Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - The Seattle Mariners Are Only TWO GAMES BACK of the AL West Lead!

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Mariners have won seven games in a row and are now just two back of first place in the American League West. Can they keep the street going an inch even closer to Texas tonight? Let's talk about it here on the Lockdown Marries podcast. 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. It is Tuesday, August 22nd, 2023.

Starting point is 00:00:31 This is titting his honest and Colby Patnaud for the line. on Mariners podcast brought to you by Bird Dogs. Go to Birddogs.com slash Locked On MLB or enter promo code Locked on MLB for a free white tech hat with any order. You won't want to take your bird dogs off. We promise you. Thank you so much for making us your first listen. Subscribe, like and turn on alerts if you're watching on YouTube or subscribe and leave a five-star review on your preferred podcast platform if you like what you hear. And if you're part of the crew and rock with us every single day, let us know in the comments below. And if you want to hear from us even more, please consider signing up for our Patreon.

Starting point is 00:01:05 You can now get a free seven-day trial. Check out the show. The link as well as our social accounts is in the description of this episode. And on the show today, we'll talk about tonight's matchup with the White Sox. And if anything, we'll come of the tension we saw late in last night's game after Jose Caballero was hit by yet another pitch. We'll also talk about expectations for Brian Wu and his return tonight. but Colby, let's start with last night.

Starting point is 00:01:32 The Mariners win 14 to 2 over the White Sox. Luis Castillo gives them seven strong innings, 14 runs. That's the most the Mariners have scored all season long, and they did it without Julio Rodriguez in the lineup. He got the day off yesterday, so expecting him back at the top of the Mariners order tonight. Colby, who is this offense?

Starting point is 00:01:55 And what have they done with the Seattle Mariners? That's pretty clear. Julio's been holding them back. New season 9 runs scored. Yeah. So I don't know, you know, well, I guess I do know what's going on, right? Julio, Teosker, Ty,

Starting point is 00:02:15 they all got hot at the same time. And even the struggles of Gino are relatively minor right now. Like he's not cratering like we've seen in the past. He's still finding a way to produce. some a little bit. Cal Raleigh right now is just on another planet when it comes to hitting homers and hitting the ball hard. And you're getting some pretty consistent contributions from basically every person in

Starting point is 00:02:43 the lineup is getting a hit or getting on base. The only guy who didn't get a hit, there are two guys who didn't get a hit last night were J.P. Crawford, who walked twice and Mike Ford, surprise. So, yeah, everybody else had at least a hit. I think everybody, with the exception of Mike Ford actually got on base twice. So, yeah, it was a good night. And obviously, you're also getting something from your second base position because, you know,

Starting point is 00:03:18 because Josh Rojas is starting to heat up a little bit, three more hits last night. So, yeah, you basically what's happened is that your stars have carried, you know, all-star quality players have carried for the last, you know, week or so, but you're also getting serious contributions from role players. There's really just not a black hole in the lineup right now, unless you want to count whatever position Mike Ford's playing that day. So, yeah, it's just,

Starting point is 00:03:44 it's a long lineup. It's a lineup that has, you know, two or three guys right now who are playing their absolute best. And then you have two or three more guys who are, you know, contributing fairly regularly. And then you have the final three guys. guys are, well, two of the final three guys are not disasters at the plate.

Starting point is 00:04:04 They can still get a hit. They can still draw a walk. So yeah, it's a deep lineup right now. And yeah, everybody's kind of feeling it. So there's good at bats from the top of the lineup all the way down. And that's just putting tremendous amount of pressure on pitching staffs to, you know, more or less be perfect. And they don't get an easy break even when we think they do because then Brian O'Keefe goes

Starting point is 00:04:25 two for three with a two RBI double or something like that. So yeah, everything's just kind of clicking right now. And you know, it's not like they face the murderers row of pitchers. But, you know, they did tag for Amber pretty hard. So, you know, it's, you know, they did tag Hunter Brown, who's not terrible. So yeah, they face some scrubs along the way, but they've also faced some pretty good starters. And they put up runs all the same. Well, and the good news is that they are handling the scrubs well, right?

