Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - The Biggest Mariners Spring Training Storylines

Episode Date: February 11, 2025

Pitchers and catchers officially report for the Mariners on Wednesday, so Ty and Colby run down their list of the biggest Spring Training storylines they'll be keeping an eye on over the next six weeks.Check out our Patreon!Follow the show on Twitter: @LO_Mariners | @TyDaneGonzalez | @CPat11Follow the show on Bluesky: @lockedonmariners | @tdg | @mlbcolbySupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Wonderful PistachiosLooking for a snack that’s both delicious and nutritious? Get snackin’ and get crackin’ with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit WonderfulPistachios.com to learn more. FanDuelRight now, new FanDuel customers can get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR bet wins!Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.  FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Pitchers and catchers report for the Mariners tomorrow. So let's go over the biggest storylines we'll be keeping track of over the next six weeks. Colby, hit it. You are Locked-on Mariners. Your daily Seattle Mariners podcast. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. O'Hoy, Sailors. It is Tuesday, February 11th, 2025.

This is Tuding Gazzalus and Colby Patnaud for the Lockdown Marys Podcasts. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. pitchers and catchers officially report tomorrow folks and on today's show colby and i are going to run down our list of spring training storylines we'll be watching but before we do that quick shout out to our title sponsor today fan duel right now new fan duel customers can get $150 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins download the app or head to fanduel.com to get started and if you want to hear from me and colby even more and help support the show check out our patreon all you have to do to check that out is click the link in the description of this episode. So let's go over some of the big storylines heading into spring training that we're going to be keeping an eye on over the next six weeks. These are strictly spring training storylines. These aren't storylines for the season as a whole. So let's start with an obvious one here, Colby. Stan Wilson's first spring as the manager of the Mariners. A new hitting staff. The rest of the coaching staff is the same, but the hitting staff is different. I got Edgar Martinez as

the senior director of hitting strategy. Kevin Siteser comes over from Atlanta along with Bobby Maggayana to serve as the team's hitting coaches. How do you think this will shake out? Do you have any expectations for Dan in his first spring? Do you think this will, that he'll maybe differ from Scott's services? I don't know. Do you have any thoughts on, on Wilson heading into his first spring?

Not really. It's kind of tough to get a gauge on this Because again, the guy hasn't managed anywhere With the exception of the last, what, 38 games Or whatever it was last year. So he's never had to do this before. He's never had to set a culture. He's never had to, you know, kind of, you know, set course

On the path of an entire season before. Like he's never had to do most of what his job is. And so, yeah, there are some concerns. How quickly can he get buy-in? You know, how much of a difference is there going to be? Because like you said, it's pretty much the same staff coming over. And honestly, it's pretty much the exact same team, which is stupid, but that's a different conversation. So, you know, how much difference is there going to be?

How much buying can he get if there is a difference? And there's not significant differences between how he's going to do things and how, you know, Scott's going to do things. then is he going to get by in that way? Because the Mariners would like us to believe that Scott's service was a massive problem last year. And he was the reason, along with hitting coaches, as to why it wasn't the player's fault. It was the guys that got fired. It was their fault. That's what the Mariners want you to believe.

And so if Dan is just doing roughly the same thing that Scott Service did, like, how is that going to help? How is that going to, you know, make your team better? So it's kind of an interesting thing. You know, the only manager that, you know, Dan has been around the last couple of years was Scott's service. And we know Dan was at spring training and, you know, the last few years. And he would kind of mostly work with the younger guys, but he was there. So I'm sure he's picked up some things.

And obviously, you know, he was a player for 12, 13 years. So he's got spring training experience to fall back on. But it's his job. And right now, frankly, this is the biggest job he has, is setting the culture and kind of setting, you know, clubhouse expectations and things like that. Like, that's it. The end game stuff, whatever, it's pretty minimal. When you look at the 162 game sample size, he'll make some good calls, we'll make some bad ones, whatever. And he'll have help there.

