October 21, 2025 • 37 mins
The Mariners season comes to an abrupt ending after last night’s Game 7 loss. There are going to be plenty of questions and conversations surrounding the Mariners pitching decisions when Springer came up to bat and those will probably haunt us for awhile. Woo, Munoz, Bazardo or someone else, we will always wonder “what if” a different decision had been made, what could have been? Leo Rivas was given a golden opportunity and he wasn’t able to cash in during this series, in fact, the entire bottom of the order was a hole. :30- RYON HEALY joins the show for one final time this postseason as we get his thoughts on pitching decisions, at-bats and more from Game 7 of the ALCS. :45- It may be too early to hear it, but the Mariners future is bright and hopefully this offseason continues to prove that.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Certainly the goal to win it all, but just to
get there for the first time would have been some
delicious fruit to taste in the garden of Baseball Eden,
and instead we're talking about getting so so close and
not getting there. And that's been the main driving force
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(00:43):
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a chance to win tickets at our website ninety three
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on sale later this week on October twenty fourth, So
make sure that you're there. Maybe you can take out
all your Mariner frustration by watching people punch on each other.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Yeah, that would do it for me, I think, Yeah,
if the people that are getting punched.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
George Springs George spring Yeah exactly. Yeah, I was thinking,
and it's corner George Springer versus George Springer. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
I'm just gonna say, if you look like him, steer
clear for a little bit.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Yeah, And if you do look like him, maybe you've
made the better choice to get a decent haircut. Just
let it go that thing. All.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
I mean, if somebody with that much money can't get
the decent haircut, how's anyone who might look like him
with less money going to get one?
Speaker 1 (01:33):
And it just sounds like a cheap shoppers and a
guy that beat us last night. It is, Yeah, owning
that own it. I'm fine with that.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Yeah, no problems with that here.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Yeah. Just keep your emails to yourself Canadah.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Yeah, yeah, we know you have one collective email address.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
That's right, that's right that you all share. Yeah. So yeah,
I'm not apologizing for it. If if I want to
be petty this morning, I'll be petty. He's a turd.
All right. We've got Monday morning quarterback on a Tuesday
coming your way at nine o'clock. So we're gonna talk
some Seahawks football with Hugh Mill and maybe it'd be
a nice distraction. Mike Homeran will be joining us in
(02:11):
our nine o'clock hour, and if you need another distraction,
the NBA season gets underway tonight, and I'm really curious
as to why there is no fanfare over the TNT
crew debuting. I mean, is that not happening this week?
Are they not doing that until like Christmas or something?
There have been no promotions for them. They always start
(02:34):
the season right, Yeah, it's always those guys the way
they're the way we usher in every basketball season. They're
not at T and T anymore. They're going to ESPN
this year, but I've not seen one promotion suggesting that
they're going to hit the airwaves anytime soon, which I
find very strange. So I don't know, Maybe maybe people
know the answer to that. And I've just been to
(02:55):
baseball oriented lately to actually see the riding on the wall,
but I find that odd. All right, Well, Mariners season
did end last night four to three, as the final score,
and certainly a lot of talking points from last evening,
and the biggest thing that people are discussing is whether
or not Dan Wilson blew the game in Game seven
(03:17):
last night with his pitching decisions at the end of
the contest. I mean, you did lead for most of
the game three to one. I mean, look, I mean,
there are a lot of things that as an armchair manager,
that I would have done differently than Dan Wilson throughout
the entire process. And who knows, you know, if me, individually,
(03:40):
as a fan of my ideas would have worked better
or would have worked worse. It's kind of what we
do as baseball fans. We get to kind of sit
there and watch the game and kind of strategize right
there alongside the manager. I'm not sure that anything that
happened throughout this process I would sole as heinous, even
(04:02):
though I disagreed with a lot of the decisions that
he made, from going all the way back to the
way that he set his rotation before the playoffs even began,
and even last night. I mean, I don't think it's
some heinous decision that Bizardo was used somebody that we called,
I mean, and the Seattle Times called, and many people
(04:23):
called sort of the hero of the postseason. He'd been
very effective all year long. He'd been very effective in
some key moments in the playoffs, and they he had
obviously earned their trust and their respect to be given
the ball in such a crucial situation. But that was
the biggest a bat of the entire season. That was
(04:43):
the season, and before it even left the ballpark, you
knew it, like here we go, go ahead. Run is
at the play it's a career Mariner killer. And we're
going with a guy that at the beginning of the
year we weren't even sure we was going to make
this roster, and a guy that even now we kind
of recognize as our third best reliever during the course
(05:07):
of the season. And so I'm not surprised that the
decision was met with skepticism the moment it was made,
and then once we had the result, oh my gosh,
here come the floodgates. And I figured that everybody was
going to have a problem with that decision last night,
So I would just say, I don't think again it
(05:28):
was a horrible decision, even though it was a horrible
result by Dan Wilson. But I do think it should
have been handled differently. And I think that the two
criticisms that I would have were, you have one of
the best closers in baseball. It did kind of feel like,
(05:48):
if they were going to build an inning, this might
be the last time you faced Springer and Guerrero the
entire series. Wouldn't you have your best guy ready in
case the inning did get away from and Wu? So
I would criticize that a little bit. And then secondarily,
it's pretty clear to me, Bucky that they had a
game plan organizationally had a game plan. They wanted to
(06:09):
go Kirby four innings, Wu three innings, Munjos two innings.
