Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - In Light of Injuries, Could the Seattle Mariners REUNITE With an Old Friend?

Starting point is 00:00:00 With J.P. Crawford's opening day status up in the air, we'll take a look at some last-minute additions the mayors can make to their roster. Then we'll tell you the biggest storylines we're tracking in the first month of the season. Colby, hit it. You are Locked-on Mariners, your daily Seattle Mariners podcast. Part of the Locked-On Podcast Network, your team every day. Ahoy, Sailors, and it's Thursday, March 19th, 2026. My name is Taddy Gazzalas, and I'm joined as always by my co-host, Colby Patnode.

Starting point is 00:00:34 Today's episode is brought to you by MLB the show 26. Visit MLBTHE. Show slash Locked on and use the promo code Locked on. That's LOC, KED-O-N to unlock a pack for use in Diamond Dynasty. Available now on PlayStation 5, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch rated E for everyone. And today we'll discuss the biggest Mariners storylines we'll be tracking during the first month of the season, but we'll actually start with the potential of a last-minute edition for the Mariners

Starting point is 00:00:59 because obviously J.P. Crawford's status for opening day is in question. There's still a bullpen spot seemingly up for grass. And of course, you know, as we've talked about, the mayors can address all of that in-house. But Colby, with rosters getting cut down and players who are out of options set to be exposed to waivers over the next few days, you know, if the mayors did go outside of the organization to add some help, who do you have your eye on, you know, potentially maybe a certain former mariner who opted out today? Yeah. If you guys didn't know, Dylan Moore is now a free agent again. And obviously, we know Dylan Moore very well. and we know how rough of a time he had last year.

Starting point is 00:01:37 So, you know, is that a guy that the Mariners would have interest in on a short-term thing, since J.P's injury doesn't appear to be too severe? And they don't even know if he's going to be on the IL yet. They haven't made that decision. So you might only need a guy for a week at which point do you just prefer Will Wilson, maybe. But either way, you'd have to make a 40-man move to get Wilson on your 40. So, you know, if you signed Dillamore, you have to make a 40-man move also. But we know who Dylan is, strikes out a lot, but he's got pretty good power.

Starting point is 00:02:07 He can steal bases, and we know he can play multiple spots. It's kind of gives you some insurance in case there's another injury while you're waiting for JP to kind of recover. So, yeah, I mean, we don't have spent too much time on that, but Dylan Moore is out there. And there are things I'd be more surprised by than Dylan Moore getting another cup of coffee with the Mariners. So just put that in the back of your mind. but I think because right now we're assuming that the JP injury isn't anything too too serious, they'll just roll with an in-house infielder. But, you know, we'll see.

Starting point is 00:02:43 Another guy who's got an opt-out coming up pretty soon is also a former mariner, Chris Taylor. So Taylor, obviously, you know, he's having an okay. He's having an okay thing, but obviously the last couple of years he's been really bad. Again, you probably just prefer to go to Will Wilson. at this point, maybe even Brock Rodden, but I kind of doubt it. One guy who is a little interesting here, or two guys actually from the same team. We have Brett Wisely, who is on the 40 man, but he's out of options. So if he's not going to make the team, they got a DFAM.

Starting point is 00:03:21 Wisely can play a couple of positions, but he is a left-handed hitter. But again, if you're just looking to replace JP on the Major League roster for a couple days, wisely could be it. He's honestly very similar to Miles Mastroboni. So Master Boney's healthy. He's on the roster anyways and JP. So this holding might not be relevant. But also another guy who these two guys might be competing for the same roster spot.

Starting point is 00:03:45 So who knows. But Kyle Farmer is also pretty interesting. It's been a couple years since he's been good. But infielder used to play for the twins. He crushed lessons. This is on the Braves, by the way, just for those of you're curious. Yes. You know, he's had some success at the big league level.

Starting point is 00:04:03 He's got some pop. He hits lefties pretty well, or at least he has in the past. And he's having a very good spring facing, you know, it's about, I believe the opponent quality is 7.9 or 8 out of 10, which is about double A. So whatever. That's pretty high for spring training, though, and he's crushing it. Can play third, can play some first as well. So Kyle Farmer is a guy to keep an eye on as well. Well, he has an opt-out wisely is the 40-man guy who would have to be, you know, DFA for not making the team.