Starting point is 00:04:53 Like they're doing what they need to do against guys like Tuki Tucson. Looking through the box score real quick, I believe. Dominic Canzon was the only Mariner's starter last night to not get on base twice. He did, however, have his second Mariners home run. You know, Ford was robbed on that great catch by Luis Robert as well, but obviously he's going through it. Right. He's going through it right now, though. Josh Rojas is starting to heat up, though. Three hits for him last night. A couple hard hit balls. Nice to see out of the nine hole. I mean, like, that's way better than anything. you've been getting from or that you got from colton long for most of the year so if uh rojas can

Starting point is 00:05:35 keep on doing that if you can keep on giving you hits here and there that's a significant upgrade uh but yeah like you said everyone's pretty much clicking right now and you know obviously that means that there's probably going to be some regression but for now let's enjoy the hell out of this right because it's been a lot of fun uh cal raleigh has to be from from the left side at least has to be one of the most fun hitters i've ever watched my entire life that dude when he is on from the left side of the plate he smokes baseballs like it is disgusting what he does at the plate from the left side right side and not so much but left side cow raleigh is elite dude right side cow raleigh isn't terrible he's not terrible but he's nowhere near left side cow rale he's very

Starting point is 00:06:22 susceptible to breaking balls in the middle of the plate as a righty um he'll swing over the top of those whereas, you know, if you're, if you're writing, you hang a curveball, like, Cal's probably going to hit it hard. So, yeah, Cal, I believe is now- I didn't realize that he had six ribs last night. I didn't have the couple of home runs, and then he missed what would have been his first home run of the night by like a couple feet on the double. But still, like, I didn't know he'd drove in six runs last night. Geez. Yeah, the weather report says that if conditions were calm in the first inning, that would have been a home run.

Starting point is 00:06:57 he would have had three. But yeah, you know, Cal's on kind of another planet right now, too. He's not, you know, going 17 for 22 or anything like that. Sure, sure. He'll still have probably not bad a night where you're just like, I mean, that's, I'd like that to clean up a little bit. But yeah, he's smoking the ball like pretty much every game. He's putting up one or two hard hit balls.

Starting point is 00:07:23 And he has eight home runs this month. And I think 15 since the break. Like he is just, it's just insane what Cal is doing right now. And, and, you know, the Mariners need it. And, you know, the buffer of Tom Murphy is not really there either. So they need Cal to continue to produce from this spot. And he has. And hey, you know what?

Starting point is 00:07:43 Cow Raleigh is now, as of today, he is now tied with Will Smith for the highest F war amongst all catchers in baseball, all qualified catchers in baseball. sure um i think jona high might still be slightly ahead of him what is cal's w rc plus up to 113 okay okay yeah he was kind of hovering around league average for most of the year i think it was like 95 to 100 for most of the year yeah yeah uh but yeah really nice to see and you know we were talking about lineup construction yesterday uh and i think you know when there's a writing on the mound you have to get cal in the top four year lineup have to like dude's just seeing the ball so well right now and he is destroying everything

Starting point is 00:08:25 that he's putting the bat on. So it's awesome. He's so much fun to watch. This offense in general right now is so much fun to watch. I mean, Teo last night had a couple of rough hat bats, but he also ended up collecting two hits still, had the two run,

Starting point is 00:08:40 home run. He's still pretty hot right now. So, you know, that's just going to be the thing with Teo, right? Like the strikeouts, that's always going to happen even when he's hot. But, I mean, if you can get games like that out of Teo

Starting point is 00:08:52 from your five spot, and maybe your sixth spot once Julio comes back. I mean, your lineup is in a really, really good place. So yeah, so just super stoked by everything that we're seeing out of this Mariners lineup, especially last night. And I'm going to add Julio back to the mix tonight. So looking forward to that. So let's talk more about tonight's game.