That was the game plan. That was the blueprint, and
if anybody got in trouble, then you had Spire, Bizarreto
and Brash, you know, seasoned relievers to get you out
of trouble. Spire was up when George Kirby was still
on the mound at one point, and then Bizardo was
(06:32):
clearly up when Brian Wu got in trouble, and I
would imagine Brash would have been up had Munjos got
in trouble working a second inning potentially last night. And
so they kept to the script last night. But the
only and this would be my second criticism of it,
first would be, how do you not have Munjos ready
and what felt to be the biggest moment of the
(06:54):
entire season against their best hitters. And then the second
thing that I would say criticize, if you are going
to go to a game plan, how did you convince
yourself that Brian wu couldn't get the job done in
that moment, you know, considering how foolish he made George
Springer look the previous at bat, considering that he really
(07:14):
was your best pitcher this entire season, and if he
had enough faith to go to him in Game seven,
you know, considering the recent injury history and that he's
only really pitched two innings this entire postseason. If he
had enough faith to go to him in such a
pivotal moment, then where did the faith go to get
out of that jam that he'd created for himself, which
(07:36):
really was just to lead off walk. Shame on you, Brian.
And then a goofy infield single by a bad hitter
that somehow slipped through the infield. That's really all the
damage that he had created for himself in that inning.
So those are the two criticisms that I would levy.
Let it be, you know, debated for the rest of time,
(07:57):
by Mariners fans. Again, I don't think it was a
horrible decision to go to a trustworthy reliever there that
you had game planned for. But I would say that
I would have done things differently in those situations.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
In that situation, yeah, ah, man, it's a rough one
because I mean you very easily, you know, you play
it the exact same way that they played it, and
you know, and George Springer gets half an inch further
underneath the ball and it's a pop up, and you
get Lucas to ground out, and all of a sudden,
(08:30):
we're taking We're having a completely different conversation today. The
entire Pacific Northwest feels completely different based on less than
an inch of something happening. And so yeah, I mean
it's I'll say in the moment, I'm not one that
does hindsight.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
You know.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Just there you go, Dan Wilson, he screwed it and
ruined it for everybody. Get rid of him. I don't
believe that. I think that's short sighted and silly. I
will just say something that we've talked about a couple
times already today is if when you make a change,
the person that's getting ready to come up to the plate,
maybe inside has a sigh of relief. Then it maybe
(09:08):
is a change that you shouldn't have made. And I
would have to think George Springer, after getting dosed on
the knee the last time he faced Brian Wu and
then getting punched out in embarrassing fashion on three straight pitches,
looking as bad as he's ever gonna look an idiot
bat that he probably was like, please take him out.
I don't care who you bring in. I don't care
(09:29):
if it's Munjos, I don't care if it's Brash, I
don't care if it's Bizardo. Obviously bringing somebody other than
this guy, because he obviously didn't have the history, the
recent history that was negative like he did with Brian Wu.
So I was in the moment thinking, I think I'd
leave in here. I think that he has just so
good a chance of striking him out as anybody else
(09:49):
outside of Munjos and Bizardo. So the fact that those
guys weren't up and loose to where you get to
make that decision based on it, maybe is sticking with
a game plan too much. I mean, I would think
I think that it probably the blueprint was two times
through the lineup. If George can go five innings and
get through two times before we have to get into
where he runs into trouble. Typically in the postseason anyways,
(10:11):
is run into trouble the third time he goes through. Fine,
So four or five innings hopefully out of him. If
it's one time through the lineup that you're thinking of
Brian Wu because he still hasn't pitched a whole heck
of a lot. What do you have four innings in
the last month because of the injury? Okay, fine, And
if that sets it up to where you go Brash
and Munnos or Munos for two great, It just didn't
(10:32):
work out that way. So to me, it's I didn't
like the taking of Brian Wu out, and if I
was going to take him out, I'm probably going to
bring in as good as Bizarlo's been. And it needs
to be emphasized, he has been great. And this team,
you're gonna win it and you're gonna lose it as
a team. And yet when it comes down to we
need to get nine outs, we need to find a
way to get nine outs. Here, you start Wu to
(10:53):
go out there and he does that leadoff walk is
a killer because now it sets up where a little
you know, seeing I single up the middle put you
in a situation where a sack bunt and all of
a sudden, the tying runs, you know, one hundred and
eighty feet away, and the winning runs walking up to
the dish. So there's all kinds of stuff around it,
like I trust in Wu, and yet Wu is the
one that kind of puts you in a sticky, hairy situation.
(11:16):
So it's just one of those you didn't do it
collectively as a squad. You didn't do it, and and
Dan has something to some fault in that. And yet
putting it all at his feet is wrong. Putting it
all at Brian Wu's feet or Bizardo's feet is wrong.
There's just to some degree, I want you to have
a plan. I also want you to use your eyeballs
(11:38):
and your gut a little bit. And I'm not one
hundred percent sure what Dan would say with true serum
of what his gut was telling him versus what his
plan was telling.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
I think he just went with the plan, don't you.
It just kind of felt like they had a plan
and they went with the plan. We like our plan.
We're gonna stick with the plan versus feeling your way
through it. I mean, there's nothing keeping you from having
two loosen in the bullpen. Yeah, and then when the
moment arises, you get to choose which guy might be
better for the job at hand. And yet it was
(12:08):
only Spire at one point, and it was only Bizardo
at one point where and then I think the game
sped up on him. And the next thing, you know,
we got two guys on with their two best hitters
coming up in the next three batters. And I don't
know if they were prepared for that. Had they kind
of sensed that coming around the corner. Maybe you do
have a strikeout pitcher, a better strikeout pitcher going Ashley.
(12:29):
Maybe you got Brash up at least Brash Yeah, if
not Munyos, at least you've got the guy that's famous
for being a match up nightmare for everybody he faces. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
I mean that is the thing, because if you want
to save Munjos, if you think, oh this is too early,
we don't want to bring him in, Okay, that's fine,
that makes sense. But on top of it, Yeah, you
had Bizardo throwing thirty pitches or whatever the night before
too and so again, listening to the broadcast, even they
were questioning it, well, why isn't he bringing in Munnos here?