Starting point is 00:04:36 Paul D. Young would have been interesting as well. Can obviously play shortstop in third base. He's got a lot of pop. He strikes out a lot, too. But he has already announced that he is not going to opt out of his minor league deal with the Yankees. So it sounds like he's willing to go to AAA to stay in that org. He would have been semi-interesting as well. But, yeah, it's...

Starting point is 00:04:58 It's just not a ton of guys in the infield in particular. Orlando Arcea, if you want to deal with that, probably better off going to Dylan Moore, honestly. So yeah, I mean, there are some dudes who are going to opt out or could opt out in the next couple days. And there's probably going to be a surprise DFA or two somewhere around the league. But really, because J.P's injury right now seems to be more on the side of, like we just don't think he's going to have enough reps to be ready to go.

Starting point is 00:05:32 So he'll need a couple of days. So we're going to put him on the IL or whatever because that is the nature. And it's not like, oh, he's going to miss the month of April. Seems more likely the marriage is role with the Will Wilson's type, Will Wilson types that they already have in their org. But there are some options out there that are semi interesting. It's just are they better than what the Mariners have in house? It's up for debate.

Starting point is 00:05:53 Yeah. There's one guy that kind of has my attention here that you went even have to wait. Let's see if he gets DFA or, you know, ops out or what have you because he's just, he's a free agent right now. You actually shouted him out a couple days ago. That's John Birdie, 36 year old utility infielder, you know, played in the WBC for team Italy. Actually, it was pretty good in the WBC.

Starting point is 00:06:15 I think he went like six for 18. So it seems like he's stayed prepared for the season despite not being on a team. I just don't see why he would sign up to essentially only be here for like a couple weeks, though. A couple weeks in the big leagues better than not, you know, especially with a guy like him at the end of his career. So, yeah, right-handed

Starting point is 00:06:38 bat. Still has some good speed as well. It can play multiple spots. Yeah, he's just super plug and play, you know, and again, it seems like he's kept himself prepared for the season. I mean, he handled himself very well on the WBC, so I don't think he would need any sort of

Starting point is 00:06:53 like ramp up time. Not that it really matters, especially for someone that's hopefully only going to play a handful of games until JP gets back. But, you know, he's a guy that can play multiple spots and steal some bags and, you know, put the ball and play, all that. So I don't know, maybe John Birdie is a guy that they look at.

Starting point is 00:07:10 But I would assume that he, you know, obviously beggars can be choosers. You know, if he wants to play, like he'll, you know, he'll probably take whatever opportunity he can get to do so. But he would probably prefer, you know, an opportunity to actually like go somewhere that he thinks he could stick around for longer than a couple of weeks, you know, maybe that's just like one of the bad teams.

Starting point is 00:07:29 Maybe that's like the Rockies or the White Sox. Maybe they're willing to give them a roster spot or something. All right. We'll talk about some catchers, some relievers that the Marys could also potentially look at in just a moment. But first a reminder of this episode of the Locktime Marys podcast is brought to you by Robin Hood in game time. What if sports were traded like markets? Now you can put your sports IQ to work in real time with Robin Hood prediction markets. It's not you against the house.

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Starting point is 00:10:17 How's that going, Colie? Yeah, about as you would expect, we're already well past what we, or while we're about where we were last round total. Like we already have about the same number of votes on this round, and as we did all of last round, actually a few more. And at last check, the matchups were going about as you would expect, including one that is currently, well, as I look at it right now, 50-50 with 364 votes in.

Starting point is 00:10:51 This just keep happening. I don't, the four-five matchup as you guys, if you watch that episode may know is Gino's grand slam in game five of the ALCS versus Polo's walkoff single in game five of the ALDS from last year. 360 votes in, 50-50 tie. So yeah, it seems like we have one of these every round. And apparently this is it. So, yes, the other matchups going about as you would expect. And then we have the one dog fight there right in the middle.

