not too good in August, but again, those are extremely small sample sizes. So it's tough to say because you look at his pitch data, there's really not much here to suggest that, you know, there's something to help fix him right away. The fastball, he's going to throw that 85% of the time, and it's a 93 mile per hour pitch. And when hitters make contact, it's for damage.

They're slugging 496 off of that pitch. You know, he's got a curveball. And there's not a ton of spin on it either. It's pretty straightforward pitch. Yeah, he's not a high spin rate guy. He doesn't get a lot of whiffs on these pitches anymore. You know, the curveball is getting blasted as well. So how is he averaging over a strikeout per inning?

Yeah, you know, it's interesting. His slider, which he's only thrown 3% of the time, does have a 30% whiff rate. But the change-up, which he has only thrown 1.7% of the time. He's thrown it 12 times all year. Hitters his swing missed at it six times. So maybe the change-up is something Seattle thinks they can fix with him. But, yeah, he attacks guys. He goes right after him with his fastball.

the velocity is definitely down on that pitch over the last few years. So, yeah, it's, when you look at the pitch data and all that stuff, it's, it's not like there's an easily identifiable fix for, for do little this year. But we'll see. You know, it's sometimes the Mariners, the Mariners have access to different data and different scouting's opinions and all that stuff that we will never have. So maybe they seem to see something in its delivery. Maybe they want them to stand on the other side of the rubber.

Maybe it's throw the change up more. I don't know. but to me this feels more about what he brings to your clubhouse and what he brings to the, you know, literally to the bullpen, like out there during the game. I think this is more about that than it is how much he can help you on the mound. But yeah, like you said, it's the Mariners. There's a non-zero chance that they can get something out of do a little.

They're pretty good at it. Well, they don't add these guys without purpose, right? They don't add these guys and say, yeah, just do what you do, right? That's fine. No, they identify something in particular that they like in these guys. Plus, you know, they liked Kenan Middleton. He did not have a, you know, particularly great season. He wasn't necessarily the dog in the pen as he claimed he was. But it's really something else to just watch Jerry DiPoto, a former reliever, be able to analyze these guys and be able to, you know, identify these guys along with his team of scouts, of pro scouts.

And the coaching staff that the Mariners have in place at the major league level to help these guys figure it out and get them back on the right track. I mean, you even think about the guys that have eventually left J.T. Chagua, Austin Adams, etc. But yeah, do a little, I'm really intrigued by this move. I was super pumped when I heard about it because, you know, like you said, great clubhouse guy, really fun personality. I mean, the guy's Twitter handle is what would do do. Yeah. So, yeah. He's a nerd.

He's a dweeb like you and I. And I'm all about that. I'm all about getting more nerds on the Mariners. You got to love it. You got to love it. And he's a good pitcher that has a obviously a long track record of success. I mentioned the All-Star appearances. I mentioned the World Series Championship.

And you mentioned how he was a big part of that. And bringing that in at this stage of the game, if the Mariners can, like I said, identify something in him and think that they have something there. and they're able to get him on the right track. That is a huge addition this late in the game. I absolutely love taking a flyer on Sean Doolittle. I also love taking a flyer on Matt Andres. I think that's awesome. That's a great, great idea by the Mariners.

And, you know, it's better than possibly running out, you know, Aaron Fletcher or Wyatt Mills again, especially, you know, for the experience that Doolittle brings. I mean, you talked about that. I think that's really invaluable for a lot of these young guys. as well, especially if, you know, things do become a bit more real in this playoff race. So coming up, J.P. Crawford's defense continues to be recognized on a national scale. We're going to talk more about what his glove has done for the Mariners, but real quick, let's talk about

bet online. It's that time of year again, and all eyes are now turning back to football as teams are back on the grid iron to start the season. And as always, bet online is your number one spot for all the pro and college football action this season. Get all the updated odds, props and contests, including online's biggest hat. million NFL mega contests and the world's largest $200,000 NFL Survivor Contest. Open now at BetOnline. Head to the website or use your mobile device to sign up today to receive your 100% welcome bonus and be sure to take advantage of their opening day super promo.

