Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - MARINERS POSTCAST: Seattle Mariners OFFENSE EXPLODES vs Philadelphia Phillies

Starting point is 00:00:04 This is the Mariners Postcast. Your instant game reaction for the Seattle Mariners. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Boy, it's amazing what happens when your star players play like star players, huh? It looks like a completely different product on the field. Welcome to the Mariners Postcast. My name's Anderson Hearst. The Mariners win 9 to 2 against the Phillies today.

Starting point is 00:00:34 They moved to 63 and 69 on the Seableness. season. They end the Philadelphia Phillies eight game winning streak. Julio homers, Cal homers three times. They get to Zach Wheeler. He only goes four innings giving up nine hits, eight runs all earned. It was just the offense that we were expecting to see from the Seattle Mariners for the majority of this season. So it's great to see them show up against a good Phillies team who was coming in really, really hot. We're going to start with a start with Loken Gilbert. We're obviously going to talk about the offense and the long ball. And having, again, your star players play like star players today is a huge difference in how we feel about this baseball team. And then we'll get to our unsung

Starting point is 00:01:24 hero. I have a very easy unsung hero today. I think very underrated aspect of today's game as well. Let's just, let's call it like it is. I mean, Cal Raleigh, like we've been waiting for this for a long time. And some have astutely pointed out the last maybe week or two weeks, Cal Raleigh has looked a lot better at the plate. Maybe the results haven't been there. But he hasn't been as lost as he had been in at bat's previous to that point. And I think today was kind of the breakout, the full breakout for Cal Raleigh. Now, the season stats are never going to look like you want them to. It's too late in the season, even if he goes on an absolute heater in the last month and 10 days or whatever. It's unlikely that we look back on the season as a whole and are satisfied with what we see from Cal Raleigh.

Starting point is 00:02:23 But all will be forgiven, man. If he finds a way to hit that next gear that we know he can in September, in these last few days of August as well and carry this team to the playoffs because the team looks so different when he's able to swing the bat like he did tonight. Let's start with the start with Logan Gilbert. It wasn't great,

Starting point is 00:02:45 especially in that first inning. Gets the bases loaded. It just not efficient once again. He only gets through five innings and he has to throw 102 pitches to get through those five innings. So it's not like one of those situations where the Mariners had the lead. And Logan could have gone out another inning, but they decided not to because the lead

Starting point is 00:03:10 was, you know, had at that point. No, they needed to get him out of there. He wasn't efficient once again today. The Phillies do a good job, especially lately. They talked about it on the broadcast a little bit today. The Phillies do a really good job of working counts, fighting off foul pitches. They have a good combination. Usually you don't see this combination, but of walking and having contact hitters.

Starting point is 00:03:37 Usually it's kind of one of the other. A lot of the contact hitters end up chasing more, but because they're able to make more contact, they don't strike out as much. But when you pair that with the ability to get, to be patient and to take balls and swing at strikes, that's when you get a really good offense that's able to keep the line moving. but I'll say that, but they never really got the big hit. And it's very Mariners-esque where they get a lot of opportunities. And Logan Gilbert's able to make the pitches when he absolutely needs to.

Starting point is 00:04:11 They get the bases loaded in that first inning. Alec Bone grounds out to make it 1-0, but then you get Bryce and Stott to strike out to limit the damage to just one run in that first inning. And then you give up the solo shot to J.T. Riamuto in the second, and that's all the Phillies would have for today. And Logan settled in after that point. He was starting to work the fastball a little bit more so then he was able to tunnel that with the splitter.

Starting point is 00:04:37 It seemed like in the first couple innings, he was trying to land the secondary stuff before he was establishing the fastball. And that's going to be a little bit tough to do against a lineup that is zoning in on one pitch, and that's the fastball. So you have to establish that first. Hopefully they don't get to it early,

Starting point is 00:04:53 and then that's when you can work that second. secondary stuff off of that, the slider, the splitter, et cetera. So overall, I think against a good offense that has been really hot lately, Logan Gilbert, you know, getting through five, we would have liked to get him maybe one more inning, but still overall a very good, you know, outing from him today. He's been the Mariners best pitcher as of late, and I think he's kind of worked himself back into that status

Starting point is 00:05:24 where most of last year in the beginning part of this year, it was like, damn, where is the ace Logan Gilbert that we are used to seeing every day? Still not to that 2024 Logan Gilbert level, just quite yet, but I'm seeing more and more of it as the season goes along, which is great to see.

Starting point is 00:05:43 If he gets to that point and the Mariners find themselves in the playoffs and he's dealing, that's going to be a dangerous weapon because he, I think, has the highest ceiling of any Mariners pitcher on this staff. Let's get to the offense now. I mean, it's the story of the game.

