Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - What Would a GOOD Road Trip Look Like For the Seattle Mariners?

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Mariners have six games to go before their schedule gets a whole lot easier. We'll talk about what they need to accomplish on this road trip in order to stay competitive in the playoff race coming up. 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 Friday, August 28, 2026. My name is Tadding Azales, and I'm joined as always by my co-cove Colby Patnode on today's show.

Starting point is 00:00:35 We'll talk about Kate Anderson's next start, what we're hoping to see from it as well as the rest of the weekend series. But we start with the upcoming road trip as a whole. Three games in Toronto, three games in Boston. After that, the mayors, of course, have an incredibly light schedule in the month of September, which includes four against the A's at home. Three against the A's at home. Three against the A's on the road. Three against the Angels on the road. Three against the Rockies on the road.

Starting point is 00:01:03 two against the Astros at home and then four against the Angels at home to wrap up the regular season. So, Colby, what do you think the Mariners need to do on this road trip in order to stay within striking distance of both the Wild Card and the AL West? Yeah. It's a bit of a tough situation because what do the Rangers do? What do the Astros do? And who knows, because I could say they have to go three and three, but they could go two and four and pick up a game on both of them for all we know. That's how bad this division is.

Starting point is 00:01:44 So, yeah, it's a bit tricky to say because of that. But I do think in general, three and three, I think they have to find a way to win one of these series, hopefully the Toronto one, if I got to pick. but yeah it does feel like they need to go three and three again like i said to be fair they could go two and four and not lose any ground and to me at least my attention's on the division uh the wild card there's just too many teams bunched up too many teams you don't have the tiebreaker against uh to to focus on that and plus you know you want to win the division you

Starting point is 00:02:25 want those home playoff games so uh that's kind of where my focus is at so losing ground the Blue Jays doesn't really matter so long as you don't lose that much ground to Houston or Texas. So again, it's a bit of a tricky question to answer. But I think three and three, if they go three and three, then they had a really, honestly, a phenomenal, you know, month of August, considering the schedule and considering how poorly they were playing entering the month. So I think three and three, you know, again, two and four could be fine. but they go three and three probably sitting pretty if they go four and two

Starting point is 00:03:04 if they win both of these series I mean at that point it it might be GG like that that's how weak and pathetic the American League West is with the schedule the Mariners have that being said they might go five and one

Starting point is 00:03:17 and then get swept in a four game series against the Angels because you know the Mariners so it's tricky situation just because of how little control the Mariners actually have over their own destiny relative to where they typically are. But yeah, I think 3 and 3 is probably the goal here.

Starting point is 00:03:36 Again, Toronto, they're what half game ahead of you, but they're thrown cease and Soriano. So that makes them a very difficult schedule. And then Boston's been like the best team in baseball for the last three months. And obviously, Fenway Park. typically not a good situation for the Mariners. So 3 and 3 I think is where I'm at. They could find a way to do that.

Starting point is 00:04:02 That would be phenomenal, but it will not be easy. So, you know, got to find a way to grind out a couple wins here like they did on the homestand. And if they get blown out in one of these games, so be it. Just come back the next day and score five or six runs in the first inning.

Starting point is 00:04:16 And, you know, like they, like they do or like they have done for the last, you know, two times they got blown out. Yeah. what was it 41 to 2 41 to 2 yeah

Starting point is 00:04:28 yeah so we'll see how it goes for him but yeah it's you gotta avoid disaster at the very least yeah I think yeah to me it's just whatever combination

Starting point is 00:04:41 of wins and losses keeps you pretty much in the same spot that you're in at the very least which is three games back of first place in the AOS and obviously you have the tiebreaker over the Astros

Starting point is 00:04:53 so you just need to make up those three games. And, you know, looking at the Rangers schedule in the month of September, four against the rays, three against you, three against the Diamondbacks, three against the Red Sox, three against the Blue Jays, three against the Mets who are playing better as of late, and then three against the twins to wrap up the season. You're going to make up three games on them, or you'll have the opportunity to make up three games on them.

Starting point is 00:05:18 And then the Astros have three against the White Sox, three against the Diamondbacks, three against the Phillies, three against the Ray. three against the Royals who are the hottest team on the planet right now, three against the Braves, two against you and then four against the A's. Yeah, you'll have the opportunity to make up three games on the Astros for sure. Or so of September. Sure. You stay within three games.

