Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - These 8 Players Could Significantly Alter the Mariners 2024 Hopes

Episode Date: March 20, 2024

We know a lot rides on the shoulders of Julio Rodríguez, Cal Raleigh, Luis Castillo, and the rest of the Mariners' core players in order for Seattle to reach the playoffs and more in 2024. But beyond... them lie several players the M's are banking on to help them get over the hump and back into October. Ty and Colby go over eight of them, including Dominic Canzone, Ty France, and Bryan Woo.Ask us questions!Follow the show on Twitter: @LO_Mariners | @TyDaneGonzalez | @CPat11Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!IbottaRight now, Ibotta is offering our listeners $5 for just trying Ibotta by using code LOCKEDONMLB. Just go to the app store and download the free Ibotta app to start earning cash back now.Amazon Fire TVFire TV recently created Fire TV Channels to deliver a constant supply of the latest videos from your favorite sports brands, all for free. That includes all of us at Locked On and most of the big pro leagues and college conferences as well. To Learn More, visit www.amazon.com/LockedOnFireTV PrizePicksGo to PrizePicks.com/lockedonmlb and use code lockedonmlb for a first deposit match up to $100! eBay MotorsWith all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to turn your car into the MVP and bring home that win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. FanDuelNew customers, join today and you’ll get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS if your first bet of FIVE DOLLARS or more wins. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started. 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.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Which Mariners could significantly alter the course of the team season. We'll discuss that coming up here on the Locked on Marriss 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 Wednesday, March 20th, 20, 24.
Starting point is 00:00:23 This is tighting is Alice and Colby Baton for the Lockdowner's podcast, brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use the promo code Locked On. L-C-K-D-O-N for $20 off your first purchase. Thank you so much for making us your first. Listen, subscribe, like, and turn 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.
Starting point is 00:00:44 And if you're part of the crew and rock with us every single day, let us know in the comments below. We'd love to hear from you. And if you want to hear from us even more, please consider signing up for our Patreon. You can now get a free seven-day trial to check out the show. The link as well as our social accounts is in the description of this episode. And today we're talking all about swing players or some call them seesaw players for the 2024 Mariners. Now, Comrade Colby, what is a seesaw player?
Starting point is 00:01:09 Yeah, you know, I don't know if I've ever heard anybody else use the term seesaw player. Maybe you have, but it's literally because I couldn't think of the word swing player. So I just called him a Csaw player. So I don't know if that's a thing that I just subconsciously know or if I've been to that. I feel like I've heard that before. I'm sure somebody has come up with it. It's kind of obvious. Seesaw player is, you know, something that.
Starting point is 00:01:28 A player who can tilt the balance of your season. He can, you know, he can raise you up or he can drop you down depending on how well he plays. So, you know, I think we all understand the concept of a swing player. If this player is good, it helps a lot. If this player is bad, it hurts a lot. But they're also typically players who, you know, their production is up in the air. Like the likelihood that they produce is a little bit up in the air. Like, it's kind of hard to say Julio Rodriguez is a seesaw player because you know that his like low.
Starting point is 00:01:58 is like pretty stable. Like it's, it's pretty good. Like that's, that's his low. It's also too easy to say, or Cal or JP, obviously. You know, a lot of the Mariners success rides on those guys. Sure. So these are guys who there's questions about their production,
Starting point is 00:02:13 maybe, or their availability. There's questions. And if they think low, then they could blow up the Mariners season. If they raise up, they can, you know, they could propel them to new heights.
Starting point is 00:02:25 So it's kind of, you know, just finding guys who, who's productive. will dictate exactly how far this mariner team can actually go and how many games they can win. So I think we all understand the concept of a swing player. So I want to start with Dom Canzone. And honestly, we can just talk about the corner outfielders in general.
Starting point is 00:02:43 So Mitch Hanager, Luke Rayleigh as well. But I want to specifically focus on Canzone because this offseason, the roster was built in a way that Canzone's roster spot was never really truly threatened. It seems like they're very high on Canzone And a lot of people have been riding In that hype train as well I mean, you know, like we talked about yesterday You ask most Mariners fans or people that cover the Mariners
Starting point is 00:03:07 Who do you think is going to break out in 2024? A lot of the time and the answer is Dom Canzone So let's talk a little bit about Dom canzone here, Colby. What do you think? Dom is is interesting. By the way, he does Dom or Dominic. He's fine with both apparently. A little PSA there.