Starting point is 00:11:22 So we'll see who wins that one. but yeah you guys can vote by clicking the link in the description down below. And yeah, voting ends on Monday morning. So if you have a real strong preference for either one of those moments, I suggest you go vote because, yeah, it looks like it's going to need every vote. Your side's going to need every vote you can get. All right. So putting a bow on, you know, potential acquisitions the Maris can make before opening day,

Starting point is 00:11:48 we've really only talked about guys that they could bring in in case JP isn't ready to go by opening day. but what if they're not, you know, super thrilled with what's going on at backup catcher right now? I'm not saying that they, they are or aren't, but, you know, what if they, you know, might be interested in some guys outside of the organization or, you know, Walt Zuluetta and Wilcox have been impressive in spring and, you know, Legamina is obviously out of options and that's someone that I think they like and might keep around just for the sake of at least seeing what they have there and giving him one last shot before they completely move on. maybe there's, you know, a reliever that, that, uh, gets cut or, you know, opts out or whatever that maybe they like a little bit more. Is there anyone like that that's on your radar right now? Yeah. Um, you know, from a catcher perspective, uh, like you said, I can't imagine they're too thrilled with what they've seen from their, their three guys. Um,

Starting point is 00:12:46 there is a former all-star game MVP who's very likely going to opt out here in the next couple days and that's Elias Diaz who won the MVP. I totally forgot about that. Yeah, in Seattle. Yeah. So he's likely going to opt out. Obviously, the Roy, he's with the royals. They have a ton of catching prospects and obviously Salvador Perez is there.

Starting point is 00:13:10 And they also have Jorge Alfaro still floating around there. So that's another guy who could opt out. So you might get a backup catcher competition from the royals. You might just not have to go any further than that. But those are two interesting veteran, right-handed hitting catchers. Like those, you know, kind of a good fit for your bench. So, yeah, those are a couple of catchers there. There was one who's not Christian Vasquez also is on a minor league.

Starting point is 00:13:39 Dude can't hit, but pretty good defender. So maybe that's a raccoon catcher can't hit. Right. I mean, I'll tell Murphy, but apparently baseball has retired him. So, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, so it's not ideal there, but there's an interesting name that is apparently being shopped right now.

Starting point is 00:14:01 And it's interesting because he's a former Mariner top prospect. Alex Jackson, yes, that Alex Jackson is being shopped apparently by the twins right now, which tells you he's probably not making the team. He's probably getting DFAed. He's a right-handed hitting catcher. And he actually posted some interesting, you know, things last year and very small sample size. He hits the ball very hard. He's got plenty of raw power. He's actually an average pitch framer, or at least he was last year.

Starting point is 00:14:32 And he's got a very strong arm. He's very good at throwing out runners. So, yeah, he's out of options. But, you know, he's a semi-athletic backup catcher who's got right-handed power off the bench. I, you know, that's interesting to me. That's kind of what you're- You put up a 11-WR. plus last year.

Starting point is 00:14:50 Yeah. Yeah. With good point appearances, but. Yeah, but with good framing match or with good defensive metrics too via stat gas. So, yeah, it's basically a younger Mitch Garber. So,

Starting point is 00:15:02 yeah, I do kind of wonder maybe Alex Jackson, that might be worth throwing a very low level prospect at because again, the fact that it has been announced that they're shopping him, it means he's not going to make their team. And he's going to be DFA at the end of camp. So you could probably get him for cash,

Starting point is 00:15:18 if you really wanted him. I just think that maybe that's an interesting guy to go look at if you're not too thrilled with Kisner and Garber. I would be interested in Alex Jackson because, A, I think he's more likely to hit, provides something offensively. And he seems to be a better defender than certainly Garber and maybe even Kisner right now. And also, it'd be funny. So a lot of reasons to like the Alex Jackson idea.

Starting point is 00:15:42 Yeah. I believe, was it the last failed draft pick of Jackson, forensic or no he had one more draft Jackson was drafted in 2014 I believe Jack was fired in the fall of 2015 so it was was DJ Peterson the last one then was 2012 it was 2015 then

Starting point is 00:16:04 I don't know did they forfeit their first round pick to sign Nelson Cruz or something hold on 2015 there's first round draft yeah I mean we we have to do that you know you sent me down this rabbit hole. Yeah, they didn't have a first round pick because of Nelson Cruz.