But this is his team. And, you know, it's his responsibility to set this thing up in a way that's going to be successful. going to get buy-in. Can he do that? We have no evidence to suggest he can. We don't have any evidence to suggest he can't, but we just don't have evidence one way or another, whether or not he's good at this or not. So yeah, it's very interesting. And, you know, we'll probably get some stories about some things, but ultimately, we're not going to know. Like this is one of the storylines we're not going to get an answer to because we're not going to be in that clubhouse and we're not going to get honest answers from any of the players. So we'll get some

stories here and there about some things that he's trying, I'm sure. But ultimately, will he get the buy-in? We're never going to know. To further your point, it did seem like there was buy-in from the clubhouse once he took over. And the vibes did seem like they improved over those final six-ish weeks of the season. And obviously, the offense was a lot better. But yeah, it's going to be really interesting to see if he's able to carry that over now that we've had a few months off in between now and then or in between then and now. And so can he capitalize on that? It's going to be pretty much the same clubhouse as it was,

you know, back at the end of September. So that rapport that he built with that clubhouse with those players, it's pretty much going to be the same. So can he build upon that? Can he capitalize that? Can he ride that wave of momentum that he essentially created over those final six this weeks with the team.

Yeah, but it's a big difference between six weeks and six months. So, yeah, it's a pretty big, you know, storyline. Because also like, you know, those final six weeks, oh, it's a big change. There's a different voice in the clubhouse, you know, things are fresh. Things are a bit more loose. What have, you know, you don't really have anything to lose. You know, Scott Service already got fired. Now it's different, right?

Now you're having to go to war with this guy. for the next six months. So, yeah, the dynamic has shifted a little bit. So it's going to be interesting to see how now that he's the guy, heading into his first season, how does he kind of control this thing and make it his own? Yeah, you know, and you just think back to the early Scott service days. He didn't get buy in from Felix Hernandez.

And that kind of created a rift in that clubhouse. And you got buy in from Nellie. He got buy-in from Robinson, so he did a pretty good job, this being Scott Service. And now Dan's going to come in and he's going to have to get buying from Julio. He's going to have to get buying from a Rosarena and J.P. Crawford and the pitchers. So, yeah, it's going to be an interesting clubhouse dynamic. And, you know, unlike these other things we're going to talk about, we really aren't going to know one way or another if he did a good job of this because you could have bad clubhouse dynamics and win 95, 100 games. and nobody will know.

Or it could be terrible. And we're not going to know for sure because then it's a bunch of he said, she said type of stuff. So, sure. Yeah, it's, we're not going to get an answer to this,

but it is certainly one of the questions I have as we get ready to embark on the 2025 season. So yesterday we talked a little bit about this. There aren't going to be many position battles on this roster, this spring, as things currently stand. But one spot that does, have some uncertainty is second base.

Justin Hollander did say on the radio a few days ago that he believes that Dillamore is going to get the first crack at playing second base at being the starter there, but that Ryan Bliss will mix in. And then obviously there's Cole Young that's kind of hanging over all of this right now. So back in November, Hollander said, Young's going to start the year in AAA. He kind of tempered any sort of expectations that Young could make a run at the opening day roster.

But of course, a lot has happened or actually nothing has really happened in between then and now. And it's very likely that the mayors had bigger plans for what they were going to do with their infield this off season than what they wound up doing. So I'm curious this spring if maybe six weeks of capable bats against, you know, major league pitching from Cole Young changes the minds of the Mariners on where he's going to start the year. It really just comes down to how comfortable is this team, one, taking Dillamore out of his utility role that he's flourished in. that he's really best suited for. And also giving ample playing time to Ryan Bliss after, you know, he was really only good for a handful of games last year. So how aggressive are they willing to get on Cole Young if he actually pushes the envelope?

Do you feel like there's an actual shot that he could with an impressive spring in it? And it goes beyond obviously what he does statistically. But do you think with an impressive spring that you, Young could push the issue here with the Mariners? It's possible, but I think it's pretty unlikely. Young was good in Arkansas last year, and obviously doing that at 20 years old for half the year. One of the youngest players in the Texas League is impressive, but it's not like he was a juggernaut down in Arkansas, and it's not like at 21 years old.

He's a safe bet to be an average big league or. right now, you know, it's just, it's not there right now. So like he could be, but the overwhelming odds are is that he's not. He needs a little more time and there's nothing wrong with sending him down and getting him some at batch just to be sure. Like this isn't a service time manipulation scenario here. This is a guy who again, at 20, 21 years old in Texas League, pretty impressive year, but certainly didn't force the issue. Didn't even earn a call up last year to Tacoma at any point. So yeah, I feel like if it almost feels like regardless of what Cole Young does in spring training, if the Mariners put him on the opening day roster, they're trying to force something just for the sake of it.