Why wouldn't And you the other thing you have to
remember too is Munyos isn't end all be all right
(13:01):
because you've got other pitchers that are available.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
We talked about Hiller and Castille of anyone, Yeah, they're
all of it.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
They're available, right, So you you bring in Munios, he
gets his job done, and then you can go to Miller.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
Then you can go to Castillo. Randy Johnson closed out
the World Series in two thousand and one. After starting
Game six, he saved Game seven. If at my history,
if I know my history, well, so you could go
to a Bryce Miller who's had all sorts of success
against this team. But it's not all about pitching. There
was also some other things. I mean, Leo Reevos got
(13:33):
a golden opportunity here. I mean he was name made
the midway through this series, the starting second baseman of
a team that was trying to make it to the
World Series. And man, he picked a bad time to
have a bad game, struck out three times and popped
up the other time at the plot. So Leo, you know,
(13:55):
along with a couple base running gas during the course
of the playoffs. I don't know if that's a exactly
one that's he's gonna remember too fondly, even though he
did have a clutch hit at one point here in
the postseason. And then I want to talk about Julio.
We haven't talked about Julio because Julio got off to
such a phenomenal start last night. He gets the leadoff
(14:17):
double to start the game. Then he hits the home
run that gave us the lead, which we held for
several innings, and it just looked like, oh my gosh,
Julio Rodriguez is gonna have a legendary game in this moment,
and then sort of emblematic of this team that could
not stand prosperity this entire year. Like every time things
(14:39):
seemed to be going every direction for the Mariners, Ah,
we are our steamroll in our competition, something would happen
where you're like, why are we playing this badly? Why?
How is this happening now? Why are we falling down
on the standings, Why are we letting the Astros win
the division again? And then they would ru remarkably rally.
(15:01):
They did it just all your luck even in the Alds.
Why did we blow it through nothing lead when it
looked like the Tigers had given up. You know, that's
kind of the way that they played all season long.
And I think Julio had a game like that last night.
It's like, here, you have everything going your way, Julio,
you might become a household name, you might become a
(15:23):
national icon with the game that you're having. There are
televisions on in every city in America watching Julio Rodriguez
look like he's going to take over the game. And
then he had three at bats later in the contest
with several guys on base that he doesn't come through
at all, and then strikes out with cal Raley on
(15:45):
deck without seeing a single pitch in the strike zone
from closer Jeff Hoffman could have at least earned a
walk there. And it was just he played. He had
two such great at bats and then three such bad
at bats. It's like, who could have had it all
last night? And he ends up kind of in a
strange way, being a little bit of a goat in
(16:06):
that situation.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Well, I mean, if this series wasn't the epitome of
what we've watched out of Julio. I don't know what
is the first three games that you win to and
lose one, he hits four hundred, He's four for ten
with a couple homers and a bunch of RBIs and
is a key contributor to your first couple wins and
even was an offensive, shining, shining light in your first
(16:29):
loss that you got your butt whooped in.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
And then he goes oh for ten the next.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Three games and basically is a non factor. And then
he comes out and gets you going to start the game,
and then the go ahead home run and you feel like, okay,
we're off and running. Cow chips in with his home run.
Now you're like, okay, a little bit of breathing room,
not a ton, obviously not enough, but you feel like
(16:55):
you feel good about it. And then a couple less
than stellar at bats, like it's just the bat is
not good. It's not the outcome that I care about.
If you finished two for five with a home run
and and and you you helped and you played good defense, okay,
if the but if you have a couple at bats
where this is a situation that I'm not going to
(17:16):
get beat on a pitch that's inside. I'm just not
going to be tardy because it's a You live to
fight another day if you get out in front of
that pitch. The one I'm talking about is the double
playground ball that you had a situation that there was
a walk right before Robus gets a walk, which Robus,
that's a whole nother thing. The bottom of the order
did not contribute much in the in the final little
(17:37):
part of this series.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
They didn't.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
It was it kind of became a little bit of
a void. But he ends up battling getting a walk there.
And then you get a pitch inside and you get beat,
and you hit a ground ball and next thing you know, boom,
the chance of a big inning or just an inning
that you're going to tack on a run or two
of insurance and you get beat. If you hit that
ball one hundred miles foul and one hundred and ten,
(18:00):
I was an hour off the bat. Yeah, it's a strike,
but it tells the pitch or something, it tells him
you better not coming there.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
I'm ready.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Then you get to play chess and say so now
I'm going to sit off speed because I know that
you're not coming back in there. I scared you out
of there, and now you get to take the pitch
that is down and a way, or the pitch that
you get to having a bat that might lead to
getting cal rawly back up to the dish, and instead
there's times when he will just he kind of gives
(18:27):
it bats away. Not intentionally, it's just the lack of
focus on the small details of what how you win
at bat, pitch by pitch.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
And if I had to say.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Why we end up losing a game or a series
four games to three against that team is up and
down their lineup, they had a better approach.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
They did.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
They gave away fewer at bats, They took more advantage
of the opportunities given to them, and we didn't. And
you basically find yourself to where all of our pitchers
are pitching on the razor's edge at all times. You're
always just like, I can't make any mistakes. Their team
kind of has this feel, their offensive side of their team,
their position players kind of give you this feel like
(19:08):
we're gonna wear you down, We're gonna grind out. If
you don't make a play, we're gonna capitalize on it.
If you end up, you know, having a you do
a leadoff walk, we might buy a guy over and
now all of a sudden you have to play this
game of do we walk him?