Starting point is 00:16:24 Yeah, like Marlette, maybe. Was that the year? They took that guy, Marlette in the second? So, no, Knightert was their first pick. Yeah. Okay. So, yeah, the last first round pick of the Jackson forensic era, Alex Jackson, could be your backup catcher and could help you win the World Series.

Starting point is 00:16:44 I mean, how funny would that be? So, yeah, that's what's out there for catcher. There are some interesting veterans floated. around again with the mariners think that they that any of those guys are better than the the two or three dudes they have in their camp probably not but no just i'd keep an eye on alex jackson is legitimately interesting to me but am i going to be upset if they decide oh we'd just rather have kisner no uh the relief market you know not a ton out there there's some notable names lute rino hunter strickland uh to name a couple obviously there's uh

Starting point is 00:17:19 Craig Kimbrel is out there as well. Alexis Diaz, Edwin's brother was just DFA'd the other day. I don't know. God, he fell off a cliff. He did. He did. But he does do some of the things the Mariners really like. He's got that low arm slot, lots of fastball value.

Starting point is 00:17:37 So maybe, maybe. It's just crazy how quickly his career just came crashing down. I mean, sometimes it'd be like that. So especially for a reliever. So again, there's not a ton here. If you guys want a more comprehensive list, there is majorly trade rumors. They put up their list of guys who are out of options. They didn't get everybody.

Starting point is 00:18:01 But there are some players we didn't talk about that you're interested in. You can go to that article on their website and check them out. But there are a couple of other relievers who are either, well, they're all out of options. And so one player not mentioned in the article. is Carlos Hernandez, who has, you know, had some decent success as a middle reliever in the majors. He's with the guardians right now. He's out of options. He was a non-raster invitee.

Starting point is 00:18:34 So maybe you could take a shot on him. He pitched for Kansas City. He's probably where you guys remember him from. Yeah, didn't, didn't Julio hit like a grand slam off of him or something down in Kansas City? It was that game where Julio got picked off, and then I saved Julio by telling him to focus. And then he hit the big, like, it was like a three-run homer in a four-to-two game. And he'd turn around 97 on the inside corner. Sent it like way over the left field wall.

Starting point is 00:19:02 So yeah, that's probably a guy's over. Colby tweets a moment. I mean, you're welcome. But, yeah, he's kind of interesting. And then there is Connor Brogden, also from Cleveland. he's out of options. Numbers aren't great, but he does do some very meritori things. He misses a fair amount of bats.

Starting point is 00:19:22 He doesn't walk guys. He's having a really good camp this year. So he's out of options. Maybe he doesn't make it. Maybe a sneaky kind of potential option here, although I doubt it. But Matt Fest is out of options. And Cleveland's kind of weird with how they handle their bullpen

Starting point is 00:19:41 and how they handle guys who, you know, they like the flexibility. And I know he's only making like 1.8 million. but that's apparently a lot for Cleveland and they're, you know, $4 billion owner. So maybe that's a surprise trade. But yeah, and then the guy that I like most of all out of the bullpen mix here, Cole Young Sussler, I've mentioned him a couple times over the last few weeks. And it's just really interesting.

Starting point is 00:20:05 He doesn't have a ton of, you know, innings under his belt, even though he's 35 years old. But every time he's been asked to pitch, he's thrown the ball very well over the last couple of years, dynamic change up, which helps his basketball get even more value. despite it only being 94 miles an hour. So I really like Sussler as well. So I keep an eye on Brogden. I keep an eye on Sussler. Those are two guys who might end up having to be traded.

Starting point is 00:20:27 And if Brogden does make the opening day roster, Matt Festa might be a surprise kind of trade at the end of camp here. So just keep an eye on that. But yeah, there are some names, certainly, with relievers. And there are going to be guys who we don't even think are going to be DFA that are going to be. that's just kind of how it works. You know, like Jonathan Lowe, I Siga, maybe, although I think he's having a pretty good camp,

Starting point is 00:20:52 he would be an interesting arm as well. So there's always some interesting guys floating around at the end of training, at the end of spring training, but, you know, are the mayor who's going to look at any of them and say, this is better than what we have? Maybe not, probably not. But it is worth noting there are some opportunities to get marginally better on the bench