Starting point is 00:03:25 Canzone's interesting. Obviously, he's had a nice spring. And last year when he came up with Arizona and then when he was traded to Seattle, he certainly flashed a lot of really interesting traits. He's actually a pretty good runner. Like, I mean, he runs well. He's not a base dealer per se, but pretty good speed. He has significant power.
Starting point is 00:03:44 It is plus raw power and a track record of hitting in the miners at just about every single level. He doesn't strike out a ton. He draws some walks. He's a good, he's a good, he's a good. looking player. There's a lot of reason for optimism when you look at somebody like Kanzon. There's also some red flags, beige flags, whatever you want to call them. You know, for starters last year, he looked really bad against lefties. Now, he still produced some against them, but the swing is really highly susceptible to breaking balls
Starting point is 00:04:16 from left-handed hitters. He kind of gets off balance. He kind of flails. And when he swings and misses, typically it looks pretty ugly. Like there are some. And that's still been prevalent this spring as well. Right. Now, that doesn't mean that he can't hit lefties. It just means that when he struggles against lefties, it's probably going to look pretty bad. But there are obviously signs here that this is a guy who he has 30 home run power. That's certainly, you know, on the table if he gets enough at bats. He's had he's hit for a high average at every single level he's played in.
Starting point is 00:04:48 He didn't strike out last year at the big league level and he hasn't struck out, you know, pretty much throughout his entire career. So he's going to put the ball in play. He hits the ball hard. He's a pretty good athlete. There's a lot of tools here. There's a lot of, you know, exciting tantalizing things to dream about with Kanzone. But there's also some big questions as tantalizing as those skills were last year.
Starting point is 00:05:08 He didn't hit outside of a couple weeks in August. I mean, his sub 100 WRC plus. We saw some really bad at bats against selecties. You know, we know that he's not a great defender out there. He's at best fringe average. And I would say he's, for me, he's like a 40 glove, 45 glove. Now it's possibly gets better because, again, he does have the speed to play a better corner outfield than he does. But as we know, with Jonathan Clause say, it's not always about speed.
Starting point is 00:05:38 It's about instinct and getting jumps on the ball and then taking good routes and good angles. So we'll see. Canzone's off to a really good start this spring. We'll see if that carries over. And we'll see how much playtime he gets because they're not going to just bench Mitch Henniger for weeks at a time. Like they're not going to just bench Luke Rayleigh for weeks at a time. He's kind of in this rotation with these two other guys. And obviously, Dylan Moore will get some opportunities, particularly against lefties.
Starting point is 00:06:04 So if Canzone breaks out in a way, a lot of people are predicting 25 homers, you know, 1 15 WRC plus, you know, he's probably a three-win player, even with the defense. If he, if it's just kind of what we saw last year, he's a fringe roster guy who still has upside, but he's not a guy that you don't consider, you know, going down to the miners and calling up Cade Marlowe or Samad Taylor or any of those guys to see maybe they might fare better. So if Canzone is what people think he could be, the Mariners lineup very well could be one through nine just like all above average hitters, which would be massive. Obviously, this would rely a lot on what happens at third base, but as well. but Canzone is a guy who carries a lot of upside, carry some question marks.
Starting point is 00:06:51 And if he's really good, he gives you that another left-handed hitting power bat in this lineup that can really lengthen it and turn it from a pretty good offense. I would say above average offense to it could be great. If Dom Canzone can be a 120 WRC plus guy this year. Now that's a big jump. That's like what, 50 points higher than he was last year, 50% better.
Starting point is 00:07:12 So it's a big jump, but it's there. The potential is there. Um, so we'll see and, and I don't love that they didn't build the roster where like Canzone was where you had to earn it. Right. Now he probably has. He's again, he's had a really nice spring.