Starting point is 00:05:42 I think you're in a good spot. If it gets to like four, five, six by the end of this road trip, that's a lot, even with how relatively easy your schedule is. and how relatively hard the Astros schedule especially is and you know the Ranger's schedule as I listed is also pretty difficult it's just there that might be too

Starting point is 00:06:04 too many games to make up at that point so yeah you're just saying that two to four games back range by the end of this thing no matter how it looks yeah it's worth noting that the Astros play the Mets this weekend the Mets are playing much better baseball

Starting point is 00:06:22 as of late so although again the asteros just took two or three from the Yankees in Yankee Stadium so who knows these are baseball games literally anything can happen and the Rangers are playing the Brewers so we'll see how it goes but as we often know who the Mariners play what the pitching matchups are they've rarely mattered at all this year with the exception of you know going up against still and cease I think we know how this game is going to go or at least how it's going to look the final result.

Starting point is 00:06:56 I don't know. They beat Zach Wheeler. I mean, things have happened. They beat Max Reed 1 to nothing. The Blue Jays have also really struggled to score runs as of late. Yeah. So we'll see.

Starting point is 00:07:09 We'll see how it goes tonight. Again, you don't know the outcome. I think we know kind of the way the game's going to look. But they beat Max Reed 1 to nothing on the road not too long ago. So could they do something similar to C's? Sure. And you know what? They also dropped what?

Starting point is 00:07:22 eight on Zach Wheeler. Could cease have a bad day and could they do that to him? Probably not. But I mean, like, it's within the range of possible outcomes. So it is going to be an interesting series to say at least. But yeah, it's just survive these six games, find a way to treadwater as best you can. And then you get into the meet of your schedule. They're playing better baseball.

Starting point is 00:07:47 So it's possible they go on this East Coast trip and they win both series. And, you know, we're talking about them as the prohibitive favorite to win the ALS at that point. Yeah, that's possible. It's also possible to go 0 and 6. Like, this team is just. It's weird. Yeah. They don't make any sense.

Starting point is 00:08:08 Very mediocre team. Any outcome would not be surprising. No, they're a very mediocre team. And mediocre teams can win six in a row just as easily as they could lose six in a row. So, you know, who's to say what we're going to get here? But yeah, you just kind of got to continue to play pretty good. They play like they did on the homestand. I think they'll be fine.

Starting point is 00:08:28 I think they'll at least tread water. But again, they had like one good home stand since May. So can they do it to, you know, can they do it for like a homestead and a road trip back to back? I guess we're fixing to find out. So the mayors have yet to formally announce their rotation plans for this weekend against the Toronto Blue Jays, which is kind of wild, considering that first pitch of this series is in like five hours from the time of this recording.

Starting point is 00:09:03 I think it's going to be Emerson Hancock. That's how things are lined up. And then tomorrow, it should be Kate Anderson. So I want to talk more about Anderson's second start, his first road start of his major league career and what we expect to see from him and hope to see from him. In just a moment, but first a reminder, this episode of the longtime errors podcast is brought to you by Indeed.

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Starting point is 00:10:51 and you're listening to the Lockdown Mariner's podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Thank you so much for making us your first listen for all things, Mariners. And also thank you for making the locked on the number one sports podcast network. So again, I think Emerson Hancock is pitching tonight for the Mariners. And I think Kate Anderson is pitching tomorrow for the Mariners in game two of the series with the Blue Jays. I really hope so because I spent almost $200 on a ticket to go to that game because the get-in price

Starting point is 00:11:23 for this series are insane and still are even with just a few hours before tonight's first pitch. I think the getting priced for tonight's game is like $70 U.S. still, which is wild for two sub-500 teams. But again, like I mentioned earlier on this week on the show, it's like the Blue Jays 50th anniversary thing, like how the Marin has had a few weeks ago, they're opening up their Hall of Excellence. They're inducting Buck Martinez tomorrow and they're doing like a whole bobblehead giveaway and all this stuff. So a lot of stuff happening at Rogers Center. And it's going to be packed because not only are the getting prices insane, there are very few tickets left to buy right now.

Starting point is 00:12:08 So Kate Anderson's second start of his major league career is going to be in a very hostile environment. And obviously this is the rematch of the ALCS. This is the place where it all. ended for the Mariners last year. A lot of emotions going into the series. And of course, both of these teams fighting for their playoff lives in the series as well. So a lot going on. It's going to be a lot of energy in that building and a lot of pressure on the rookie lefty making his second career start. So what are you hoping to see from Kate Anderson in that outing, potentially tomorrow? More of the same. Hopefully would be the answer.

Starting point is 00:12:52 to that but you know look it's there's going to be a hyper fixation on his fastball we all know that that's going to be the case but i don't know how realistic it is to expect significant changes uh in fastball shape and and spin after one start you know there's only so much you can do you got to get used to the ball that's going to take more than than you know five days to figure out but if there's any improvement there great uh you just want to see a guy who He's going to go out there. He's going to attack. It's going to be a playoff atmosphere.