Speaker 1 (19:21):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Then Lad's waiting lurking in the in the bushes over there,
and next thing you know, you come and you make
one mistake and boom they capitalize on It.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Just was Julio.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Yes, it was a great first half of the game,
and then a not great approach in the in his
final couple of AB's in the costume, well.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
And it's even more painful. I wanted that for him.
I mean, this is somebody that took a lot of
slings and arrows throughout the first half of this season,
redeemed himself in the second half. Still had to watch
cal Rawley become the face of the franchise this year
over him and maybe even going back to last year,
and I wanted that for him. Last night, he was
(19:55):
just off to this like legendary start, Like you could
have the legendary moment, carry to victory, Julio, carry us
to the World Series tonight if you have to. And
after his first two at bats, he had three really
bad at bats, last night and opportunities to lengthen that lead,
and it's a little frustrating, all right. Coming up next,
Ryan Healey joins the Sports Radio ninety three point three
(20:16):
kh A RFM.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
Well, throughout this Major League Baseball postseason, we have had
the joy of getting to know and having analyze our
Mariners for us, former Mariner Ryan Healey, He's joined the
conversation almost I think, after every single game so far
in this postseason, and so we talked to him about
(20:42):
the final game of the year, which is sad to say, Good.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Morning, Ryan, Good morning man. How are we doing tonight?
I'm doing all right. I want to lead you in
any direction, like your big takeaway as you start thinking
about the Mariners this morning, what pops into your mind?
Speaker 5 (20:59):
What a se and what a series and such fight,
so many things that you could analyze, kind of pitch
by pitch, an by any player by player. For me, though,
trying to zoom out a little bit and look at
just the body of work of this whole season. I
mean that that game was a pitch.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
Away, Yeah, I mean give us the idea that he
freeze up, a freeze up, yeah, really, well, he can
really stand still there he's back.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
He's moving. Hey, it's too early for your internet again.
I told you it's nine am.
Speaker 5 (21:39):
So what I was saying is that the body of work,
though of just this season and also the series, their
ability to bounce back from adversity. Game seven, they responded
really early, scoring the run there the nailor singled RBI
after the double from Julio. I saw them bounce back
and really controlled that game. Disappointing how it ended, but
really proud of how this team conducted themselves.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
Yeah, I mean I think that you know, there's a
lot of there's a lot of pain in this fan
base based on the way things have gone, and unfortunately
the last night kind of adds to it a little bit.
But I'd love you to give your perspective on how
you win and you lose as a team, because there's
a lot of blame going to be thrown around, right,
and questions and criticisms are valid, And yet the idea
(22:23):
of when you're in that locker room, when you're in
that clubhouse, when you're on that field and the manager's like,
all right, let's go bizarro, get us out of this,
or let's do this to whomever. Hey, revos, you're in
the game, we thanks for that double you hit, and
you've grinded out some AB's, whatever the case may be.
How do you feel when you come up on the
losing end of things and there's questions and yet as
(22:44):
a team, you're gonna win some and you're gonna lose some,
but you're always gonna do it as a squad.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
It's a great question, Bucky. I said this early on.
Speaker 5 (22:52):
I believe in the Alds series about how I love
watching betteran managers conduct themselves in moments of defeat because
for me, you can really see what type of leader
you have there. And my show prep this morning was
watching Dan Wilson interviews. I wanted to see the questions
he was getting asked how he was able to respond
to those questions because I knew what they were gonna
be about. It was gonna be about the pitching decision
(23:13):
late in the game, the one swing that changed the game.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
And I thought that the.
Speaker 5 (23:16):
Way he navigated the answer was exactly how he navigated
the playoffs. He chose the players that got him there,
the guys that he relied on. There was no panic,
there was no Oh, this guy had a tough inning
like yesterday, I got to go try someone else now
like there was no panic decisions made. It was complete
conviction in his players and whether they succeeded or failed,
(23:37):
he had the confidence in them to come through in
that spot because they've done it all season long, And
there was so many moments throughout that Game seven last
night when I was watching it, when man, this storyline
is perfect for the Mariners back up against the wall
once again this season. They're gonna come through for us,
and for the first time all season long, they didn't.
And unfortunately the spot was in the Game seven and
alcs and that hurts a lot. But this fan base
(23:59):
has been on this Jarnie for a lot of time
with this team, and you saw the emotion on the
player's face. They care, Man, Then if there's never a
question if they do or don't. But you saw they
got a taste of it and they wanted it, and
that those emotions are going to feel them even further
to get past this hurdle next year.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Well, I can appreciate your appreciation for how Dan Wilson
handled it in the post game, But that said, I
know you were sitting there armchair managing just like all
the rest of us, Did he make the right move?
How would you have?
Speaker 5 (24:27):
What I don't like about this question, Chuckie, and I
understand it has to be asked, is that the end
result is already determined, so now it's so much easier
of an opinion. But I'll be honest with you, because
that's my job as an analyst. Is when I saw
Bazar to win there, I was really hoping to see
Munjos in that spot. Do I understand why he made
the spot after or the decision after seeing the postgame interview? Yes,
(24:50):
I do, and I appreciate it. You're the manager, You've
earned the right to make those decisions. But as a
fan and someone that really want to see the scene succeed,
I thought that was an opportunity to bring move in
early and stretch him out, and it didn't happen. But
we don't know if the result had been different even
if Munyas was there.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Yeah, I'm with you, Okay. Is there an idea that
if you were if you had that hat on? And again,
I agree that it feels superficial to say the least,
that the conversation after knowing the outcome, and yet in
the midst of it, we were all having that same
thing of man, should Muno's being there, should Brash be
in there?
Speaker 1 (25:24):
Or should Woo?
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Considering how bad he made Springer look and he hit
him in the knee and then he diced him up
on three straight pitches the previous time, I'm thinking that
that George Springer is taking a siary leaf when he's
seeing anybody else come in from the bullpen. Considering how
the previous at batwin is there a part of you
there was like, dude, he can pitch out of this jam.