Starting point is 00:05:58 In the second inning, you get, or sorry, in the bottom of the first, Randy walks, Dom singles, and Julio homers. So Zach Wheeler can't even get an out and the Mariners are up three to one. A big homer from Julio that he absolutely needed that. We talked about it a little bit in the last series against the Cubs that I've been disappointed with him as of late and his lack of development. That's more of a bigger picture thing. game isn't going to change my viewpoint on that. But good for him to show that he still has,

Starting point is 00:06:30 you know, that tool in his toolbox. And that was a good hit. I mean, he got all of it. When he pulls the ball in the air, that's when he's doing, that's when he's doing damage, right? It's been a lot of ground balls this year. It's been a lot of chasing. It feels like sometimes he struggles to find the balance of being very aggressive. Because he actually has a very strong hit tool. He's a good contact hitter for how much power he has. And he hasn't put it all together in terms of what approach to take. And if he should kind of wait for pitches to come to him and then do damage in the zone,

Starting point is 00:07:11 which is what I think he should be doing. Some people want him to be more aggressive. So then he ends up trying to chasing a little bit more. So excuse me. That feels like that's kind of where he's been at. And that's one of the reasons why he struggled to fully break out of this. But good for him, gets the home run and another hit as well. You get even later on after that in the same inning, Cal Raleigh, then homers after a Taylor Wardwalk.

Starting point is 00:07:40 And that's when kind of the route was on because Zach Wheeler didn't have it today, which is strange to say, because he's been one of the best starting pitchers in baseball for the last 10 plus years. So having that guy be the guy that you go and get and put it all together offensively, hey, I'll take it, but it's also a little bit, and we talked about this in the Cubs series as well,

Starting point is 00:08:03 it's a little bit frustrating when you can see what this team can do and the fact that they don't do it every single day. And look, I'm not expecting wins every single day, but play good baseball, man. It's when you want to, you can be a very good baseball team and get up for the occasion. It should be that every day.

Starting point is 00:08:25 So, yeah, I mean, Cal obviously with the three home runs is the big story of the day. And the biggest thing about Cowell guys is that he's hitting mistake pitches. You know, he's actually, his walk rate this year overall has not dropped that much.

Starting point is 00:08:39 Or sorry, yeah, it hasn't dropped that much because he, I think, when he wasn't doing as much damage to those mistake pitches, he started to look for the walk a little bit more. It's a process thing, right? And I'm a big fan of walks. So it's one of those things where, you know, the chicken of the egg, what comes first?

Starting point is 00:09:02 Is it when you're a really good hitter, pitchers start to kind of pitch away from you a little bit, then you start to get more walks? Or is it, hey, I start to show some patience, so that I walk a little bit more, and that forces pitchers to come into the zone a little bit on me, and that's when I can start doing damage. I think both of those things can be true, right? So that's where the process comes into play, and I think that's something that both Cal and Julio have gotten away from recently.

Starting point is 00:09:32 But like I said, his walk right actually hasn't gone down that much this year. It's the fact that when he was getting mistake pitches last year, he was crushing him every single time. And if it wasn't for a Homer, it was for, you know, a rope single or a double or something like that. And he has not been doing that this year. It's been a lot of pop-ups straight up into the air. And it's just his timing has been off. But seeing him hit three mistake pitches from the left side, by the way, which is another thing that I think has contributed to his struggles this year has been absolutely awesome. So Cal Raleigh, just a huge day. And hopefully that's a sign for things to come because he looks like a different player at the plate today.

Starting point is 00:10:13 Taylor Ward two walks today. Great to see from him. Josh Naylor gets three hits as well. And then Cole Young gets in on the action for the home run as well. So overall, up and down the lineup, you get contributions. And even Randy on a day where, you know, it's not him doing all the damage. He gets three walks today. That's exactly what you want at the top of your lineup.

Starting point is 00:10:32 I love Randy in the leadoff spot right now. It's a perfect spot for him, just getting on base and doing damage when you can. but then, you know, stealing bases, all that stuff. So right now, this version of the Mariners offense is, it looks like it's in pretty good shape right now. So, and again, this adds to the frustration of why can't you do this every single day. And I know that sometimes you face pictures that don't have it or, you know, have your number a little bit more or whatever it is.

Starting point is 00:11:01 It's more of a process thing that I notice that's a big difference between the Mariners when they're good and when they're not. So let's come back. Let's discuss our unsung hero. Uh, it's a pretty easy one for me. I mean, a reminder, we, uh, we, we obviously have the player of the game. It's, it's Cal Raleigh with the three home runs.

Starting point is 00:11:17 Logan Gilbert is going to get the starters always going to get highlighted. So we like to always kind of highlight an unsung is, is another, you know, word for it, but, uh, maybe an underrated, um, part of the game or a player of the game that maybe, uh, gets overlooked, so to speak. So we'll do that coming back here on the Mariners Postcast after a big nine to two wind to open the series against the Philadelphia Phillies. A big thank you to our friends at Amazon for this limited break. This back-to-school season, spend less on your kids with Amazon.

Starting point is 00:11:54 We all know crazy the back-to-school shopping experience can be. It starts with a few items on the list. And suddenly you're shopping for supplies, clothes, lunch gear tech, and about 10 other things you didn't see coming. It adds up super fast. When it's 9 p.m., the night before school starts, somebody suddenly remembers they need folders, notebooks, markers, and apparently 12 other things nobody mentioned until now.

