Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Taijuan Traded to Toronto/M's Split Double Dip in Slam Diego

Episode Date: August 28, 2020

D.C. talks about the double-header in Slam Diego that took place on Thursday. The M's executed a trade mere hours prior to the first game of said double-header. Taijuan Walker is now a Toronto Blue Jay. (Or should that be the "Buffalo Blue Jays" this year?) D.C. talks about that trade, also, in the first episode of today's "Locked On Mariners" double-header. 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.

Thank you for tuning in to Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Here's your host, D.C. Lundberg. Thank you very much, Joey Martin. This is the first episode of two coming at you today of Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. And the fact that we're doing a double-header today really has nothing to do with the fact that the Mariners played a double-header yesterday. It has nothing to do with any form of protest or anything like that. I simply got behind on recording. It is as simple as that.

In any case, please remember to download, rate, and subscribe to this program on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, or whichever podcast that you personally care to use. Ask your smart device to play Locked on Marriter's podcast or any Tloppin program. Follow this program on Twitter at L-O-U-U-U-U-S-Kers, and follow me on Twitter at D.C. underscore Lundberg. That is L-U-N-D-B-E-R-G for the... those who are indeed scoring at home. Before we discuss, well, we'll talk about the games first just briefly. Mariners played a double header yesterday in San Diego as neither team played on Wednesday. They sat out the game.

We all know why. I'm again not going to get into that here, but they're not the only teams that did this, ladies and gentlemen. The Dodgers and Giants postponed their Wednesday game, as did the Reds and the Brewers. Those were the six teams whose games were postponed on Wednesday. Those are the six teams that sat out. Over the, you know, three games worth, six teams, three games worth, they all didn't play Wednesday. All six of them played doubleheaders on Thursday.

In any case, the first game of the doubleheader was scheduled to be Taiwan Walker and Denelson Lament. However, mere hours prior to game time, Taiwan Walker was traded. We'll talk about that in the second half of the program. In his stead was L.J. Newsom, who got the start. and he was, the numbers look pretty good. He pitched four innings, which, you know, kind of thrown into a situation like that, you know, four innings is pretty good. Three hits, one run, it was earned, no walks, that is the important thing that I look for.

And, you know, four strikeouts. So building on his great debut game, I said at that time, hey, maybe this guy is a future rotation piece. This game, you know, kind of solidified that point. he may be a future rotation piece since he was a starter in the minor leagues. He threw 60 pitches in this game. He was followed by Anthony Masevic, who pitched an inning in the thirds, two strikeouts, no walks, no hits, no base runners allowed, basically.

Matt McGill came in for two thirds of an inning, three hits, two runs, both earned, one strikeout, two home runs, not very good. And speaking of not very good, Taylor Williams, two thirds of an inning, two hits, five runs, all earned. Two walks and a strikeout. Altavilla comes in. Doesn't record an out, it looks like, gives up two hits, two runs. They were both earned on a home run, which wound up being, ladies and gentlemen, a walk-off home run that Will Myers hit. One of those runs was charged to Taylor Williams. He suffers the loss in this game. It's a 10-7 loss. Padres did come from behind. It looks like Mariner's opened the scoring.

In the third inning with three runs, Padres counted with one in the bottom of the inning. Padres tie it up, actually, in the bottom of the sixth inning for a three-three game Mariners score four in the top of the seventh. And then Padres score seven in the bottom of the seventh. Remember, the double-headers this year are seven-inning ball game. So this was just a seven-inning game, which was mercifully ended by a home run since it was going really badly, really quickly, it looks like, in the bottom of the inning. J.P. Crawford, one for three. It looks like every starter just about got a hit. the only two starters that did not record hits were Evan White, who only batted once after hurting his shoulder,

and Joe Odom, who did walk in this game, and was then pinch hit for later on. Crawford, one for three, Telegram, Sam Haggurty, one for four, Kyle Lewis, one for four, Kyle Seeger one for three. Austin Nola, one for two. Evan White did go O for one, and in his stead was Jose at Marmaléjos, who batted three times with one hit. Marmaléjos, by the way, was the extra player added for the double. doubleheader, which has been the rule of the last few years you can carry an extra player on your roster on a double header and it was Marmaléos today. Ace Freely one hit, Shedlong Jr. one hit. Dee Gordon did get a hit in his one pinch hitting appearance. On to the second game, which was an eight three victory in seven innings once again.