Starting point is 00:09:15 Brian Wu is making his return to the mound going up against Mike Clevenger. You can catch all the action on the Maris Hometown Broadcast with Sirius XM via the XXM app. Let's talk about all of it in just a moment, but first, a reminder, this episode of the Locked On Mirrors podcast is brought to you by Bird Dogs. Now, there's nothing in this world that's more comfortable than a pair of shorts from Bird Dogs. Coming in a variety of colors with breathable, stretchy fabric and built-in underwear, Bird Dog shorts are perfect for going to a barbecue, chilling on the beach, taking in a baseball game, just lounging around the house. In fact, they're perfect for recording a podcast then. Trust me, I would know.

Starting point is 00:09:52 And not only do they have a wide selection of shorts, but they also have joggers, sweatpants, polos, and more. It's time to look good, feel good, and play good. Go to birddogs.com slash locked on MLB or enter promo code Locked On MLB for a free white tech hat with any order. You won't want to take your bird dogs off, we promise you. And you're listening to the Lockdown Mariners podcast. Thank you again for making us your first listen.

Starting point is 00:10:18 Again, you can catch the White Sox in the Mariners game two of this series tonight on the mayor's hometown broadcast for serious xm be the sxm app again that's going to be brian woo against mike clevenger and uh we'll talk about our expectations for woo in a little bit here uh but i want to start here colby last night hose cabiero came into the game late he was hit by a pitch on his elbow by brent honeywell and the uh the marer's dugout took exception to it nothing came of that uh the first base umpire had to uh settle them down a little bit. What did you think about all that?

Starting point is 00:10:54 And do you think this might carry over into tonight? Yeah, it was a little weird that the Mariners seemed to take such exception with Cabby getting hit. Like, I get it. He's been hit a lot on this road trip. And we don't know what's happening behind the scenes. For all we know, something was said pregame or, you know, we just, we don't know. But that was a little weird, a little overreactionary, a little aggressive.

Starting point is 00:11:15 But, yeah, I'm not overly concerned about it. The Mariners are in the middle of a playoff race. So I don't think that they're going to risk suspension. But yeah, you know, the White Sox also, they don't care. And I mean that both in the good way and the bad way. They clearly have given up on the season. They're going through the motions right now. And, you know, might they take a shot at the Mariners again?

Starting point is 00:11:42 Maybe they might, but or for the first time maybe. But yeah, I thought it was weird. I thought it was a little, a little overprotective. I get it. You know, Cabby has been hit a lot for as few at bats as he's had this year. France had been hit earlier in the game. So I don't know if maybe that was part of it or what the deal is there.

Starting point is 00:12:02 But yeah, I thought it was a little weird because when it happened, I didn't think for one second that that was intentional. It was like nine to one already. Yeah. Yeah, that game was fully in hand. Maybe what the mirrors were taking an exception with was just like, look, we won this game.

Starting point is 00:12:18 Just throw strikes. Let's just get out of here. Maybe that's what it was, but still, I don't have any issue with that, really. I know that Cabby's been hit a lot. He's been hit five times now on this road trip alone, 17 times, I believe, on the season in total. But still, like, let's not risk anything happening here. You know, Colby and I, we are team brawl, but I would more prefer if they are going to get into a scrap with a team, that it would happen earlier on in the season, not when they're playing their hottest ball of

Starting point is 00:12:50 the year where they would risk, you know, suspensions or potential injuries, anything like, I don't really want them to get into any sort of altercation here if they don't need to. So, yeah, so I would just prefer that the mayor is chill on that. I don't really know why they were going too hard with it because even after first base umpire, you know, warn them to just, you know, cut it out, they still kept on twisting the knife a little bit, you know, Julio and Gino at the time. the top of the step we're still talking a little bit let's let it go it's fine you won the game you kick their ass just let the scoreboard do the talking and let's just move on um but yeah hopefully

Starting point is 00:13:33 nothing you know carries over into tonight because again that's that's that's really my concern right is just suspensions you know anything that would break up the momentum of what you got going on right now because you are so so hot right now yeah so yeah so you don't want to do do anything that messes that up. So Brian Wu is back tonight making his first start in the last couple weeks. We still don't know if it was a fan of my Allston or whatever. We really won't know. I mean, maybe we'll know.