You're bringing in a guy that's been been doing good
(25:47):
for us all season long and Bizardo and he's used to,
you know, pitch him with guys on base. But that's
Brian Wu. That's an All star. That's maybe been our
most solid dude on the bump all year long.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
There's no maybe about it.
Speaker 5 (26:00):
Wu's been the best picture on this Marritor's pitching staff
in twenty twenty five, no question. He just thought the
way that he came back and the injury, and he
is a saint. He came out of the bullpen twice
for us and he filled the zone up. It was
coming out of his hand really clean. There was a
lot of conversation in the Dodgers Brewer series, especially when
Blake Snell went eight innings in Game one and then
Yamamoda went nine innings in Game two, And there's a
(26:21):
psychological aspect as a hit or to that when a
starting pitcher is just in a groove and you're able
to get them out of the game. I don't care
if e Raaldess Chapman is coming in or if the
best pitchure in the world is coming in, Like it's
just not the guy that had my number today. I
can at least compete against him. So there is some
of that psychological that I'm sure that Springer had of Like, man,
I'm kind of happy Wu isn't in there because that
(26:42):
sinker he's gonna throw under my hands again because his
game plan is he's got to push me off the plate.
And last time he did that, he threw ninety six
or ninety seven off my right knee cap and that's
still hurts.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
So yeah, maybe there is some psychological with that.
Speaker 5 (26:54):
But we have to also trust the medical staff and
the coaching staff was analyzing how Wu was doing, and
you know, maybe they didn't want to push him in
that moment because the future of Brian Wu was bigger
than that one pitch that won at bat Really hard
to digest the thought of that at this point in time.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
I gotta get your thoughts on this. It ended up
not being that impactful of a play in the game,
but Bucky loved it. Every former player that I've heard
talk about this is just like going crazy over this moment,
Josh Naylor deciding not to slide and taking one to
the noggin. Well, as a former player, what did you
(27:32):
think of that play from him? I was actually in
the batting cage.
Speaker 5 (27:37):
I was there last night with a bunch of hitters
and one of my good buddies was actually there with us,
just kind of hanging out, dropping some knowledge in the guys,
and he looked at me and goes, That's the most
Josh Naylor play I've ever seen in.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
My entire life, and I love it.
Speaker 5 (27:50):
He kind of like ducks his head, but then he
jumps up into the ball and I'm like, the worst
worst case in aario is used to kind of kill
the momentum. You stop the game for a little bit.
Did everyone's chance to breathe while they were it? But man,
what just what an old school baseball player that really
had people chuckling and confuse of what what's the results
of this?
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Yeah, he just decided. I mean they always tell us
if he played beyond a little league that just throw
it right at his head. He'll get down. And Naylor's like,
I'm not gonna get down, so there's no rule that
I have to slide. They still called him for interference,
which I think was the right thing to do, but yes,
for him to just say in that moment, I'll take
one to the head. I don't care, see if I
(28:28):
can get a play here, right, And he was smart
enough to turn his back to the ball so that
it didn't get him in the face. Even that, even
Naylor's intelligence was on display in that moment.
Speaker 5 (28:38):
It would have at a next level if he was like, man,
i could really use some new veneers this offseason. So
I'm actually not gonna turn my head. I'm like his
baseball because I need some new show chips.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
Chips. And how disappointing was it? Just you know, as
you're rooting there for the Mariners, you got cal Raley
on deck. I just kept thinking the same the whole time,
like he's gonna get bat It's the era of cow
We're gonna pull this thing off, and he's gonna put
on the cape one more time. How disappointing was it
for you that he never got into the batter's box.
Speaker 5 (29:10):
As a baseball fan, you wanted to see that an
opportunity happen, and I felt like there was There were
pitches that were non competitive from Hoffman there to to
Rodriguez Julio. There obviously a really tight slider along the
way and they got Julio to expand. And you know,
that was a tough one, just for the way that
this season is kind of unfolded. In the role that
col has played for this team in twenty twenty five,
(29:32):
I would have loved to have seen it, even if
Cal strikes out the end of the season, like, I
just would have loved to have seen him in that
in that moment with the opportunity to tie the game
or put us ahead. I think that Mariners fans deserved that,
and I was disappointing not to see it.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
Even if he didn't come through. It just felt like
the season should be in his hands at a good point. Yeah,
well man, you've been awesome. Thank you very much. Don't
go far. I'm sure we're gonna be bugging the hell
out of you here in the offseason, so we really
appreciate it. And I think you got a future in
this business if you do intend to pursue it, and
(30:05):
of course we'll be bugging you whenever we get the opportunity.
So thank you very much.
Speaker 5 (30:10):
It's been outstanding to you, Chuck, to you, Bucky, to
you actually, to the Mariner stands out there that allowed
me the opportunity to come on here, the producers at KJR,
thank you so much for the chance to come on
this playoff journey. It's been a lot of fun and
the chance to be so tightly wound into this sport
again was a real blessing. So thank you guys very much.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
All Right, we'll be in touch you all right. Ryan
Heley joining us right here on Chuck and Buck coming
up next. The m's future. Yeah, I'm going to spend
five minutes on it. I know people don't want to
think about the future, but I think it's worth spending
five minutes on before we Monday morning quarterback at nine
o'clock on KJR, kind of talking about the Mariners season
(30:50):
coming to and end last night. I think there's at
least five minutes that need to get spent on the future.