Starting point is 00:13:26 But hey, you know what? His last start was in a playoff atmosphere. It's going to be in a hostile crowd. Well, his last start was about 40% Cubs fans. So there's plenty of hostility there. And it's going to be against a lineup that's struggling, which the Cubs were not. But it's still obviously dangerous with Springer and Blad, obviously in the middle there, despite Blad not having a great season.

Starting point is 00:13:51 He hasn't hit a home run at home. home all year. I think he only has seven on the season. Sounds like the perfect opportunity for him to break that streak because, you know, baseball. But, uh, because of Mariners. Not because of baseball, mariners. Sure. Although they, they didn't, they didn't break the Tatis homeless streak. So they do have that going for them. Yeah. But yeah, no, you just want to see him attack. You want to see him go after guys. If it gets more fastball value, fine, whatever. Uh, but I think for me, the, the big key here is going to be the the change up. It was a pitch that wasn't all that effective.

Starting point is 00:14:29 It looked like he overthrew a couple and they were just missing arm side and up, which is not a good place for a changeup to be. So you want to see him dial that in, get value out of that change up because the breaking balls, I feel like we know they're going to be pretty good. The fastball, I think we know it's probably going to be a little bit limited for now until he figures out the ball and all that. but the change up could be the equalizer here. So I would like to see the change up be, you know,

Starting point is 00:14:55 I mean, look, you want to see, keep the pitch mix that he had last time, which was throw everything roughly equally, and obviously really pitch instead of just throw, you know, the same two pitches over and over again. But the change up, if it could be a little more effective, it could be down in the zone. If he could throw it closer to the strike zone repeatedly,

Starting point is 00:15:17 that would probably go a long way, especially against a guy like Vlad, because if you hang a change up, even 2026, Vlad, he may not hit it out of the ballpark, but he's going to hit it at 115 miles an hour down the line for a double. So you really have to use the change up effectively. You still have to throw the fastball. You just can't ditch it because you got spooked because of what happened against the Cubs. But, yeah, I think the key for him is going to be the change up versus the two breaking balls. Two breaking balls are still very good, and he'll still get whiffs on that, and that'll probably be a strikeout pitch. But it does feel like the change-up is going to be more important this time out than it was against the Cubs.

Starting point is 00:15:53 Yeah, and Adam G. You had published an article earlier this morning on the Seattle Times with quotes from Kate Anderson and Trent Blank talking a little bit about the fastball. They're not worried about it. And they shouldn't be. No one should be worried about the fastball after one start. And after he threw just 27 of them with a new ball. I think that will eventually come around. Maybe it comes around in the start.

Starting point is 00:16:16 Who knows? maybe at the very least we start to see some improvements there as Cade gets more use to that ball. So that's really all I'm hoping to see is kind of see some of the hand wringing over his fastball go away after the start. That would be nice. And we'll see how deep he goes into this game. We'll see what the pitch limit is, probably around, you know, 75, 80 pitches like it was last time. Just hopefully this time around Dan Wilson doesn't try to squeeze. a little extra juice out of K that he really doesn't need to.

Starting point is 00:16:53 I mean, would it be a Dan Wilson game if he didn't? Sure, sure. Yeah. But yeah, you know, traditionally speaking, Blue Jays' very good fastball hitting team, it's why they've traditionally been a difficult matchup for the Mariners and their fastball heavy value that they place on the fastball. In their pitching staff,

Starting point is 00:17:17 they fell off a lot of pitches. they don't strike out a lot. So we'll see what happens. Hopefully Hancock can give them some length tonight. That way, at the very least, you know, if Kade can only go for the bullpins well-rested and can attack that. They did have yesterday off, obviously.

Starting point is 00:17:34 So you should have the full complement of relievers available to them tonight and in theory also tomorrow. But obviously there are, you know, four games after this that you have to consider as well. So, you know, we'll see what Kate's got. for them. But I do think the change-up is going to be the big key here. Again, fastball value. If he gets it, great. If he doesn't, I still think he can find a way to survive with his command and the breaking stuff. But the change-up could be the great equalizer here. And it could be

Starting point is 00:18:07 the pitch that makes all the difference. But we shall see what happens there. And hopefully he can go five, which, you know, the way he attacks his own, I think is pretty likely. Well, we'll see. It's his first major league road start. Who knows? A lot of first for Kate Anderson, and he never know how those are going to go. But, you know, all things considered,

Starting point is 00:18:29 packed house, you know, two playoffs or two teams in the playoff hunt, at least. There's going to be a playoff atmosphere. I'm not too worried about the moment getting too big for Kate. He's proven that he's got quite a bit of poise and, and flare for pitching in a big game.