Starting point is 00:07:28 Yeah, no, he has. He looks better like he's thicker in the lower, on the lower half. And like he just looks like he's what, you know, more well put together. Uh, so it looks like you put in the work, uh, this winter. And so far it's showing, uh, in the results. And that's great. but I'll have to see. Canzon is the guy who could turn the Mariners offense
Starting point is 00:07:48 from pretty good to really good if he is really good. Yeah, he's the one position player that's currently set to make this roster out of camp that you don't really have any sort of history of production at the Major League level. You know, even someone like Luke Rayleigh had that first half last year. You know, again, the big issue with this offense in general is the injuries. There isn't a lot of performance risk in my mind
Starting point is 00:08:13 because a lot of these guys have done it and they've done it recently. You're not really asking them to be anything that they haven't been, except for Kanzone. Now quickly, you know, Mitch Hanager, Luke Rayleigh, what are their ceilings and what could they do for the Marys this year?
Starting point is 00:08:28 If they hit those ceilings and if they don't, if they bottom out, what does that do for the Marys? Rayleigh's ceiling is what he did last year, 130 WRC plus above league average on base, above league average slugging, above league average, batting average, not elite in any of those categories, but above average. He's going to swing and miss. He's going to strike out. That's going to be part of his game.
Starting point is 00:08:51 He's going to hit home runs. And he'll still a couple bags. And he'll play pretty decent defense in the outfield. So his ceiling is basically what he did last year, just if he could be more consistent with it, then that would help out a lot. But even if he can't, even if he has a year exactly like he did last year, he's going to help you. Hanager's sealing is really all based on health. There's very little doubt in my mind that he is still. still a 110 to 120 WRC plus type of bat. We know the power will play. So counting stats wise, who knows how often he's going to play. But I think, you know, 250 about league average on base and probably a high 400,
Starting point is 00:09:26 low 500 slugging, certainly in the cards for Hanager. And Hanager has also looked great this spring healthy. Amazing. Yeah, driving the ball to all fields. So we'll see how long he can stay healthy. You know, there's a non-zero chance that he's able to give you 500 play. late appearances and you know you get 30 home runs and and you know 100 rbi like you did in 2021 so uh it's it's certainly in the range of outcomes it's just not super likely because of the
Starting point is 00:09:55 injury of history there unfortunately but yeah Mitch looks very happy to be back in a merri's uniform he is swinging the bat really really well down in peoria right now all right so we're going to continue talking about our seesaw players or swing players for the 24 mariners and a moment, but first, a reminder, this episode of the Lockdown Aaron's podcast is brought to you by prize picks. Football season may be over, but the action on the floor is heating up. Whether it's tournament season or the fight for playoff home court, there is no shortage of high stakes basketball moments this time of year.
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Starting point is 00:10:59 Pick more, pick less. It's that easy. So yesterday, you may have seen on Twitter or on our community tab that the Mariners reached out to us about some comments Colby made towards the end of our Mailbag Monday episode this week. And again, while we thought it was made pretty clear that Colby was purely joking and never stated anything as fact and was more so talking about unpaid internships in a general manner, the Mariners did ask us to clarify that they do not have any unpaid positions within their organization. So it was not our intention to state otherwise as fact. And nothing we or more specifically Colby said regarding the Mariners internship positions were based on factual information. So just wanted to clear that up. Let's get back into the show.
Starting point is 00:11:43 And you're listening to the Lockdown Marys podcast. Thank you again for making us your first listen. And as you know, Lockdown has launched the first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel Locked On Sports Today. Baseball fans, mark your calendars for tonight at 7 p.m. Eastern for the best MLB season preview coming exclusively to Lockdown Sports Today. Tonight at 7 p.m. Eastern be the first to get insight from the MLB local experts of the Lockdown Podcast Network, including myself.
Starting point is 00:12:08 Find it tonight at 7 p.m. Eastern on the Lockdown Sports Today, 24-7 streaming channel on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app. So we've talked about Dom Kanzo and we've talked about the corner outfielders. Now let's talk about the corner infielders. Let's talk about Josh Rojas and Luis Arias. Because that's obviously, you know, outside of corner outfield, that's the biggest talking point with this roster right now. That's the biggest area of concern for a lot of people within the fan base right now.