Starting point is 00:14:06 We'll be able to use deductive reasoning here to tell if that was, you know, that or not. We've talked a little bit about this over the last couple shows, but what are your expectations for Wu specifically tonight? Yeah, I'm not sure. Here's the beauty of last night's game that can impact today's game. Bullpen got a full reset. I mean, no disrespect to Bizarro or a macaquecan, but they're barely a part of this bullpen.

Starting point is 00:14:37 One of them is getting sent down today. You know, so those are the only guys you use because, you know, Luis Castillo showed just how little respect he had for the White Sox lineup up by finishing his outing, throwing 47 straight fastballs. And I think, I think the White Sox got two hits out of those 47 fastballs. One of them was a, was a jam shot that fell into left field. So yeah, if there really is a problem with the White Sox hitting the fastball, that's great because that's Brian Woo's bread and butter. And he has a shot to, you know, rack up some outs here.

Starting point is 00:15:11 But I don't think they need to push it because they do also have the off day on Thursday. So the bullpen is going to be in good shape. you know, regardless of how many innings they have to cover tonight. So I don't know. It'll be interesting to see if the Mariners try and take them, like let's say it's three to nothing or whatever after four and the mariners take them out. You know, maybe that's that's a sign that, hey, let's, let's, you know, ease up here a little bit. But yeah, I think for me, the first thing I'm always concerned about when a guy comes off the IL. And again, we don't know if this was Phantom or not.

Starting point is 00:15:45 But either way, I'm always concerned about command, you know, can you. you keep the ball out of the middle of the plate because, you know, the White Sox, well, the lineup is bad. Like that's a bad offense. Robert can hurt you. Eloy can hurt you. You don't want to make a mistake to Ben Attendee or, or sheets or anybody like that. So you do have to stay out of the middle of the plate.

Starting point is 00:16:06 But I do. My one concern isn't so much how many innings can Wu give you because they might short script them anyways with how good of a shape, how good of shape the bullpins in. my main concern is can he, you know, not implode and just kind of take you out of the game in the first two or three innings as he's trying to find his fastball command. That's mostly what I'm concerned about. So we'll see. It's a pretty righty heavy lineup if I'm remembering correctly, just two or three lefties in there.

Starting point is 00:16:35 So it's a lineup that in a matchup that should benefit Wu and what he's currently capable of doing. So my concern is just stay out of the middle of the plate. Don't walk guys, though. And, you know, just go, go your four or five innings, whatever it is, and just, you know, keep your team in the game, let this offense work. So, yeah, I'm just, I'm looking, you know, the easiest thing to tell is fastball velocity is the 95, 96. But I think command and controller are equally important here.

Starting point is 00:17:03 So he's in the middle of the plate or is he on the corners. And I think if he's on the corners, that gives you a pretty good idea about where he's at. Yeah, if it's the same lineup as last night, it'll be four lefties, I believe, Benetendi and then Coloss and then the two switch hitters and Moncada and Grandal. So yeah,

Starting point is 00:17:21 so it's still going to be a righty righty favored lineup for the white sucks. So, yeah, we'll see how it goes. I mean, just if he can give you five, great. Totally cool with that. You know, because I think the

Starting point is 00:17:36 mayor's offense should be able to get the job done here. And I mean, Mike Clevenger is having a pretty decent year and he's had a good stretch here over the last seven games but they've also you know and this isn't really how this works right because it's different teams different rosters but they have historically owned my Clevenger he's running like a seven six IRA against the Mariners and three starts so uh i think they should be able to take care of business here and uh if we gets a comfortable lead and he's able to give you five and you can just hand this thing off to the bullpen huge success huge