Starting point is 00:18:43 So I'm not all that worried about it from that perspective. But, you know, maybe he just struggles just because he's a pitcher and pitcher struggles sometimes. But I'm excited to see what he looks like on the road for the first time. Yeah. And, you know, maybe the most interesting aspect of this as well is that, you know, obviously his first start comes against by far the best offense against left-handed pitching and all baseball in the Cubs.

Starting point is 00:19:10 This start is going to come against the worst offense in all the baseball against left-handed pitching by WRC Plus. we just have an 81 to RSC Plus against left-handed pitching. They're slashing just 224-294-3-48 against Southpaws, despite how right-handed heavy they are, despite having Vlad and Springer and Kirk and all those guys on that lineup. So, you know, we'll see how that goes, but this is on paper a more favorable,

Starting point is 00:19:38 much more favorable matchup for K than the Cubs were. And he handled that Cubs lineup just fine. And again, like we talked about after that start, Really the only reason that final line didn't look too great is because he was forced into a situation that he shouldn't have been forced into. All right, we're going to wrap up with our final thoughts heading into the weekend. But first, a reminder, this episode of the Lockdown Errors podcast is brought to you by Odu. Running a business shouldn't feel like you're trying to connect a bunch of systems that were never designed to work together. One app for accounting, another for inventory, another for sales.

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Starting point is 00:20:42 You know, when we're talking about the Mariners, we talk about how they have the same philosophy at the majors as they do all the way down at the lower levels of the minors. Even with all these different factions, the organization itself is one. They have a vision, they stick to it, and last season showed us what's possible when everyone is working from the same playbook. Great organizations win because operations matter. And that's why you should get O-D-O-D-D-D-D-D-D-D. Try for free today at O-D-com.com slash locked-on.

Starting point is 00:21:06 That's O-D-O-O-O-O-O-C-K-E-O-N. And you're listening to the Locktime Airs Podcast, part of the Locktime Podcasts Network, your team every day as always if you want to hear from me and colby even more and help support the show we have a patreon it's called control the zone and on there we talk mariners seahawks all like good stuff for more information go to patreon.com forward slash control the zone link in the description of this episode so when i woke up this morning i was thinking about how you know a lot of the players that were there last october in toronto how they how they feel being back here uh and and especially with the context of everything that's happened this season

Starting point is 00:21:51 and how disappointing the season has been so far. Just kind of wonder what the emotions are like because obviously this city, Rogers Center, all that just represents something different than really any other stadium, any other city represents for this club right now. The wounds are still very fresh. And because they haven't really been able to get back after it this season, They still have an opportunity to, but of course, you know, like I said, it's been very disappointing so far. I just kind of wonder where everyone's headspace is at being back here in Toronto.

Starting point is 00:22:29 Yeah. I mean, obviously it's the, uh, the site of the biggest professional disappointment of most of their careers. Um, so yeah, that can obviously play into the psyche a little bit. And I'm sure there will be lots of reminders about the, uh, how the season ended last year. this week and, you know, obviously for a guy like Bizarro, that probably hits especially hard. So, yeah, I mean, there's kind of two ways you can do. You can kind of, you know, let that overtake you and just kind of assume something's going to go wrong. Or you can see this as an opportunity for redemption and for, you know, growth and all that.

Starting point is 00:23:08 So it really is an interesting mindset. It's kind of one of those mental things that we don't talk a lot about on the show because obviously we don't know how everybody's wired, right? And you have to learn the person to understand how they're going to react in certain situations. And we just don't know these guys that well. So maybe Bizarro crumbles. Maybe he's, you know, so excited for the opportunity that he comes out and he shoves in two of these games. And you're like, wow, that's a great answer. But we just don't know is the reality.

Starting point is 00:23:38 And also the reality, these are two different teams than last faced off. And these are arguably the two most, well, probably two of the three most disappointing teams in all of baseball. You want to throw the Mets in there relative to their expectation. So these are two teams that aren't battling for the ALCS. Right now, they're kind of battling for their playoff lives. So still it's going to be a hard fought series. Both of these teams really feel like they need this series. And we'll see what kind of response the Mariners have to the psyche and the psychological games

Starting point is 00:24:15 that the Blue Jays are probably going to try and play. this weekend, how many times will they show the Springer home run over under 10 and a half? So, yeah, I mean, again, we'll see how it goes, but a completely different team on both sides. And again, two teams that professional athletes, you kind of have to get good at, you know, flushing things and moving on. And, you know, to their credit, we didn't really see a lot of lingering and looking back at how the season ended once it you got past that first day or two it was very much a focus to move forward maybe that was a good thing maybe it ended up being a bad thing that they never really addressed it i don't