Starting point is 00:12:38 So the Mariners are making a bet, Essentially. They moved on from Gino Suarez for a multitude of reasons. They are hoping that Luis Serius is closer to the guy that he was in 2021 and 2022 than he was in 2023. And they think that they've identified something here in Josh Rojas, who was pretty good in the second half after they acquired him. So if those guys hit their ceilings, what does that do for the mirrors? And if they bottom out, where do the mirrors go from there? Sure. This one's a little
Starting point is 00:13:11 sketchier than the corner outfield spot because if the corner outfield doesn't work out, you still have Marlowe, you still have Samad Taylor, you still have some levers to pull there. And finding a third baseman in season is much harder than finding a corner outfielder. So this one's a little bit,
Starting point is 00:13:30 it has a wider range of how it could help. Now, the beauty of it is, though, is that you really only need one of these guys to hit. If both of them do, it's a bonus. You have this really great 10th player that you can use. But you only need one. And so whichever one it was doesn't really matter. But both of these guys have very similar ceilings that they've already hit at the major league level.
Starting point is 00:13:54 Both of these guys have 110 WRC plus seasons in their back pocket already. Both of these guys have two win seasons in their back pocket already. Rojas was almost a three-win player in 2022. You know, so yeah, the ceilings of these guys are probably one, 10 to 120 WRC plus. I think they both have about 20 home run power. You know, I did you just get there one year? I can't remember if he just fell short or not.
Starting point is 00:14:22 Rojas certainly has shown that he has some power that the Diamondbacks either weren't willing to help him get to or they decided that that wasn't in the best interest or maybe Rojas made a change. But the Mariners definitely identified something. And Rojas, to me, looks like he has 20 home run power. was 600. There you go. So it was about 20 home run power, both above average hitters, above average on base.
Starting point is 00:14:47 And then you kind of see what you get with the slug. Rojas can steal some bags for you. Urius, not so much, but Ureas can move around. You can play short, you can play second. So both of these guys' ceilings, to me, two and a half three-win player. I would say, like, who has the higher ceiling? Probably Urius just because he's 26. So both of these guys, they could be three-win players.
Starting point is 00:15:11 They could be two-win players. Like they've already done that in their career before. So I think their ceiling is solid everyday player that a lot of teams would like to have at second base. They just happen to play third base for the Mariners. So that's their ceiling. And their floor is, you know, what they did last year. Both of what those guys got hurt last year. Now, Rojas was able to rebound a little bit after his, he got back from his hammy.
Starting point is 00:15:41 And he really, you know, really helps Seattle, especially in August. But he was fine in September. He came up with some big hits in September. Urias just could never really get going. And, you know, that led to some, there were some reports that he had some confidence issues more so than anything. And, you know, I don't know those reports are true. I've heard them. It doesn't really matter.
Starting point is 00:16:03 He's coming to spring, got off to a slow start, had the shoulder thing. there were some reports about his, you know, whether or not he was in shape. And since then he's played third base on back-to-back days. He's making the throws. He's producing at the plate. Like he looks fine. He doesn't look out of shape or anything like that. Like to me, he looks like he's back to what he was.
Starting point is 00:16:25 And Jerry was pretty much on when he was on the show, he mentioned that. Like we targeted, you know, Urias because he was a buy low. Essentially, he was the guy who got hurt last year and didn't rebound. We think he's a good player. We think he is what he was in 2021 and 2022. So, but their floors are that, you know, they both do what they did last year. And the Mariners have like a 75-ish WRC plus at third base and that's just not going to cut it. So all these guys have to do is be about league average to be fine.
Starting point is 00:16:55 You know, honestly, they could probably be 90 WRC plus and still be, the Mariners still be relatively fine based on, you know, how they make up for it at shortstop and center field and catcher. but I think their floors are, you know, platoon guys, part-time guys, you know, kind of Dylan Moorish. I think their ceilings are that they're both everyday players and you're kind of trying to figure out how to get both of them in the lineup as often as you can without taking away at bats from Jorge Polanco and, you know, Mitch Garber at DH.
Starting point is 00:17:27 And, you know, I think what would be great is if Rojas and Reyes both hit so much that you start talking about giving you or giving Rojas some, time in the outfield just to get his batten moment up. So, yeah, and he does have some experience out there. So, yeah, I think their ceilings are there. I think they both could be three one players.