Kikichi started. Five innings, seven hits, three runs, all earned, six strikeouts, a home run. Here is the thing for me, ladies and gentlemen, walks for Kikachi today. None. That's encouraging. Five in my seven hits over five innings and three runs. Yeah, that's not the greatest result. But the fact that Kikichi did not walk anybody, that is, that's a plus for me. Aaron Fletcher pitches a third of an inning, two walks and a hit. Not too impressive.

Didn't give up any runs, but he wasn't in there very long. Joey Gerber, two thirds of an inning. He kind of cleaned up Fletcher's mess. And Yoshihisa Hinao then closes out the ball game, so to speak. The final inning pitch, one hit and a walk. no runs given up. All three runs with the Padres scored. We're off Kikichi. Crawford checked in with two hits.

His bat might start to be heating up, ladies and gentlemen, after something of a slump. Telegram Sam, two for four, batting average backup over 300. Kyle Lewis was over two, but he walked twice. So that is fine with me. The two at bats, unfortunately were strikeouts. Kyle Seeger, one for three. Austinola, one for two. Two walks for him as well.

Jose Marmonejos, who started at first base in Evan White's stead with that shoulder problem. two for four. As a matter of fact, Jose at Marmaléjos checked in with his first major league grand slam in the first inning.

He had himself a day spread over these two ball games. Shedlong Jr. also checked in with the hit. He was the DH today and D. Gordon started at second base. Mariners trivia question

for the day is this, ladies and gentlemen. We'll throw it Taiwan Walker's way once again because he is no longer a mariner. We'll talk about that trade, by the way,

in half. It has to do with the trade that sent him to Arizona. He was traded along with Ketel Marte for Mitch Hanigur and who else? Who else did the Mariners acquire in that trade? Answer following this word from Built Bar. Ladies and gentlemen, Billet Bar is back. I've said that again. I think I said that a few times in right. Anyways, they are back, ladies and gentlemen, and they have improved on an already terrific product. The wrapping is new and shiny and beautiful. And that's the show for today, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for joining us. a little bit back here later on today. No, no, no, no, no. They have improved. They have got six new flavors to go along with the 12 classic flavors that they already had. My favorites

for chocolate, peanut butter, the chocolate orange, the chocolate raspberry, they were all really, really good. And don't forget about Built Boost drink powder, which is back as well, and the brand new Built Go for a boost of protein on the go. Head on over to BuiltBarr.com right at this exact moment, or when the show is over. Actually, you can go there right now. You can listen to the rest of the show while placing your order, because you can place an order, compiling a box of the flavors that you would most like to try or your already established favorites. And remember, the nut-free flavors are all made in a nut-free facility. Also, enter the code locked on, the promo code locked on for $10 off your order.

And for the time being, it does not have to be just your first order. It is for all orders, ladies and gentlemen. So take advantage. Builtbar.com promo code locked on for $10 off. Your next order. Answer to the Mariners Tribute question. On November 23rd, 2016, the Seattle Mariners sent Taiwan Walker

and Catell Marquis to the Diamondbacks for Mitch Hanninger, as we mentioned. Pitcher Zach Curtis, who spent all of three games as a Mariner, played most of that season at AA Arkansas. He was selected off waivers from the Phillies at the end of the 2017 season, his only season in the Mariners organization.

He has great hair, ladies and gentlemen. And the Mariners also acquired Gene Seguerah in that deal. Remember him? Yeah, he's on the Phillies now. Had some very good seasons with the Mariners, Gene Gene the hitting machine. And on February 12th of this year, the Mariners signed Taiwan Walker as a free agent after missing significant time, pardon me, due to injury. We'll talk again more about that trade in the second half of the show. But in the interim, if you've got a question for me or a comment on the show, send an email to locked on mariners at gmail.com. And I will consider using it for the Friday mailbag.

segment. By the time you're listening to this, I will have already recorded today's mailbag. So you're really submitting questions for next week's mailbag. Locked-onmeritors at gmail.com. Once again is the address, and the question does not have to be a baseball question. You can ask my personal opinion on something. And if it's a political question, since I like keeping politics off of this show, I might email you an answer rather than answer it on the show. You know, I'll also wonder why the hell you care what I think about politics. So whatever. Locked on meriders at gmail.com. say that address enough, you know the address, send in your questions.