I mean, it just feels unfathomable to me that he is going to do enough to win this job because you're not bringing Cole Young up north to Seattle with you so that he can sit on the bench. If you're bringing him north, he's playing every day. He's got to be the everyday second base. Right. From day one. So I don't think that that is reasonable. It's possible, but I think it's highly unlikely. I do think Dylan Moore will, assuming health of obviously more and everybody else in the infield.

I do think Dylan is going to be the opening day second baseman. But yeah, there's a shot. Cole Young could do it. But it's really tough for me to envision that happening where I'm not sitting here like, I think they're pushing this. a little too fast. Yeah, like I've said before on this show, I think it would take a Julio-esque spring training of Cole Young

to even bring up the conversation. And even then, I'm not convinced that he would break camp with the team. Because like you said, we're talking about a guy that's had 552 plate appearances above a ball. And they've been good, but not great. He's not kicking the door down. Right. I mean, Julio has the advantage of having the loud tools.

The power is obvious. The speed is obvious. The charisma and all that stuff is obvious. It's just like, Young is just kind of more of a, well, he's not a superstar, right? Like there's really no superstar upside to Cole Young. So it's going to be harder for the team and for us in particular to look at that and be like, yeah, this guy's just a big league. You can tell just by watching him. Julio, it was obvious.

It was so obvious from day one. of that camp. He's one of our 26 best. He's ready to do this now. Young is just going to have a hard time showing that because, again, he's not going to make the super loud contact over and over again. He's not going to make ridiculous diving catches out in the outfield and, you know, be the fastest guy on the field and all that stuff.

It's going to look different for Cole Young. So, yeah, it's an uphill battle for sure. Young will be up and he'll probably get significant playing time this year, but I don't think it's going to be on opening day. I'd be pretty surprised if it was. All right, so we have more storylines to go over in just a moment. But first, a reminder of this episode of the Lockdown Marys podcast is once again brought to you by Fandul. When the game tips off, the NBA action is just getting started.

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first $5 bet wins. Just visit FanDuel.com to join today. That's fandual.com for your shot at $150 in bonus bets. Make every moment more with Fandul, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. And you're listening to the Lockdown Mariners podcast. So another big storyline going into the spring is, will Mitch Hanager survive the spring? I think we kind of assume that, yeah, because he's due $17.5 million, that the mayors are at least going to try and get something for their money rather than just, cutting bait, but you looked at this roster,

Hanager's fit makes no sense. Shouldn't play in the field. I assume the opportunities that he would get offensively would be against left-handed pitchers, but he was also really bad against lefties this past year. It was actually pretty good against righties, but against righties, like, you have Donovan Solano, you have your three outfielders, you have Luke Rayleigh,

and even, and by the way, even against lefties, Mitch Garver should be probably D-Hing on those days. Now, some days he's going to be catching and Cal's going to get the day off. But you're also not just going to bench Cal Raleigh anytime there's a lefty on the mound. So Garver is probably going to get some run at D.H with Raleigh also in the lineup. So again, when is Mitch Hanager actually going to get in the lineup? This was kind of expected, even if they do cut bait, this was kind of expected that they would carry him into spring training. case you know injury happens or something like that at least they have Mitch Hanager in their back pocket

which you know yeah but at least yeah i don't want to be disrespectful to a guy that's done a lot for this organization but i will be Hanager's toast yes yeah and not not like good toast he's burnt like it is char inside of his knees and and he he's done he's done uh thanks for thanks for the years but you're hot garbage now you can't hit you can't field you can't run you can still throw but you know if you can't get to the ball so you can throw it in like who cares you can't hit you can't hit breaking balls you can't hit fast balls you can't hit changeups like can't hit righties you can't hit lefties like I mean he had righties pretty well this past year like a 100 it was a 106 it was a 106 oh against strike

Rydies. Cool. Hey, you know who's better against Rides? Everybody else on this roster. Right.

Well, and that's the point, right. So it's like, all right, even his strength, quote unquote, from last year,

offensively, it makes no sense to utilize them in those scenarios because you just, you have better options. So he's not going to be the first guy off the bench to get the pinch hitting opportunity. He's not going to be the first guy to run.

He's not going to be the first guy to be a defensive replacement. Like, you're effectively, let's just not beat around the bush here. You're effectively burning a roster spot. But Samarans have been willing to do with their position players in the past. That hasn't stopped the Mariners in the path from doing that. Yeah, we've said many times that if it were up to them, they would carry 14 pitchers.