Starting point is 00:17:43 You only need one of them to be. And then I think their floors are that you're, you have the potential to have a bit of a black hole. Because playing Dillon more every day at third base, not the answer. And there's just not a third basement in the system right now that is, is, you know, chomping at the bit and ready to go and you kind of step up and perform for you.
Starting point is 00:18:02 So wider range of outcomes. comes with these two, but I'm fairly confident that at least one of them will be solid all year. But yeah, if the Mariners are wrong, it's going to be pretty hard for them to find a solution there midseason, which is not really the case with the corner outfield, because historically, and, you know, like, things change in the market year to year, but historically speaking, it's pretty easy and relatively cheap to go out and find a corner outfield, especially a one-year stopgap type of player out there. Tommy fam Whereas at third base
Starting point is 00:18:38 It's just like this off season Not a lot of options out there So yeah we'll see how it goes But the Mariners kind of have to be right About at least one of those guys this year So we're going to turn our attention To the other corner infield spot In just a moment
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Starting point is 00:19:47 for the 2024 mariners tie france obviously winter drive line we we know the whole deal i don't need to go over it again if you know if you don't know what's been going on with tie france this off season you've been living under a rock if he figures it out if he gets back on track what is the ceiling and if he bottoms out what is that do for the marries. Well, thankfully the Mariners do have some levers to pull at first base. They have Luke Rayleigh who can definitely play first base. I mean, Dom Kanzone has some brief history there, although it seems like that's not a lever they want to pull. And, you know, you could defensively, you could fake it with Dylan Moore for a while and maybe Ty Locklear. We'll see
Starting point is 00:20:30 how he performs. But yeah, if France is good, and by good, we just need 2021, 2022 tie France. That makes the Mariners lineup one through seven, like really good. Like you're talking about JP, Julio, Polanco, Garver, Cow, France, I guess. And this is about if France is what he was in 2021, 2022, he's still probably the Mariners fifth or sixth best hitter at that point. Like how many teams have a lineup that is so deep that good Thai France wouldn't even get up until the, you know, with two outs in the second inning, you know. So it would make the lineup one of the deepest in the game.
Starting point is 00:21:21 It would also raise the floor of the entire operation. It would take more pressure off of the Julio's, more pressure off of the garbers, more pressure off of the cows that they don't have to do everything because we have this other guy who's been to an All-Star game and, you know, has 129 WRC plus is. a career high and it's it's different like the lineup is just different if tie franz is hitting sixth on a wednesday night against john gray or whatever something's gone very well for the mariners uh you know and and for tie france so uh france is is a key he's a he's a massive you know see saw player he might have the most sway uh over anybody uh in terms of which way the teeter totter balls uh canso might be up there just because we don't know what his ceiling is right now. And it feels like we know what France's ceiling is. But, you know, there might be 25 home
Starting point is 00:22:14 runs in Thai France still. There might be more power to go get. There might be a way that he can sustain, you know, a high 200s batting average and keep the on base skill and actually hit for more home runs. That's what he tried to do last year. He epically failed. Then it kind of looked like he tried to abandon ship halfway through the season, only to realize like, ah, it doesn't really work that way. So he tried to hop back on that ship. And it was a mess. Last year was an absolute mess. there was no consistency whatsoever. France became one of the streakyest hitters in baseball, and it all ended up in him being like about a league average bat.
Starting point is 00:22:45 You have to get more from your first baseman than a league average bat. So to me, France has to be a 120 WRC plus guy, or he's probably looking for a, you know, different employer next winter because you're just not going to tender the guy, $10 million contract if he's going to be a mediocre hitting first base. man. So France is a guy who can change things for you. He does it a little differently than the other right-handed hitters in this lineup too. He's not an exevalo guy, right? He's not a dead pole power guy. Like he's a guy who at his best uses the whole field, hits the ball in the gaps, line drives in the gap, not fly balls in the gap where things go to die. Line drives, you know, he'll chase, he'll expand the zone, but he'll still make contact and he'll push the ball through the right side. Like France is just different. He looks different at his best than pretty much every other hitter in this lineup, he does things differently, but he still has to produce at the end of the day.