Starting point is 00:21:11 and in the front end of your bullpen. And sometimes those marginal upgrades, amount to, you know, massive improvements and those can be the difference. So you do have to keep an eye on that. You never know when Nick Vincent is going to fall into your lap. So you have to be willing to strike. Tom Murphy. Yeah. The Marius have made some significant additions right before opening day. So there is precedent. So we'll, we'll see. So what are the biggest storylines we're going to be following during the first month of the season for the Marin's? We'll go over that in just a moment. But first a reminder, this episode,

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Starting point is 00:23:55 And you're listening to the Lockdown Marrars Podcasts, for the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. As always, if you want to hear from me and Colby, even more, and help support the show, we have a Patreon. It's called Control the Zone. And on there we talk, Marys, Seahawks, all that good stuff. For more information, go to patreon.com, forward slash control the zone.

Starting point is 00:24:12 Link in the description of this episode. So, Colby, we are. exactly a week away from opening day. And there's going to be a lot of things that we're going to be keeping our eye on as the season begins and over the course of the first month of the season. So let's get into those. What do you want to start with? I think it's probably, because it's the most topical right now,

Starting point is 00:24:33 probably start with the injury or the, you know, availability of Bryce and JP. Yeah. Now, those could be storylines for a week and then not for the rest of the year, or they could be something that lingers, you know, well into April. So we don't really know. But right now, things sound pretty good with both of those guys. It sounds like the reason that they're both possibly starting the year on the IEL is more lack of wraps than anything that's going to linger too much.

Starting point is 00:25:06 So, but yeah, I mean, how soon can you get those guys back? And, you know, as kind of a side storyline to all that is how. how does Leo Rivas and how do Emerson Hancock slash Cooper Chriswell, how do they fill in those gaps? And, you know, I think obviously we've seen some level of success from Chris Well and Rivas and even Hancock. You know, so it's not like you have total question marks about those guys being able to fill in for, you know, a week or two. But, yeah, I do think getting off to a good start is it's important. it's not the end of the world if you don't get off to a good start, but it sure would be nice to, you know, be 10 and 5 instead of 5 and 10 halfway through the first month.

Starting point is 00:25:55 So we'll see how it goes with those guys. But yeah, I think the injuries to JP and Bryce or the whatever we're calling them, the whatever, you know, injuries might be too strong aboard. Sure. You know, and how do the guys who replace them? How do they perform and do they do enough? to help the Mariners kind of, you know, stay where they want to be in the standings early in the year. Yeah, and Rivas specifically, like, he's a very good option to kind of keep you afloat, especially if it's only going to be a couple of weeks that JP potentially misses here.

Starting point is 00:26:27 Because, like, you know, he's going to give you, you know, competitive plate appearances. You know, he can give you some speed on the base pass. Defensively, we'll see. But, you know, he's replacing JP who has graded out as one of the worst short stops as of late defensively. I don't know if you're really losing much there. Maybe you're even gaining a little bit there defensively with Leo. But you'll get some walks. You'll get some tough at bats that drive up pitch counts, all that from Leo.

Starting point is 00:26:57 So I actually don't feel too, too bad about that, especially because it doesn't seem like JP is going to be out too too long. And then we'll see about Chris Well and Hancock. You know, I've joked around with you that I kind of feel like one of those guys, whoever it is. And again, my preference would be Chris Wall to pitch

Starting point is 00:27:13 out of the rotation in Bryce's spot. But I feel like, you know, whoever it is might wind up pitching so well that we wind up

Starting point is 00:27:21 getting questions on Mailbag Monday about like, how do you make it a six-man rotation? How do you make it? How do you keep Cooper Chriswell

Starting point is 00:27:27 on the rotation? And to straighten that out right now, you do not. You do not. You suck it up and be happy that you have a six starter who's actually worth keeping.

Starting point is 00:27:38 Yeah. Yeah. So, um, Speaking of the rotation, though, I mean, that's really the biggest storyline that I'm going to be following to start the year. You know, how deeping to games is Logan Gellar getting in, you know, like we talked about yesterday with with him, you know, as a swing player. Like, obviously that's going to have a major trickle down effect on the rotation on the bullpen on how Dan manages games. You know, it's not just going to have an impact on the games that Logan starts, but also on the games that follow as well.