I do love what Bucky said. I think it's a
phenomenal point at the very beginning of the show. It
is daunting to sort of sit here at the end
of this get so close to the World Series, the
objective of getting to the World Series, which has eluded
this city for half a century, and then think about
(31:11):
next year and starting the process all over again, and
then thinking about another excruciating, potentially postseason where you're you know,
gut ringing round after round trying to get to that
ultimate destination of the World Series. And I get why
people may want to put a hold on talking about
(31:32):
the future of the Mariners for that very reason.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
Yeah, yeah, well, it does feel like I'm not ready yet.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
I'm not ready, and I don't.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Know what the stages of grief are, but I know
sitting in it for a minute and feeling it is
part of it. And so I mean, I think I
think a lot of folks are not ready, probably to
be to have some silver lining of what might be
in the future rammed down their throat. At the same time,
I think it is good perspective that it can be
(32:03):
to try to find something about that makes you feel
good about where we are, even though what we just occurred,
what just occurred to us. I think that's a thing
that's good.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
I think it's healthy.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
I think that there's something to be said about trying
to find something that makes you feel a little bit
better considering the way last night went.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
Well.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
I know this like from a physical standpoint, like I
used to be in pretty phenomenal shape when I moved here.
I was about as fit as I've ever been in
my entire life. I'm not right now, And for me,
it feels like I'm back at the bottom of the
mountain and I got to climb my way all the
way back up to and that's very intimidating for me.
And yet everybody that will tell you that is you know,
(32:44):
into fitness, will tell you no, because you have that
history with it, it'll come back faster than it will
be for somebody that truly is starting at the bottom
of the mountain and trying to get healthy again. I
relate that to the mariners, because we're not going to
start at the bottom of the mountain next day. I mean,
we're gonna start in a really good place next year
with a really great foundation of some outstanding young pitchers
(33:06):
who still have multiple years left on their first contracts.
Even Luis Castillo has multiple years left on his deals.
We've got a foundation of Julio and Cal that has
not just signed for a couple more years, they're signed
for like a decade together to build around. And we've
got the number one farm system in the sport by
some measurements out there, that's going to help supplement this team.
(33:30):
We're also going to be clearing a lot of caps,
or not cap space, but payroll space, with Mitch Haniger's
contract coming off the books, and Mitch Garver's and Dylan
Moore's and Donovan Solano's, so we should be able to
without much sweat, be able to resign Josh Naylor and
maybe even a Jorge Polanco, maybe not Gino two. I
don't know how they'll do it, but this team is
(33:54):
not just gonna win next year. And maybe you don't
want to hear it, but I'm gonna say it anyway
because it's feels appropriate now that the season has come
to a close. This team's set up to win and
win big for the next decade, and that is credit
to Jerry Depoto and Justin Hollander. I know that they've
done some frustrating things here in the recent years, and
(34:15):
I know that they haven't gone for it as often
as they should. I think they finally did this year.
So I'm kind of hoping that they've learned from their
major weaknesses and have corrected them this year because there
are so many strengths with them and with the organization
and what the foundation that we have to build off of.
I think we're going to go on a really great run,
(34:36):
and I think we are going to make it to
the World Series multiple times, and I think we are
going to win at least one in the next ten years.
And I know that that doesn't feel good right now,
but I'd sure much rather be in this position than
in almost any other twenty five other franchises in Major
League Baseball. We are in a fortunate position. We got
(34:57):
one of the best five situations probably in a league
baseball going right now.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
Yeah, but I mean it feels like, you know, anyway
it's went through a breakup and somebody goes, well, there's
a lot more fish in the sea, and I mean
the fish are other baseball seasons. Yes, that's true, but
right now my heart hurts and I just want that fish,
the fish that I just was dating, and so that's
weird of dating a fish. But anyways, I mean.
Speaker 1 (35:20):
The Academy Award one time, that's true, that is true.
I am wondering if really happy, and I mean, yeah,
we just wanted to be Darryl him mermaid.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
I mean, who doesn't want a mermaid? That's I thought
you were talking about like fish called Wander or something.
Speaker 3 (35:38):
Yeah, that was good too.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
No, there was that movie though, like one Academy Award.
It was where the woman fell in love with a fish.
Speaker 3 (35:44):
Oh I don't remember that one. Oh yeah, I think
you're talking about fish called Wanda too, and then splash
obviously half fish half human.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
Yeah exactly, or regardless, if you want to date a fish,
we're going to have another fish next season, and it's
going to be a good looking fish. I mean, they
got some work to do to figure out who you're
bringing back that isn't locked up. But yeah, if you
just look at what is locked up, you've still got
majority of this team coming back. And I'll just say this,
I don't think this team played anywhere near where their
(36:14):
ceiling is. I mean, I think the pitching stacker the
majority of the season to some degree, injured Bryce Miller.
I think we saw here at the end and in
the playoffs pitching like real Bryce Miller, where he was
pitching with that bone spur and some injuries throughout the
course of the season, you know. I mean, I think
cal Rawley maybe played up to like his ceiling. But
(36:35):
for the most part, I think that there's still is
a lot of room for growth. I think this team
still is young and and yeah, I'm expecting to have
another similar ride. Now, nothing is guaranteed that you're going
to get three innings away from making a World Series.
It's the playoffs are difficult. You're can play in some
good teams. But yeah, I'm looking forward. I think the
future is bright, and yet right now it just hurts.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
The Shape of Water twenty seventeen Picture of the Year.