Make a bet on the Thursday, September 9th season opener between the Super Bowl champion Buccaneers and the Dallas Cowboys. And if you lose, your wager will be refunded up to $25 for new customers only when signing up in using promo code NFL 100. Bet Online is the fastest and easiest way to bet on all your favorite sports from football, basketball, boxing, right to your favorite Vegas casino games. So don't wait and take advantage of all the great offers available for the 2021 season. Bet online, your online sportsbook experts. This episode of Lockdown Meredith is also brought to you by Rock Auto with the ever-increasing numbers of makes and models. It's now impossible for your local chain auto parts store to stock all the parts you need. Wind are often pointless or seemingly intimidating questioning like is your Odyssey in L.A.

or an EX and wait while the person behind the counter orders the parts on their computer, choosing the only brand their warehouse happens to carry. You have computers with access to rockato.com at home and in your pocket. So why choose to spend 30%, 50%, even 100% more for the same parts from a chain store or a cart dealership? For example, a Honda Odyssey fuel pump is

$353 from a chain store, whereas with Rock Auto, it's only $216. Plus, Rock Auto is a family business serving do-it-yourselfers for over 20 years, and their prices are reliably low for every customer. Go to rockado.com right now and see all the parts available for your car or truck and right locked on in there. How did you hear about a spot so they know we sent you?

Amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need. Rockato.com. So Baseball America rounded up MLB managers, executives, and scouts to determine which players have the best tools and they landed on J.P. Crawford as the best defensive shortstop in the American League. Of course, Crawford won the gold glove last season. due to the pandemic, though, there was no voting. It was solely based on the Sabre defensive index, which had graded Crawford as the most valuable defensive shortstop in Major League Baseball.

But that has not been the case this year. Crawford sporting zero outs above average. That's 15th among short stops in Major League Baseball and the Sabre defensive index, which, to be fair, hasn't been updated in almost two months, mind you, has him fourth among American League shortstops with an SDI score of 1.3. Do you agree with those that voted in this baseball America piece, or do you think the number is properly value Crawford's defense this year? Yeah, you know, it's interesting.

Baseball Savon has him at 48th percentile and outs above average, so below average defensively. Yeah. No, you know, it's interesting. I haven't seen as many of like the spectacular plays that we saw last year, but part of that might also be that the plays I used to consider are spectacular. are, J.P. has made them so often that they're just routine now, you know. So it's, it's interesting when you watch that. You don't really know, you know,

because I'm not watching every single ground ball that J.P. Crawford takes with, you know, intensity and trying to compare it to what he did last year. So, but yeah, you know, to my eye, he looks about the same. I, I haven't seen like there's been very few throwing issues, which was an issue in the past, but it hasn't really been this year. you know, he's making all the plays. He still turns a really good double play. So, yeah, it's kind of interesting. The kind of thing right now that's apparently holding him back

is moving laterally towards third base, so going into the hole in deep six hole is part of the problem he's having. He's still very good when he charges the ball when he comes in on it. And when he's moving towards first base, he's above average that way too but according to baseball savant what's really killing him is going into the six hole which

yeah I mean I can't remember really much of anything that that would kind of you know leave this lead to this ranking in terms of statistically he's really solid

he makes all the plays so he'll make a really great play every once in a while he doesn't make big mistakes Yeah, we also have to remember that defensive statistics are still really primitive compared to offensive statistics and pitching statistics. So, yeah, you know, it's tough to really, you know, trust the stats on defense, but you want to incorporate them, of course, but, you know, they're still, you have to, you have to remember that they're not perfect. they're not super like the offensive stats are pretty easy right we have batted ball data we have

exit velocity we have you know just like undeniable facts to back up those those numbers and with the outs above average and stuff like that it's a little it's a little gray it's a little more gray than it than the offensive number so overall he looks about the same to me yeah defensive metrics in general are are truly flawed in most instances I mean, you look at Evan White's fan graphs page from last year. I believe they had them as a negative rated defender. Like, come on. Yeah, negative defensive score.