Starting point is 00:28:09 you know, what's that, you know, first road start going to look like for Luis Casti. I think that would be an Anaheim, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah. Or maybe it would be the Texas series. Either way, he's going to start on the road, you know, fairly early on. Like, what's that going to look like? You know, what does George Kirby look like early on? You know, we've seen Kirby blow up early on in the season before.

Starting point is 00:28:32 You know, can he avoid that to start the year? Can he give you a couple of good starts right out of the gate? So that to me is really the biggest storyline of all of them that I'm going to be following. And then we'll talk about lineup construction tomorrow. But I am interested to see, like, is it actually Rob Ruff Snyder hitting lead off against lefties and Donovan hitting lead off against Riteys or is it Donovan against both? And if it is Donovan against both, like where exactly is Rob Ruff Snyder in the lineup? How much is Luke Raleigh playing in the field? because he has dhed quite a bit in spring training.

Starting point is 00:29:07 Are they going to try and deach him a bit, even though that he would be the better defensive option in right field over Domkan zone, you know, to just try and keep him fresh and kind of maintain his health and, you know, just slow play it with him to start the year? So, like, those little things I'll be keeping an eye on, but yeah, specifically the rotation,

Starting point is 00:29:26 that's the biggest one for me. Yeah, I think, you know, on a more, just kind of human interest side of things. An interesting storyline will be what kind of reaction do Cal and Randy get on opening day. Now, thus far in spring training, nobody seems to care, which is good. That's what you want. So we'll see if there's anything that happens on opening day. I doubt it.

Starting point is 00:29:54 But that's just kind of a small storyline that I'm morbidly curious about. I need them to shake hands on opening day. They're going to go down the line and he's just going to like walk right past Randy. They need to they need to hold a ceremony on the mound and in front of, you know, all 40,000 fans. They hold hands and raise them up together. Like, yay, we're doing it together, guys. Exactly. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:30:22 We'll see how all that goes. It'll, I'm sure it'll be fine. But yeah, I think obviously, you know, a big storyline here somewhat related to that, but in a more important level. how does the WBC impact the preparedness of these guys? Because the Mariners sent a lot of guys to the WBC, and they're not playing every day. They're not, they had a day off between pretty much every game. And for a guy like Cal who only played every other,

Starting point is 00:30:48 he only played three games in the last two weeks. You know, because Storos is an idiot. But, you know, like how does he get those at-bats going? Does he get off to a slow start as a result from not seeing enough live pitching, you know, Julio kind of, you know, similar, although he played more frequently than Cal did, certainly. But, you know, like, is Bizarro have his workload where they wanted to be? Does Gabe Spire have the workload where they wanted to be? So, you know, it is interesting to see how the WBC will impact these early season returns.

Starting point is 00:31:18 Does it help them? Does it hinder them? Is it not a factor at all? Honestly, it'll be tough for us to know because, I mean, for all we know, Cal could hit, you know, 300 in the month of April, even though he didn't perform that well in the WBC. And a guy who was in camp the entire time, Brennan Donovan could hit like 180. And that's not telling us anything.

Starting point is 00:31:38 We don't know for sure that Cal had a great first month because he played in the WBC or not. But I think that's going to be part of it. And I'm sure they'll talk about, you know, hey, this is what it was like. This is how we got our work in. But I do think the WBC guys, like how and also kind of the going from that high. of playing these intense baseball games where the results matter to kind of starting the grind of 162 games where you just can't play with that intensity level every single day for six months. So we'll see how it all factors in.

Starting point is 00:32:09 But I do think, you know, how they get, you know, how the WBC impacts their preparedness is kind of an interesting thing. I just don't know if we'll get like a ton of information on that because unless they talk about it, we're going to have to use results. And that's not very fair. because sometimes you can be really prepared and just have bad luck or, you know, have a bad week or two and that just happens sometimes.

Starting point is 00:32:33 So, but yeah, it's always interesting to see after a WBC, like how do they come back from it? How are they feeling physically and all of that? So we'll see how it goes. Well, and like you said, especially Cal because he played so infrequently. But yeah, you know,

Starting point is 00:32:49 and then to kind of put a bow on this, Julio, just in general. I mean, it kind of goes without. saying it's a big storyline going into every season. Can he start out hot? Can he kind of set the tone for what is what is going to be hopefully his best year yet?