Just make sure it's appropriate, please. More Locked on Mariners following this. Now back to Lockdown Mariners and your host, D.C. Lundberg. Thank you, Joey Martin once again. This is the second half of Locked on Mariners. Going to talk about, going to talk about Taiwan Walker. He was traded yesterday before the first game of the double header. He was supposed to start the first game of the double header.

L.J. Newsom started in his stead. But let's talk about Walker. The Mariners traded him to the blue. Louis Jays yesterday for a player to be named later or cash considerations. And players to be named, oftentimes the player is agreed upon, but he's not eligible to be traded for whatever reason. And that's not just this year. That's, you know, that's just kind of, you know, how it works.

And then if the player doesn't work out on the new team, then they'll give cash instead. But since this year, only players on a team's 60-man player pool are eligible to be traded. And my guess is, and ladies and gentlemen, this is just a guess. But my guess is that the Mariners wanted to acquire somebody outside of the Blue Jays' 60-man player pool, which means he's not eligible to be traded. So once the season is over, then they may announce who the player is. And let's not be surprised at all if he wasn't on the Blue Jays. On the Blue Jays player pool, you know, or those cash considerations that we spoke about,

the same thing that they gave up for Daniel. The Vogelback, which I said, I think I said it was a Wendy's gift card or something like that. Obviously a joke, ladies and gentlemen, because I like to have fun on this show as longtime viewers. Viewers of this show, if you're viewing this show, ladies and gentlemen, it means you hacked into my computer. And I'm very uncomfortable with that. Longtime listeners, I meant to say, oh my goodness gracious, and this is my first show of two. Second one's going to be real interesting.

Yeah. In any case, let's talk about Taiwan Walker. He had started five games for the Mariners this year. Overall, ERA was four. Overall, overall whip was 1.74. But let's look at, you know, how he did, you know, game to game. That first trip through the rotation really was no good for anybody. Three and a third innings for his first start.

Let's move on to the next one since that was a bummer. Seven innings in his next start. One hit, two walks, eight strikeouts. That was a very, very good start for Taiwan Walker. Kind of regressed a little bit in his next start after that. Three and two thirds innings. another clunker, as it were. And then he faces Texas in his fourth start,

six innings pitched, six hits, one run. It was not earned, by the way, just the one walk and the five strikeouts. And then the last start he had on August 17th versus the Dodgers, a little bit of a mixed bag. He did go seven innings, four hits, three runs all earned,

just the one walk, that's good, three home runs, which is kind of concerning. But at the same time, it was the Los Angeles Dodgers. That might be the most. powerful offense in the National League. So considering that it was the Dodgers, maybe we can look past that, who knows. But if you take away the start against Houston, which was bad, and the start against the

Los Angeles Angels that was bad, then obviously his ERA goes down from four to a much lower number. As a matter of fact, his ERA would go all the way down to 1.3.5, considering that the one run that he gave up in the start in Texas, was not earned. It doesn't count against him. The only three earned runs he would have given up if you take away the two bad starts are the three home runs against the Dodgers. They were all solo home runs anyway. Like I said, just to one walk, he didn't allow a whole lot of base runners other than the three home runs because he only had four hits. Take away the three home runs.

He's only given up one hit and he struck out eight in that game. So again, something of a mixed bag, but in essence a pretty good start. His career with the Mariners, which spans, 70 games spread out over five seasons. Sixty-seven of them starts. 384 innings pitched ERA of 417. So, you know, he's playing below his Mariner's ERA. That's a very good thing. Let's see, two and a half walks per nine innings. That's a pretty good number. 1.4 home runs per nine innings. That's not bad. You know, strikeouts per nine. I'm not a big strikeout guy, 8.1 per nine innings.