And it's almost impossible for a first baseman to get a positive defensive score the way Fangraphs does it. Like so. Yeah. Which, you know, unfortunately does hurt. That also goes into their F-war formula, which is why I'm not a huge form of F-war. Well, that's another thing with Thai France this year. Ty France is a negative 3.2, I believe, last time I checked.

And Ty France has been incredible at first base. And obviously, they're also taken into account the times that he's played at second. He's played at third. And he was truly awful at both of those spots. But at first base, he's been, and this is reflected in the Sabre defensive Index. He's been one of the best first baseman, you know, defensive first baseman in all of baseball. Certainly the best defensive first baseman in the American League. And funny enough, we've talked about.

this, I believe, last week, when talking about France's defense, Jake Bowers, was number one the last time the SDI was updated to the Mariners. In a way, technically, have the three best defensive first basemen in the league. Obviously, Matt Olson probably has something to say about that. But going back to Crawford here real quick, you know, I haven't seen anything different from them. Obviously, there hasn't been like the huge, like Heisman moment play, like, you know, like the one-legged throw, you know, gets the tigers a couple years ago and all that.

But it feels like every time that the Mariners need a play, he's made it. And for that fact, I mean, yeah, the guy has to at least be one of the best American League defensive short stops, if not the best. So I totally get it.

I totally agree with it. This is the reigning gold glover and for a reason. And if I'm going to trust anybody's defensive metrics, it's certainly going to be Sabres. And Sabre is still. very um saber is still very favorable in terms of you know when talking about crawford and again like i said they haven't updated those rankings in almost two months the last time they updated them i believe was july 11th so crawford had a 1.3 at that time i'm sure that's probably gone up pretty

substantially and you know he's a good company isaiah connor falafa Carlos correa i mean these guys are good you know what they've been able to do with him and what perry hill is able to be able to do with him. That was the big question mark was, is the is the glove going to stay at shortstop when they acquired him? Is that going to be able to play? And he's answered all of those questions

and he's been incredible and now the bat is also following through a little bit. You know, he's not as good as he was for that one month where it seemed like he was just hitting everything. But he's also not completely lost at the plate anymore and that's great because that

I mean, you and I talked about it on controlled zone leading up to the season that, you know, it just didn't seem like JP was going to have a future in Seattle because of the bat. And now, to go along with the glove, and you love the glove, you love the glove so much, but to go along with the glove, you have the bat now that probably shouldn't be in the leadoff spot. That's another

conversation that he had, but he's been a really well-rounded player for this team. And he's also one of the captains on this team. And he has a great personality. And this team loves him. And they're going to bat for him. All true. So still move him out of the leadoff spot, please. So that's going to do it for today's show.

Join us tomorrow as we recap tonight's action for you. But in the meantime, check out an episode of Lockdown Seahawks as Corbyn Smith gets you set for the Seahawks preseason finale against the Chargers this Saturday. For Colby Patnode, I'm Ty Dan Gonzalez, and this has been locked on Mariner. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter at L0 underscore Mariners. You can follow me at Dan Gonzalez. That's D-A-N-Z-L-Z and Colby at C-P-E. have yourself a beautiful baseball day and we'll see you tomorrow.

Betting on Major League Baseball doesn't have to be a guessing game if you listen to the new Lockdown Betts podcast hosted by your boy Q and handicap and expert Lee Sterling. Get daily picks, blowout specials, wrong team favorite picks and Lee Sterling's lock of the day. Follow the Lockdown Betts podcast brought to you by betonline.org, wherever you get podcasts.