Starting point is 00:23:42 And last year he got way outside of himself. He was trying to be something he wasn't caught up to him. And now this year, you know, he's talked about how his goal wasn't to get back to 2022 Thai France or whatever, but to find like a better player, that scares me a little bit because that's literally what he tried to do last year and it failed. And think about if Thai France had the kind of season he did in 21 or 22 last year, last year, the Seattle Mariners win the division.
Starting point is 00:24:10 Yeah. Like, I don't think that's debatable. Like, it's not because what he would have done when you have Geno striking out, when you have when you have Teo striking out, when you have Julio with his strikeout problem, you had Kellnick with his strikeout problems.
Starting point is 00:24:24 You had Cal with his strikeout problems. Ty France, even at his worst, just doesn't strike out that much. Yeah, he would have brought them. He's the guy who's in the middle of the lineup. Desperately needed balance. Yeah. He would have hit the fly ball to score the guy from third. He would have hit the soft single through the wide open right side to get the guy from
Starting point is 00:24:40 first to third. Like that's what Thai France can bring when he's good. When he's not, you're relying a lot on guys who don't make a lot of contact to make a lot of contact. And there were times last year where the Mariners one through or two through like seven were striking out at a spectacular rate. Some of them were able to fix it. Julio cut his strikeouts down significantly throughout the year. But some of them weren't. Gino kept on striking out. Tail kept on striking out.
Starting point is 00:25:08 And if you just had a guy in the middle who was just a good, solid hitter. Right. Exactly what Ty France had been for his entire career. You probably win a couple of those one-run games that you lost. And who knows? We might be talking about the Mariners as defending World Series champions. They get into the playoffs last year. That's the difference Thai France can make to your lineup.
Starting point is 00:25:29 A good Thai France. So he's incredibly important to this, a whole operation and that's why I'm a little concerned when he talks about like, oh, I'm not trying to get back to what I was. I'm trying to get to something I've never been. It's like, yeah, that's what you were last year. Like it works both ways. Right. Well, yeah, you, it kind of goes back to the Brant Brown conversation that we've talked about in just this roster in general, the conversation around this roster and that you're not, you're not in a position where you're having to ask guys to be something that they've never been before and
Starting point is 00:26:00 you don't need France to be something that he's never been before. You just need him to be good Thai France again, who's a guy that's going to put the ball in play a lot, and he's going to find grass a lot because of that. Now, that's not, you know, the traditional production you want out of first base, but I'd rather have that than him chasing 25 home runs and swinging and missing a lot,
Starting point is 00:26:26 which is not a part of his game. I mean, I think we all remember a strikeout. against Texas last year where the ball was almost outside of the other batters box and he flailed at it like that's not like typhrance will expand the zone but not to that degree and and he actually makes contact when he expands his own like he's a good bad ball hitter nobody's good enough to hit the pitches he was swinging at last year so so yeah it it was a disaster last year it was bad like i know he finished the year like what 103 w rc plus so disaster seems like a strong word would you consider what the mariners needed ty
Starting point is 00:27:00 France to be desperately and what he was unable to do for them, it ended up being a disaster. And that's how you missed the playoffs by a game or two. So lastly, let's talk Bryce Miller. Let's talk Brian Wu. Because we already feel very good about, you know, the one, two, three in this rotation. We talked about them, you know, a lot yesterday. But beyond those two guys, you have Miller, you have Wu, who sky's the limit for both of those guys. Sure.
Starting point is 00:27:24 Ceilings for both of those guys, you know, I think for 2024 specifically. mid-rotation starters, number threes. Those are the ceilings. The floor is that, you know, the league has a book on these guys now, particularly for Wu. He didn't appear to add any new pitches or anything like that. It looks like the same guy. And both of them struggle or one of them struggles.