Yes. Or even more than that. But the rules only allow for 13 maximum. Yes. It's stupid for them to play 26 against 25 every single night. But they seem to be okay doing that. So, yeah, Hanager is. he's just worthless to your to your club like he doesn't bring any value whatsoever so unless

you're telling me he's going to turn back the clock into 2021 Mitch Hanager he just has no business being on this roster like he he doesn't provide anything to you nothing so yeah I mean, I suspect they will carry him, but that's because, you know, they're, what's the nice way to say this? Stupid. I mean, yeah, like they don't want to, oh, we have to get something out of them. We're paying him $15 million. No, you don't. The thing you got out of him was that you saved, you know, 60 million bucks on Robbie Ray's contract.

That's the value of Mitch Anner. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah. Again, again, I've said this before. that 17.5 million dollars, or maybe it's 15 and a half, we're still not sure on the specific number, but whatever. That number might be better spent just not having Hanager on your roster at all. Because Hanager last year was literally a negative value player.

It's worth negative. 0.6F4. He hurt your ball club. So I just think that that roster spot would be better used on Domcan's own. Austin Shetton Blake Hunt as a third catcher I don't really care literally anyone else that's on the 40 man roster would probably be

more useful Miles Mastroboni even Cade Marlow and Samad Taylor who are off the 40 man roster make more sense on your bench than Mitch Hanniger so because at the very least those guys give you some they give you some defense or some base running or something

right right right so it's just one of the And by the way, Hanager's presence also makes guys like Justin Turner make zero sense. Right. Because you just can't have a bench full of right-handed hitting DHS, right? So Hanager's presence alone hurts you. So it's not a big deal yet. But when we get to opening day and Hanigers on the roster and they're not going to put him on the,

but he's going to get, you know, three, four starts a week. They're going to find a way. That means fewer starts for Rayleigh, fewer starts for Solano, fewer starts for Robles and a Rosemena and those guys are all significantly better than Hanigar. So Mitch should be DFAed before opening day. He should have been DFAed a while ago. But yeah, the roster spot alone is worth more than Mitch Hanigar's $15 million. And it just kind of feels like they won't be allowed to make the good baseball decision

because ownership doesn't just want to swallow the $15 million, even though they're already doing that, whether he's on the roster or not. So we'll see. But Hanager has no business being on this ball club. I don't even know if I'm convinced that they'll try to get him in the lineup actively. Because, I mean, in September, he played one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve times, I believe. Three of those came in the last series where they were just trying, you know, they didn't care. They were just playing them.

Right. Right. And then there were, there was a week long. gap in between starts for him. There is typically about a three, anywhere from a three to a five day gap in between appearances for him.

They hardly played him at the end of last year. I don't know if I'm entirely convinced that they're not going to do the same thing to start this year. Because again, I don't know how it makes it, and you just have better options both against lefties and righties.

So like, yeah, there are going to be some days where a guy needs a blow or a couple of guys need to blow. and just Hanager is going to find his way into the lineup. But I think those opportunities are going to be so few and far between. Even with those opportunities, wouldn't you rather take those limited chances and give them to a guy like Dom Kanzone to see if he actually does something? Like, yeah.

Yeah, it's just, Hanigers, you know, I love you, Mitch. It'd be great if you snuck onto this roster and somehow turn back the clock to 2021 for one last go, like Hunter Penn. did all those years again you're all those years ago that'd be amazing it's not going to happen you're washed it's unfortunate but yeah yeah it's sad it's hard to watch too like yeah yeah so it's a bummer but Mitch just there's no value to him on this roster and uh trying to force something there you just yeah it's just that good money the injuries and the age has finally taken its toll on him yeah yeah you're listening to the locked on mirrors

podcast. So let's talk a little bit about Jorge Polanco here. So they declined his club option to start the year. They hit brick wall after brick wall trying to find infield upgrades. They end up circling back on Polanco and signed him to a one year

$7 million deal with a ton of incentives. So this is now coming off of offseason Patelot tendon surgery for Polanco. And on top of that, they're asking him to play third base, which is a position he's played just 180 career ennings at. So, one, the big storyline going into spring is, is he healthy enough to actually play in the spring games right away? And two, what the hell is he going to look like at third base?

Yeah. tough to say one thing I can tell people is that there's some people out there like they're just going to bunt every single time no they're not no they're not professional athletes are not going to bunt every single time Aaron judge is going to butt right yeah I'm like uh-huh sure yeah I got to worry about you know Jose Altuve bunting 38 times against the Mariners because no come on guys But yeah, it is interesting, obviously. And how soon Colanco gets into Cactus League games is actually kind of an important thing, particularly in the field. Because according to the Mariners, he's 100% right now, which feels like a load of BS. But I guess we'll see. Yeah.