Starting point is 00:18:08 success, especially with the day game tomorrow. Got George Kirby on the mound. Hopefully he can give you, you know, six or seven. And get out of Chicago looking good and head into the off day, feeling pretty good about yourself before you play Kansas City and Oakland at home. So I think there's a pretty good chance here that the mayors can sweep this team. This is kind of the big factor tonight. I feel pretty good about tomorrow's game. But this kind of leads me to the last thing that I wanted to talk to you about is the division, right? Because we've talked about how many wins the Rangers have had banked, but marries have won seven in a row, Rangers have lost four in a row, and all

Starting point is 00:18:47 of a sudden the Marys are now two games back. So, I mean, it's impossible to not talk yourself into the division at least a little bit, but how are you feeling about this right now? That it's still unlikely. But simple fact of the matter is, if you get to the last, you know, two weeks of the season and you're within two games, you play the Rangers seven times. Like it's very much a realistic possibility. But I think that's the mark. You have to be within two games when you start that last 10 game stretch. Because, you know, Texas has handled you this year.

Starting point is 00:19:22 So they are probably going to have the tiebreaker. I think they're five and one against you. So they have to win just two more games out of those seven to have the tiebreaker. So you have to pass. them. So in reality, you're more like three games back. Um, so I, I would say that, uh, the division's still unlikely, but it's definitely higher than zero. Uh, and, uh, yeah, so I, obviously you're still watching the Texas scoreboard and, uh, it's, I'm not going to say that. It's, it's impossible because it's certainly not. You're two games back. You can absolutely,

Starting point is 00:20:02 you can make up two games in the next two days. Like, there's a chance you come home on Friday. And you're leading the division. It's a small chance, very small, but it's not zero. But I think for me, you know, as long as, as long as you're staying close, you're in a shouting distance of that division lead, it's a very realistic possibility. I do think Texas will start to play better. But yeah, and obviously the mayors are at some point, again, going to drop three in a row or something like that.

Starting point is 00:20:34 Might they go on to win seven in a row right after like they have this time? Sure, they might. But at some point, they're going to drop some games. Like this is going back and forth. But if you get into the final month at the year and you're within three games, you have a legitimate shot of anything. And then, so yeah, I understand the excitement. That's great.

Starting point is 00:20:54 It does seem kind of like there is, I guess I would say like the most important thing about being that close to the division is that there's another out, so to speak. Yeah. There's another playoff spot open to you. So instead of just fighting for that number three wild card spot and that's your only way in, now you could possibly win the three. You can win the two. You can win the division. You might even run down the race.

Starting point is 00:21:18 So that's four of the six playoff spots that you could conceivably win. And that's huge to have more than one path to the postseason. So yeah, it's it's certainly exciting. But it's ultimately going to come down to how will you play over the next six weeks, five weeks now. And yeah, if it comes down to the final series of the year, awesome. Yeah, that sounds incredibly nerve-wracking, but also really fun, really, really freaking fun. But yeah, I mean, you know, and I hate this term, really, but there's a pretty good chance you might control your own destiny here as far as the division goes when you get towards the end of the season. I mean, like, technically, I think they have 37 games left.

Starting point is 00:22:04 If you go 37 and 0, you're winning the division. So, yeah, technically. No, no, no. But I mean, you know, like if you handle business against Texas at the end of the year, you might win the division that way, right? So, yeah. So just keep winning series, keep winning ball games. And maybe we could have a pretty fun,

Starting point is 00:22:25 but anxiety-inducing a couple of series against the Texas Rangers at the end of the end of September and the start of October. Oh, good Lord. Those 10 games might kill me. Yeah. And we won't even be in the playoffs yet. There's playoffs to be played after those series. You're not even going to be like clinched a playoff spot when those 10 games.

Starting point is 00:22:47 So like it's not only are you like, oh, we're trying to pass Houston and we're trying to pass Texas for the division. We're trying to push back the Blue Jays from. Yeah, but also if you get smoked, you could like lose out on the playoffs entirely. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's that's going to be. Can we just win like the next like 12 in a row just to kind of like. That would be great.