Starting point is 00:27:49 And they're kind of fringy number five starters. And now you have to go and you have to make a decision between Brian Wu and Emerson Hancock, which, you know, gross. Like you don't have the starting pitching depth for really one of these guys to take a huge step back. And if both of them do, you might be screwed. So these two guys
Starting point is 00:28:09 they matter a lot. Yeah, because the alternative is probably trading decent to really good prospect capital for a pitcher. Right. And good luck finding starting pitching in July. We know how hard that is. So, especially with
Starting point is 00:28:26 pretty much every team still being a contender when the deadline rolls around. So it's just one of those things where you know if they're both if they both reach their ceiling the Mariners have the best rotation in baseball it's not close they're going to win the division
Starting point is 00:28:39 if they are what they are last year fine the Mariners have a shot they still have a shot you know if one of them takes a step and the other one takes a step back you're still an okay shape like ideally you want both them to take a step forward
Starting point is 00:28:54 I think if you have four guys if you have four legit dudes Like if Miller Wu takes that step forward and another guy takes a step back, okay, I can live with my number five not being in a great spot. Right. Finding a number five starter is easier than finding, you know, number three or number four even or two of them.
Starting point is 00:29:14 I can probably go get this year's Tyler Anderson for, you know, a Carter Ben's type of prospect. So yeah, it's just one of those things where both of the guys take steps forward, best rotation in baseball, it's not close, world series caliber rotation. If both of those guys
Starting point is 00:29:34 kind of say what they were last year, more or less, with maybe just a few more Polk endings thrown in there, still one of the best rotations in baseball, still could win a playoff series, go to the World Series, blah, blah, blah. Both those guys take a step forward. You might not win 85 games,
Starting point is 00:29:51 like, because you just don't have the pitching depth behind them to absorb losing both of them. and it doesn't necessarily mean losing them to injury, but just, you know, losing their production a little bit. So, you know, they're going to throw strikes. We know that. Like, that's not an issue. They're going to get fastball value.
Starting point is 00:30:11 But what else can they do? What other wrinkles are they adding this year so that the league doesn't just, you know, sit on the fastball all year and the Mariners struggle to get, you know, five, six innings out of these guys on a regular basis? So, yeah, there's a huge. variance there with the pitchers but I do think they carry relatively high floors so I do think last year's kind of the floor for them but you never know if just one thing goes wrong you're in pretty big trouble there if two things go wrong you might be screwed
Starting point is 00:30:46 both of these guys need to figure out how to get lefties out with some form of consistency woo more so than Miller but Miller didn't have a great time against lefties this past year either hopefully the splitter helps you know hopefully the splitter is first of all real that's going to have to be a legit weapon against lefties for him and then you know wooves we'll see because again it doesn't seem like woo's added anything so we'll see what he's tweaked at the very least neither guy has to be good against lefties but you can't turn every single lefty you face into Corey Seeger So you've got to find some middle ground here.
Starting point is 00:31:27 All right. So that is going to do it for our show. Let me remind myself, what are we doing tomorrow? Tomorrow we're doing overunders. So I'm going to present some overunders to Colby. Get his thoughts on those. Colby's going to present some overunders to me. Get my thoughts on those.
Starting point is 00:31:42 We'll have some fun. We're in the midst of our opening day prep. So a lot of prediction shows, a lot of, you know, all that kinds of stuff. So hope you guys are enjoying it. Hope you guys enjoyed yesterday's show. Hope you guys enjoyed this show. And then, of course, on Friday, we got Flag Day, where we're going to be planting our flag
Starting point is 00:32:00 and five Mariners each, which would be a lot of fun. But for now that's going to do it for our show. Before we get out of here, a reminder that Lockdown has launched the first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel on YouTube. And now it's also available on Amazon Fire TV and the free Fire TV channels app. Lockdown Sports Today is here for you 24-7 covering the top sports stories of the day
Starting point is 00:32:20 with the local experts of Locked on, plus our national shows covering every league. Find Locked On Sports Today, now available on the Fire TV channels app, which is, of course, free. Thank you so much for joining us here on the Lockdown Mariners podcast. For Colby Pat Nod, I'm Tadangazos. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter at L.O underscore Mariners.
Starting point is 00:32:41 You can follow me at Ty Dane Gonzalez and Colby at C-Pat 11. That's C-PAT-1-1. You can also find all that stuff in the description of this episode. Thank you again for making us your first listen. have yourself a beautiful baseball day. We'll see you next time. Peace.

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