But it's one of those things. I mean, we don't know the severity of the injury. We just know what it is a Patella tendon injury in that he had surgery. for it, but we don't know what the extent of the surgery was or anything like that. So maybe it was minor enough for him to be 100% healthy by this point. Maybe, but also you kind of have to walk this fine line where it's like, we have to get him reps at third base, like game reps, field and grounders at third base. But also, you know, he's the guy who's missed a ton of time the last couple of years with lower

leg issues, like how much can you play him before it's, you know, there's a fine line where Like we have to get him reps. We have to see if he's healthy, but we don't want to risk re-injury. So how quick do we pull that trigger on him in these games and how often is he going to play in these games? So, yeah, it's kind of an interesting little issue you have there at third base where it's like, okay, you know, we don't want to risk anything bad happening. But also he kind of needs the reps. Like we got to see what he can do over there. So, yeah, the Polanco knee issue and how he looks at third base, pretty important because run prevention is an important aspect for the Mariners.

You know, if you play half your games at T-Mobile Park, you got to keep runs off the board. And so giving teams extra outs and extra runs because you can't field the ground ball is devastating. And, you know, the Mariners kind of lived with it at second base last year. Now they're going to kind of try and live with it at third base this year. But it's not like they're, you know, juggernauts everywhere else defensively. So one week link can't topple this entire thing because the Mariners do have questions in left field defensively. They do have some questions at first base defensively. They have questions at third base.

And, you know, J.P. Crawford was pretty good last year. But the last couple years before that, he was, you know, fringe average. Some range issues, you know. Sure. So, yeah, I mean, defense is going to be important for this club. And Polanco's got to at least be playable at third base. And if he's not, well, then you have kind of the double whammy there where he can't play third. He can't play second.

And now we've just spent most of our budget on another DH only type of guy when we have like four of those already. Like, yeah, it's, it'd get pretty dicey. So, yeah, him playing a good third base is really important for the Mariners. And it doesn't have to be Josh Rojas, but it. can't be, you know, like Thai France trying to play third base. It's got to be passable. Yeah, I think the bearers are very aware. Like they're significantly downgrading defensively at third base,

but they're hoping that the offensive input that Polanka could potentially bring will outweigh that. So we'll see. You mentioned J.P. Crawford. He's another guy that I'm actually really interested to see this spring, just to see if there's any like identifiable changes. his mechanics that he's made to hopefully bounce back from that disaster every year that he had. Now, obviously, there were a ton of injuries that certainly play into his struggles,

but even before the injuries, he did not look like the same guy that he was in 2023. And obviously, we expected that, right? He had posted numbers that were leaps and bounds above what he had done before 2023. So regression was absolutely expected, but he, he, he, fell 47% yeah 47% dive 136 WRC plus in 2023 89 and 2024

not gonna work yeah so has he made some mechanical changes to get back to at least being you know a slightly above league average bad because that's all you really need JP to be especially now that well hopefully you have

a you know a better lead off solution in Victor Robles. So you just need a JP to be a solid, you know, nine hole hitter, eight, nine hole hitter who can, you know, help turn the page there. Don't be a black hole. Yeah. So the biggest question though,

Colway, heading into the spring is does this front office have one more move on them? One more move that actually impacts the major league roster, whether it be in the bullpen, whether it be in the position player group and how significant of a move could that be are we talking about the cubs sign alex bregman now nico horners available for either prospects or louis castillo do they still do that you know at that point then there's questions about the starting rotation or is it something like hey we called up the marlins and we just traded a couple of prospects for anthony bender if you

one if you had to guess like what kind of move it would be what you do you think it would be? And two, do you think they actually have a move in them? Well, I had to guess it would definitely be a bullpen move like the Bender one over the the Nico Horner type of move.

They should absolutely be trying to get another move in. Heck, I'll be even more bold. They absolutely should be trying to get multiple moves in to round out this roster. But, you know, right now, if they did one, barring some kind of like really weird like DFA type of situation, barring that,

I kind of don't see them doing anything to address holes on the 26th man roster because they don't think they have any. Well, publicly, they're saying we don't think we have any. They're not stupid. They know they have a lot of them. But they're not going to say that. So, yeah, I think, you know, if they do do something. something. It's going to be like an Anthony Bender type of trade, which would honestly help a lot.