Starting point is 00:33:09 And pick up right where he left off in game seven of the ALCS. Not talking about the strikeout. I'm talking about the homer and the leadoff double to start the game and all that. Can he can he pick up where he left off from there and carry that on into the season? And I mean like he had a you know, he had a decent WBC.

Starting point is 00:33:27 He had a really good first game where he had a couple of big two out RBI. You know, he had a homer in that game. You know, offensively, it was pretty quiet from that point forward, but, you know, he did have the big catch against Aaron Judge. And then, you know, before he went to the WBC, he was just

Starting point is 00:33:43 crushing it in spring. I think he was hitting like 4.55 or something like that in spring games before going off to the WBC. So just carrying that momentum into the start of the regular season, that's obviously going to be something that I'm keeping an eye on. And then it's, you know, Cole Young, I think, is another guy like, what does the first month look like for him?

Starting point is 00:34:03 Because I'm not really sure how long or short the leash is ultimately going to be, especially if, you know, Cole Emerson starts to kill it down in the miners because it kind of feels like those two guys are more or less tied together right now, just with the way that the roster is constructed. So, you know, I feel like it'll be important for Cole to get off. to at least a decent start to the year. Yeah. You know, also in kind of the, let's see where we're at.

Starting point is 00:34:35 We can actually start to, you know, gather some useful information. How about the corner outfielders, Victor Robles, Luke, Luke, Dominic Canzone. Do we see 2024, Luke? Do we see 2024 Robles? Do we see 2025, Canzone? Or is there a mix between the two levels? And, you know, for Luke and Canzone, we should see that pretty, quickly because they're going to play pretty much every day,

Starting point is 00:34:59 it seems like. And, you know, Rayleigh's had a really good spring as well. So, yeah, that kind of, you know, that mix between the DH and the corner outfield spot is one of the bigger questions. And we'll finally start to get some useful data. And also, you know, how much does Victor play? Is he actually the platoon? Or is he just more of a fourth outfielder who moves around on certain day? So how they kind of

Starting point is 00:35:22 handle that mix is interesting as well. And then I, I I think the last one would be like, who steps up in the bullpen? You know, we know that this bullpen was very, you know, was ridden pretty hard. Last year they had to pitch in an extra month into the postseason. And they pretty much could only use the four guys and we'll see how healthy they are. And three of them went on to pitching the top of UBC. So there's even that on top of all of it.

Starting point is 00:35:48 What does Ferreira look like? Can he take that step forward? What did the Mariners do with those last three spots in the bullpen? Really more two now. because obviously, you know, like Hancock and Chriswell both going to make the roster, it seems like at least. So yeah, can Vargas take a step? Like does anybody from the pile like Zuluetta or Wilcox today burst onto the scene in April

Starting point is 00:36:11 and then kind of claim that last spot? Or is this kind of kind of be a like running commentary throughout the year of like, yeah, they need to fix the bullpen. They need to fix the bullpen. So yeah, there are a lot of fun things to watch. But most importantly, you know, Mariners are going to play baseball next week in a game that actually means something. Yeah, that's the biggest storyline.

Starting point is 00:36:29 Yeah. Mirrors playing baseball. Cool. Real baseball. I get to watch baseball every day for like the next, you know, six months, hopefully more. Option for a seventh. Yeah. Could be fun.

Starting point is 00:36:44 Could be fun. All right. Well, that's going to do it for our show. Thank you so much for joining us here on the Longtime Marys podcast. Part of the Locktime Podcast network, your team every day. Once again, if you never miss an episode, it's time to make it official. Join the lockdown every day. day or club and get ad free audio access to our members only discord and more all built for our most loyal

Starting point is 00:37:01 fans for colby pat note i'm tiding gonzalez be sure to give us a follow on twitter at l o underscore merrius you can follow me at tennikas you can follow me at c pat 11 that's cpat 1 1 1st or also on blue sky you can follow me at m lb colby and the show at locked on mariners you can also find us on instagram and ticot at lockdown mariner's have yourself a beautiful baseball day and we'll see you next time peace

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