Starting point is 00:24:59 know or at least we don't know that they addressed it i'm sure at some point they have but yeah it'll be interesting to see how they react mentally it might be tough to tell tonight because again they're going up against still and cease so i mean they can be totally fine and then cease goes out there and he strikes out 11 and in seven innings and you're like oh wow clearly this this stage is too much for them it's like or you know dillen cese is just really good yeah that's also a possibility so yeah yeah we'll see uh how it goes but yeah that that is uh certainly something to watch i just i'm not sure how like definitive will be able to come in on monday and be like oh i see that being back there brought up too many bad memories and that's why they played poorly or

Starting point is 00:25:39 or whatever it is. But we'll see how it goes. But yeah, that'll certainly be something pretty interesting to watch. Well, and obviously you don't want to put too much stock into this series because it's not like you're getting revenge or anything like that. Nothing you do this weekend will even come close to making up for what happened last October.

Starting point is 00:26:01 But I do wonder if maybe like going into this building, winning 203, maybe even getting a sweep, like what that could do for their psyche and for, their confidence moving forward and maybe you know you kind of exercise a little bit of those demons you know and maybe for cal going back to a building that he has hit incredibly well at you know maybe he can continue to kind of get his groove back like we saw in that philly series um someone get him those chicken strips that he loves seed at the the old team hotel that's all i'm gonna say

Starting point is 00:26:31 but uh yeah but yeah again like cal could be totally fixed and he'd go over four tonight with three strikeouts because much like Jesus Lazzardo, Dylan Cease is really good. He's really good at throwing baseballs and so is Jose Soriano. Yeah, not much of a break there. You know, despite Max Scher's are not being so good at it anymore, he still dominates

Starting point is 00:26:52 the Mariners. So yeah, the pitching matchups will be interesting. We don't know technically who the mariner's throwing yet, but it's Hancock tonight. It will be Anderson tomorrow and then is it Logan on Sunday?

Starting point is 00:27:08 It's currently slated to be Bryce, but we don't know what they're going to do with Bryce. So you have to face. Which I think is, I think that's the reason that we don't know what the rotation is supposed to be, you know, this weekend. So I mean, you have to face Cis and Soriano. And then the other game you're playing in the series, you're throwing your worst guy who hasn't been a major league quality pitcher in two months. Yeah. Yeah. Although this ballpark also

Starting point is 00:27:38 The place of one of Bryce Miller Arguably Bryce Miller's You know greatest moment in his major league career so I think by far Yeah, it's great most ways. Yeah. Yeah, so you can kind of swing both ways But we'll see how it goes. I just look forward to finding out how Jimenez is going to destroy the Mariners in the series.

Starting point is 00:27:58 Of course. I'm making like five for 12 with three dubs in like a game one and three run homer known offensive juggernaut, Andre Semenos. When he plays the Mariners. It's like, who is David Fletcher.

Starting point is 00:28:14 It's like, no, I'm not that worried about Otani, but David Fletcher comes to the play. Yeah. Vlad, whatever, but Andres Mennas,

Starting point is 00:28:21 that thing scares me. Jesus. Jesus, that guy. But, yeah, I know, we'll see how they go again.

Starting point is 00:28:28 It's going to be tough. They really don't have the pitching advantage at all this weekend. as much as I like Emerson Hancock, always been a fan, go read my writings on him at Sotomojo.com. Going up against C's, that's just not a battle, you're going to win that often.

Starting point is 00:28:45 So we'll see what happens. These are baseball games, you know, anything can happen at any given point. But, yeah, pitching is certainly not on their side. Obviously, not coming off of a great game, but coming off of a really good homestand. But we'll see Cal obviously likes hitting in Toronto. just weird because he's not that hard to pitch to. You know, and I need,

Starting point is 00:29:10 I need John Schneider to run his mouth again in this series. Oh, that'll happen. All right. That is going to do up for our show. Thank you so much for joining us here on the lockdown Marrars podcast part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day for Colby Patnaud. I'm Tadengazalus. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter at L0 underscore Mariners. You can follow me at Tadigalus and Colby at C-Pat-11. We're also on Blue Sky.

Starting point is 00:29:32 you can follow me at TDG Colby at MLB Colby in the show at Lockdown Mariners. You can also find us on Instagram and TikTok at Lockdown Mariners. Have yourself a beautiful baseball day. We'll see you next time. Peace.

Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - What Would a GOOD Road Trip Look Like For the Seattle Mariners?

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