Like I'm not saying that wouldn't have impact for this club. It would. I just don't see them doing anything like super crazy until, I don't know, May at the earliest. It doesn't feel like there's an eco-horner trade or anything like that coming down the pipeline. But it is possible. I think that, again, the Mariners could go to a team like St. Louis in late May when, you know, the Cardinals are 15 games below 500 or whatever and be like, hey, what's it going to take for us to get a couple extra months of Donovan or Helsley or whatever, right, like we've talked about? So I do think the Marines will be aggressive earlier in the season than they happened in the past, but I don't think they're going to do anything too impactful.

between now and opening day. And I think that's a shame. They absolutely should be trying to do something like that because this roster needs it. So, you know, I could see them maybe doing a minor league deal of a semi-notable name. I could see them maybe making another, you know, kind of 40-man, back into the 40-man type of trade like they have all winter. But I don't think they're going to add anybody who is like a shoe-in for the 26-man roster

over the next couple weeks, which is a real shame because, again, this club needs help. And they have the opportunity, even with the market as is, to go get this team help. And it just feels like they're not going to do it. Harry Ford is someone that comes to mind. Obviously, he doesn't have a shot to make the roster. But I am interested to see him. This is going to be a very big year in terms of his career trajectory, frankly.

And he's got to start hitting for power. So will we see him start to fight? that power stroke in Arizona, that would be huge for his confidence going into the season. I'm also interested to see where they might play him. Could we get a glimpse of what maybe the Mariners plan is once he eventually does start knocking on the major league door? Do we actually get to see him run out at left field or maybe second base or third base or what have you? See them experiment with his athleticism a little bit. I believe Jerry DePoto on Joe Doyle show,

the Overslot MLB draft podcast, which you guys should absolutely check out. I believe he said that Ford is actually going to start the year in Tacoma. That's the plan for him. That's interesting. It's aggressive, especially after, you know, again, he struggled down in AA. So I wonder if, and obviously,

that's not a ballpark that's favorable. for hitters. I wonder if maybe this is an attempt to get his confidence back. Because obviously, you know, Tacoma, the PCL in general, like, you should have more success, especially hitting for power. So I wonder if that's what they're trying to accomplish there. Yeah, maybe. I don't like calling guys up just for vibes.

I think promotion should be earned. And I totally carry forward earned a promotion last year, but whatever. Yeah, you know, obviously you're looking at the bullpen arms, see which one of those guys kind of pops, especially if Taylor is going to miss the first part of the season. So, yeah, you know, you're always interested in the pile. And, you know, how those guys look, particularly the guys like Palmer ants and Phillies who haven't pitched in professional ball in a couple of years.

and we'll probably get a report sometime probably not tomorrow tomorrow's just kind of show up and you know sign in day but we'll probably get a report by Thursday or Friday this week that like oh so and so threw a bullpen and like they actually looked really good velocity was like 94 for palmer ants or something like that and blah blah blah but yeah you're always you're always tracking the arms in the pile because there is right now at least one bullpen spot up for grabs. And there's always guys who get dinged up in spring. And so usually there ends up being two to three spots in that last bullpen that are up for grabs.

But as we enter spring training, as we enter pitchers and catchers tomorrow, as far as we know, health-wise, Taylor's the only guy who's dealing with anything right now. And Taylor, I think, was penciled to be in the opening day bullpen. So that leaves one spot open, potentially. and it also gives guys an opportunity to kind of, you know, force Taylor to take somebody else's spot if one of these arms pops. So we'll see. Certainly that's who you're going to track, you know, in terms of like, could they make the opening day roster?

Because like we said at the top of the show, pretty much know who the 26 are. If they're healthy, we pretty much know. So there's really not a lot of battles out there. But there are a few. and one of them is that last bullpen spot. All right, well, there you have it. So we'll be back tomorrow.

Again, we're back to five shows a week. So we'll catch you guys tomorrow, but that's going to do it for a show. Thank you so much for joining us here on the lockdown Marrars podcast. Colby Pat Node, I'm Tiding Gazzalas. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter at L0 underscore Marrars. You can follow me at Tiding Gazzalus and Colby at C-Pat-11. We're also on Blue Sky.

You can follow me at TDG, Colby at MLB Colby, and the show at Locktime Mariner's. Have yourself a beautiful baseball day, and we'll see you next time. Peace.