Found it by just typing into Google Fish Woman Love
Movie and it popped right up. Oh yeah, I like
that search all right. Humellan Mike Holmgrenet Sports Radio ninety
three point three kJ A r f M
Certainly the goal to win it all, but just to
get there for the first time would have been some
delicious fruit to taste in the garden of Baseball Eden,
and instead we're talking about getting so so close and
not getting there. And that's been the main driving force
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on January thirty first. But we're going to give you
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on sale later this week on October twenty fourth, So
make sure that you're there. Maybe you can take out
all your Mariner frustration by watching people punch on each other.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Yeah, that would do it for me, I think, Yeah,
if the people that are getting punched.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
George Springs George spring Yeah exactly. Yeah, I was thinking,
and it's corner George Springer versus George Springer. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
I'm just gonna say, if you look like him, steer
clear for a little bit.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Yeah, And if you do look like him, maybe you've
made the better choice to get a decent haircut. Just
let it go that thing. All.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
I mean, if somebody with that much money can't get
the decent haircut, how's anyone who might look like him
with less money going to get one?
Speaker 1 (01:33):
And it just sounds like a cheap shoppers and a
guy that beat us last night. It is, Yeah, owning
that own it. I'm fine with that.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Yeah, no problems with that here.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Yeah. Just keep your emails to yourself Canadah.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Yeah, yeah, we know you have one collective email address.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
That's right, that's right that you all share. Yeah. So yeah,
I'm not apologizing for it. If if I want to
be petty this morning, I'll be petty. He's a turd.
All right. We've got Monday morning quarterback on a Tuesday
coming your way at nine o'clock. So we're gonna talk
some Seahawks football with Hugh Mill and maybe it'd be
a nice distraction. Mike Homeran will be joining us in
(02:11):
our nine o'clock hour, and if you need another distraction,
the NBA season gets underway tonight, and I'm really curious
as to why there is no fanfare over the TNT
crew debuting. I mean, is that not happening this week?
Are they not doing that until like Christmas or something?
There have been no promotions for them. They always start
(02:34):
the season right, Yeah, it's always those guys the way
they're the way we usher in every basketball season. They're
not at T and T anymore. They're going to ESPN
this year, but I've not seen one promotion suggesting that
they're going to hit the airwaves anytime soon, which I
find very strange. So I don't know, Maybe maybe people
know the answer to that. And I've just been to
(02:55):
baseball oriented lately to actually see the riding on the wall,
but I find that odd. All right, Well, Mariners season
did end last night four to three, as the final score,
and certainly a lot of talking points from last evening,
and the biggest thing that people are discussing is whether
or not Dan Wilson blew the game in Game seven
(03:17):
last night with his pitching decisions at the end of
the contest. I mean, you did lead for most of
the game three to one. I mean, look, I mean,
there are a lot of things that as an armchair manager,
that I would have done differently than Dan Wilson throughout
the entire process. And who knows, you know, if me, individually,
(03:40):
as a fan of my ideas would have worked better
or would have worked worse. It's kind of what we
do as baseball fans. We get to kind of sit
there and watch the game and kind of strategize right
there alongside the manager. I'm not sure that anything that
happened throughout this process I would sole as heinous, even
(04:02):
though I disagreed with a lot of the decisions that
he made, from going all the way back to the
way that he set his rotation before the playoffs even began,
and even last night. I mean, I don't think it's
some heinous decision that Bizardo was used somebody that we called,
I mean, and the Seattle Times called, and many people
(04:23):
called sort of the hero of the postseason. He'd been
very effective all year long. He'd been very effective in
some key moments in the playoffs, and they he had
obviously earned their trust and their respect to be given
the ball in such a crucial situation. But that was
the biggest a bat of the entire season. That was
(04:43):
the season, and before it even left the ballpark, you
knew it, like here we go, go ahead. Run is
at the play it's a career Mariner killer. And we're
going with a guy that at the beginning of the
year we weren't even sure we was going to make
this roster, and a guy that even now we kind
of recognize as our third best reliever during the course
(05:07):
of the season. And so I'm not surprised that the
decision was met with skepticism the moment it was made,
and then once we had the result, oh my gosh,
here come the floodgates. And I figured that everybody was
going to have a problem with that decision last night,
So I would just say, I don't think again it
(05:28):
was a horrible decision, even though it was a horrible
result by Dan Wilson. But I do think it should
have been handled differently. And I think that the two
criticisms that I would have were, you have one of
the best closers in baseball. It did kind of feel like,
(05:48):
if they were going to build an inning, this might
be the last time you faced Springer and Guerrero the
entire series. Wouldn't you have your best guy ready in
case the inning did get away from and Wu? So
I would criticize that a little bit. And then secondarily,
it's pretty clear to me, Bucky that they had a
game plan organizationally had a game plan. They wanted to
(06:09):
go Kirby four innings, Wu three innings, Munjos two innings.
That was the game plan. That was the blueprint, and
if anybody got in trouble, then you had Spire, Bizarreto
and Brash, you know, seasoned relievers to get you out
of trouble. Spire was up when George Kirby was still
on the mound at one point, and then Bizardo was
(06:32):
clearly up when Brian Wu got in trouble, and I
would imagine Brash would have been up had Munjos got
in trouble working a second inning potentially last night. And
so they kept to the script last night. But the
only and this would be my second criticism of it,
first would be, how do you not have Munjos ready
and what felt to be the biggest moment of the
(06:54):
entire season against their best hitters. And then the second
thing that I would say criticize, if you are going
to go to a game plan, how did you convince
yourself that Brian wu couldn't get the job done in
that moment, you know, considering how foolish he made George
Springer look the previous at bat, considering that he really
(07:14):
was your best pitcher this entire season, and if he
had enough faith to go to him in Game seven,
you know, considering the recent injury history and that he's
only really pitched two innings this entire postseason. If he
had enough faith to go to him in such a
pivotal moment, then where did the faith go to get
out of that jam that he'd created for himself, which
(07:36):
really was just to lead off walk. Shame on you, Brian.
And then a goofy infield single by a bad hitter
that somehow slipped through the infield. That's really all the
damage that he had created for himself in that inning.
So those are the two criticisms that I would levy.