Starting point is 00:12:18 Nothing gets the heart rate quite like emergency school shopping. I'm convinced. Primes delivered tomorrow before 7 a.m. feature was actually created exclusively for parents in this moment. So remember, with Amazon's low back-to-school prices, just spend less on your kids because every dollar you don't spend on them is a dollar you haven't spent on them. Shop back-to-school at Amazon and spend less on your kids. Welcome back. Mariners Postcast. My name's Anderson Hurst. It's a 9-2 victory for your Seattle Mariners. There's still third in the AL West. But with, I believe, the Astros losing today, they did gain a game. Sorry, Astros lost, but the Rangers won. So you're three back of the Rangers and only two and a half back of the Astros at this point. So, you know, a big, you know, stretch for the Mariners coming up.

Starting point is 00:13:18 And hopefully they're able to kind of put it all together at this point in the season. And the fact that they're still in it at this point with, you know, a 63 and 69 record is quite amusing. As the AOS is just, as my friend Chris Crawford would say, 10 pounds of crap and a five pound bag. But, hey, you've got to just deal with the hand that's been dealt to you. And the Mariners have been dealt an easy hand with the division that they're in. So go take advantage of it in the last month plus of the season. season. We talked Logan, we talked Cal, we talked Julio. Let's get in a little bit to our unsung hero of the day, and it's Sir Anthony Dominguez. And the biggest reason why is because he was

Starting point is 00:14:03 able to go two innings today with having two games where you run out of pitchers last week, once against the Brewers, once against the Cubs, and you have to, you basically are just like, I have no arms left to throw. So we have to go to Michael Ruff. for the third straight game and he struggled in his third straight game and then obviously after that you go to position players there was a lot of um threat for having something similar not i'm not saying position players pitching but really starting to run out of uh of arms they needed logan to get some some length today and he wasn't able to do that he was only able to get through five and he wasn't bad but still you you want some efficiency from him. But having someone like Dominguez cover those two innings to get it to

Starting point is 00:14:50 seven innings is so key. Because if he is only able to go one or maybe struggles to get through one, you're starting to really have to piece together some stuff. So having someone like that, and he's actually looked really good lately, guys. I know his debut was just, you know, not the most fun thing to watch in the world. But he's actually looked really good as of late. It's made a couple really good pitches. And I think he, His role that he's in now is perfect. He's not asked to be a high leverage guy. That's for Munoz, Bizarro, Ferrer, Spire, and then eventually Brash when he comes back.

Starting point is 00:15:25 But Dominguez, as like that kind of middle reliever or even low leverage reliever, to get out when you need it is perfect. And I think he's thriving in that spot when the lower pressure situation. And we'll see what happens with Bryce Miller, because I do. think that, you know, if he's not going to the IL, which, you know, he talked about that there was a lat issue after his start on Sunday. If he's not going to the IL, you know, having him kind of be the long reliever option would be a really good thing for the Mariners to have for when they don't get their efficiency from their starters. So that's going to be something that we kind of monitor moving forward. Hopefully Brash is back sooner rather than later as well. But just a big

Starting point is 00:16:14 victory for your Seattle Mariners today. Nine to two over the Philadelphia Phillies. Again, they're 63 and 69. They're three games back of the AOS leading Rangers now who lead the AOS at 500. So just put together a good, you know, a couple weeks of baseball and you'll find yourself in a really good spot. So it's an encouraging win. Once again, you see the positives from today. And that's what almost makes the whole season more frustrating because you can see what this team can do when they kind of put it all together. So, um, Cal Raleigh,

Starting point is 00:16:48 three home runs. He might be back. I'm gonna, I'm very wishful thinking in terms of, uh, where I, I'm jumping on that probably quicker than I need to. But,

Starting point is 00:16:59 you know, a three home run game is, is pretty rare in today's game. And, um, you know, just the way it happened to. It's,

Starting point is 00:17:06 he's jumping on mistake pitches. He's, you could tell he's seen the ball a ton better right now. It's great to see. Josh Naylor once again. with three hits as well. Good to see he's okay after that slide into second base. And then Julio Rodriguez, two hits, including a home run for him today as well.

Starting point is 00:17:25 So when your stars play like stars, guys, this team feels a whole lot different. And you're not expecting, you know, the fringes to do everything for you. So if they can keep that going, if those three guys, including Randy as well, can keep that going for the rest of this season. This team can still do damage. I know the record doesn't look good and it's been a frustrating season up until now. But if those three guys are able to kind of get on the horse and play like we know that they can, this team can absolutely still do damage, not only in the regular season, but in the playoffs as well.

Starting point is 00:18:01 But looks like I think we have George Kirby on the mound tomorrow. Another 640 first pitch, George Kirby is going to be facing. off against, let me double check. Aaron Nola, yes, for the Phillies, who's having a little bit of a rough year himself. So hopefully the Mariners can get to him as well, like they got to Zach Wheeler today. But we'll be live after that game,

Starting point is 00:18:27 once again here on the Mariners Postcast. We'll talk to you tomorrow. Let's go get the series.

Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - MARINERS POSTCAST: Seattle Mariners OFFENSE EXPLODES vs Philadelphia Phillies

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