You know, take that number and do with it what you will. I'm not a big strikeout guy, like you said. strike out to walk ratio of 3.24, which, yeah, that's pretty good. That's pretty good. So that is Taiwan Walker's stint as a mariner. We wish him well. We absolutely wish him well in the Blue Jays organization. And honestly, the first thing that I thought of when I found out that he was going to the Blue Jays, the first thing that popped into my head was, wait a second, they've got Hunjin Ryu, who also wears number 99. What number are they going to give Taiwan Walker? These are the things that I think about ladies and gentlemen. These are the ridiculous notions that pop into my brainhead for for who knows why. But, you know, like I said, we do wish him well. And I want to take a little bit

of a moment here to brag a little bit because I said on Javier Reyes and I of Locked on Padres, had a conversation Monday night. I played part of it on the show on Tuesday. If you want to listen to the whole thing, listen to Tuesday's episode and I believe Wednesday's episode. And I believe Wednesday's episode of Locked on Padres. You can hear the whole thing. And I did say to him that the one player on the Mariners, whom I would not be surprised to see traded, was Taiwan Walker. The Mariners do have a surplus of starting pitching. He is 27 years old. And pardon me, he is 28 years old. Now he turned 28 on August 13th. So happy belated birthday, Taiwan. The mayors have a surplus of starting pitching and I've seen rumblings, not rumblings, but I've seen reports, not even reports.

I've seen people speculate that the Mariners might want to trade Marco Gonzalez. And honestly, gang, I don't think he's going anywhere. The Mariners signed him to a contract extension for a reason. They want to build the rotation around Marco Gonzalez. They're very happy with him as a number one starter. He's left-handed. Marco's not going anywhere, gang. He's going to be a mariner, I think.

for a very, very long, watch him be traded tomorrow, and I'll have to eat these words. No, I think he's going to be a mariner for a long time. At least, you know, as this rebuilding project comes to fruition, maybe next year, maybe in 2022, who knows, but the mayors want to build the rotation around him, like I said, three times already. I'm starting to sound like a broken record. No, I'm not going to use that joke again. But the other player that I have seen speculated who might be traded was Kyle Seeger.

And I really wouldn't be surprised on him. one way or the other. He is signed through next season, and I think the Mariners like his veteran leadership, and I'm pretty sure that they're very happy with the production that they're getting out of him next year. He looks as if he's back in his prime. He is not playing like a man 32 years old. He's playing like he did. He's playing better than he did five years ago. And the reasons for that, I've stated to them on the show so many times, is because he dropped the muscle weight they he had when trying to bulk up, and he's healthy. Those are the two. main reasons. And just to finish my thoughts on the Taiwan Walker trade, one of my favorite parts of

this is some of my friends on Facebook who think that they really, really know baseball, but don't. Saying what a horrible trade this is, saying that the meritors are really stupid, and trade such a great player for only a minor leaguer, or this was my favorite. Quote, does this team not know anything about asset management, end quote. Oh my gosh, good grief, people. This team is in the middle of a rebuilding project. Get something for him now before he walks as a free agent. And don't get me wrong, I like Taiwan Walker, but again, he was on a one-year contract.

This was probably just a rent-a-player for the Blue Jays, and it was a cheap one-year contract at that. If the Mariners wanted to extend him out further, they were going to have to pay a lot of money, and they had surplus starting pitching, which is developing pretty quickly in the minor league. So it might be ready in a couple years when the mayors want to make a run at it. But Taiwan is probably going to be long gone by then. So get something for him now. That's it for today, ladies and gentlemen.

Next show will be coming up in mere hours. It will be part mailbag segment and part history. because on this date in Mariner's history, they accomplished something, you know, pretty cool. And I will tell you what that is. Do come back in a few hours for that show, as I am joined by guest panelists, Axel Foley, Ronald McDonald,

and a baritone saxophone. That is going to be a great episode, ladies and gentlemen. I'm really looking forward to that conversation. So please download, rate, and subscribe to this program, so you never miss an episode. Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher Radio or whichever podcasting app comes to mind. Also remember to follow the show on Twitter at L.O. underscore Mariners.

Follow me on Twitter as well, gang, at D.C. underscore Lundberg. Don't know why I rushed through it like that, but in any case, we'll be back a few hours from now, mailbag time, and talking about a significant accomplishment, or at least an accomplishment, in Mariners' history. Until then, ladies and gentlemen, see you later. This is Joey Martin, speaking for Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network.

Thank you.