Starting point is 00:23:06 That would be incredible. But, uh, but, hey man, if you, if you do take care of business, new banners going up in right field. That'd be pretty cool. Sure. And we'll see how people complain about this one. But, uh, but, uh, yeah. Uh, like Ty said, you just got to keep winning series at the end of the day.

Starting point is 00:23:24 Like, you could, you could just as easily drop today's game as you could win it. It's not the end of the world. You pick it up. You're in a good spot. You have a full game buffer. Uh, you know, so one loss isn't. just going to like you just kind of been yo-yoing back and forth here but now you have a full game so even if you lose and Toronto wins today it's like okay we're tied we have the tiebreaker

Starting point is 00:23:43 blah blah blah so take a deep breath they're going to drop a game they shouldn't drop they're going to the bullpen's going to blow a lead or something like this is mostly me talking to me the the offense is going to go quiet for you know two or three days in a row and they're going to struggle against bad pitching at some like all these things are going to happen in the next 37 games yeah but if they win 25 of them. You have to feel pretty darn good about your chances of getting into the playoffs. And I don't even think they have to win 25 with them. My thing has been 90 all year, get to 90. And I think you have a very good shot. And they have to go 20 and 17 down the stretch to get to 90.

Starting point is 00:24:22 Yeah. And every day, that number gets closer and closer to 500. So yeah, I'm not saying like they have to sweep Kansas City. They have to sweep the white socks. They don't. They have to win these series. That's it. just take two out of three repeatedly over and over again because you've done the hard part, right? You've done the part where you've won your 17 of 20 or whatever it is. Like just insane numbers. Now you just have to just win series. You're going to drop a series. That's fine.

Starting point is 00:24:48 Don't panic. Just win the next one. Like, you know, and there's going to be stretches where, you know, you're going to go five and five in a 10 game stretch. And that's going to be perfectly okay, even though you drop like a game and a half in the standings. Like it's going to be okay. Just relax. Self, self therapy. with Colby Patnode.

Starting point is 00:25:08 promo code CTZ. Check out. But, yeah, it's again, you know, when you get to the final 37 games, it's tough to say a lot of baseball to be played.

Starting point is 00:25:23 Because it's not, but also it kind of is. Yeah, I mean, a lot can happen in six weeks. A lot can change. I mean, a lot has changed within the last six weeks for the mirrors.

Starting point is 00:25:34 Right. I mean, especially when like your, your position. in the playoffs right now is tenuous at best. Yeah. Despite it how well you're playing. Like you're a bad, bad couple days and you're on the outside looking in again.

Starting point is 00:25:46 Yeah. So we'll see how it goes. But, uh, yeah, obviously the mayor is playing really good ball right now. And, you know, it'd be nice that they can take the, if they take the game tonight and then tomorrow's just kind of a, you don't want to say a bonus game,

Starting point is 00:25:58 but you know, you got the series in your back pocket. You can kind of manage that game accordingly. So, uh, yeah, I'm just, I'm just worried about winning series at this point. I don't think that you,

Starting point is 00:26:08 you've, You've swept the teams you need to sweep to sweep. You know, you've won that that long, that incredible stretch they had to go on or whatever. You've done that now. So just win series. You'll be fine. Colby, can you win a division in the first corner? Yes.

Starting point is 00:26:27 We'll see about that. That's the test with the Rangers. I mean, we'll see. We'll see. That's going to do it for our show. Thank you so much for joining us here on the Lockdown Mirrors podcast. Again, you can catch the Mariners on the White Sox tonight on the Mariners' hometown broadcast

Starting point is 00:26:42 with Sirius XM via the SXM app. Colby Pat Note, I'm Tadangazas. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter at LO underscore Mariners. You can follow me at Dane Gonzalez. It's D-A-N-ZL-Z and Colby at C-Pad 11. That's C-P-A-T-1-1. You can also find all that stuff in the description of this episode. Thank you again for making us to your first listen.

Starting point is 00:27:01 Have yourself a beautiful baseball day. We'll see you after the game tomorrow. Peace.

Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - The Seattle Mariners Are Only TWO GAMES BACK of the AL West Lead!

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