Let it be, you know, debated for the rest of time,
(07:57):
by Mariners fans. Again, I don't think it was a
horrible decision to go to a trustworthy reliever there that
you had game planned for. But I would say that
I would have done things differently in those situations.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
In that situation, yeah, ah, man, it's a rough one
because I mean you very easily, you know, you play
it the exact same way that they played it, and
you know, and George Springer gets half an inch further
underneath the ball and it's a pop up, and you
get Lucas to ground out, and all of a sudden,
(08:30):
we're taking We're having a completely different conversation today. The
entire Pacific Northwest feels completely different based on less than
an inch of something happening. And so yeah, I mean
it's I'll say in the moment, I'm not one that
does hindsight.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
You know.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Just there you go, Dan Wilson, he screwed it and
ruined it for everybody. Get rid of him. I don't
believe that. I think that's short sighted and silly. I
will just say something that we've talked about a couple
times already today is if when you make a change,
the person that's getting ready to come up to the plate,
maybe inside has a sigh of relief. Then it maybe
(09:08):
is a change that you shouldn't have made. And I
would have to think George Springer, after getting dosed on
the knee the last time he faced Brian Wu and
then getting punched out in embarrassing fashion on three straight pitches,
looking as bad as he's ever gonna look an idiot
bat that he probably was like, please take him out.
I don't care who you bring in. I don't care
(09:29):
if it's Munjos, I don't care if it's Brash, I
don't care if it's Bizardo. Obviously bringing somebody other than
this guy, because he obviously didn't have the history, the
recent history that was negative like he did with Brian Wu.
So I was in the moment thinking, I think I'd
leave in here. I think that he has just so
good a chance of striking him out as anybody else
(09:49):
outside of Munjos and Bizardo. So the fact that those
guys weren't up and loose to where you get to
make that decision based on it, maybe is sticking with
a game plan too much. I mean, I would think
I think that it probably the blueprint was two times
through the lineup. If George can go five innings and
get through two times before we have to get into
where he runs into trouble. Typically in the postseason anyways,
(10:11):
is run into trouble the third time he goes through. Fine,
So four or five innings hopefully out of him. If
it's one time through the lineup that you're thinking of
Brian Wu because he still hasn't pitched a whole heck
of a lot. What do you have four innings in
the last month because of the injury? Okay, fine, And
if that sets it up to where you go Brash
and Munnos or Munos for two great, It just didn't
(10:32):
work out that way. So to me, it's I didn't
like the taking of Brian Wu out, and if I
was going to take him out, I'm probably going to
bring in as good as Bizarlo's been. And it needs
to be emphasized, he has been great. And this team,
you're gonna win it and you're gonna lose it as
a team. And yet when it comes down to we
need to get nine outs, we need to find a
way to get nine outs. Here, you start Wu to
(10:53):
go out there and he does that leadoff walk is
a killer because now it sets up where a little
you know, seeing I single up the middle put you
in a situation where a sack bunt and all of
a sudden, the tying runs, you know, one hundred and
eighty feet away, and the winning runs walking up to
the dish. So there's all kinds of stuff around it,
like I trust in Wu, and yet Wu is the
one that kind of puts you in a sticky, hairy situation.
(11:16):
So it's just one of those you didn't do it
collectively as a squad. You didn't do it, and and
Dan has something to some fault in that. And yet
putting it all at his feet is wrong. Putting it
all at Brian Wu's feet or Bizardo's feet is wrong.
There's just to some degree, I want you to have
a plan. I also want you to use your eyeballs
(11:38):
and your gut a little bit. And I'm not one
hundred percent sure what Dan would say with true serum
of what his gut was telling him versus what his
plan was telling.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
I think he just went with the plan, don't you.
It just kind of felt like they had a plan
and they went with the plan. We like our plan.
We're gonna stick with the plan versus feeling your way
through it. I mean, there's nothing keeping you from having
two loosen in the bullpen. Yeah, and then when the
moment arises, you get to choose which guy might be
better for the job at hand. And yet it was
(12:08):
only Spire at one point, and it was only Bizardo
at one point where and then I think the game
sped up on him. And the next thing, you know,
we got two guys on with their two best hitters
coming up in the next three batters. And I don't
know if they were prepared for that. Had they kind
of sensed that coming around the corner. Maybe you do
have a strikeout pitcher, a better strikeout pitcher going Ashley.
(12:29):
Maybe you got Brash up at least Brash Yeah, if
not Munyos, at least you've got the guy that's famous
for being a match up nightmare for everybody he faces. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
I mean that is the thing, because if you want
to save Munjos, if you think, oh this is too early,
we don't want to bring him in, Okay, that's fine,
that makes sense. But on top of it, Yeah, you
had Bizardo throwing thirty pitches or whatever the night before
too and so again, listening to the broadcast, even they
were questioning it, well, why isn't he bringing in Munnos here?
Why wouldn't And you the other thing you have to
remember too is Munyos isn't end all be all right
(13:01):
because you've got other pitchers that are available.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
We talked about Hiller and Castille of anyone, Yeah, they're
all of it.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
They're available, right, So you you bring in Munios, he
gets his job done, and then you can go to Miller.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
Then you can go to Castillo. Randy Johnson closed out
the World Series in two thousand and one. After starting
Game six, he saved Game seven. If at my history,
if I know my history, well, so you could go
to a Bryce Miller who's had all sorts of success
against this team. But it's not all about pitching. There
was also some other things. I mean, Leo Reevos got
(13:33):
a golden opportunity here. I mean he was name made
the midway through this series, the starting second baseman of
a team that was trying to make it to the
World Series. And man, he picked a bad time to
have a bad game, struck out three times and popped
up the other time at the plot. So Leo, you know,
(13:55):
along with a couple base running gas during the course
of the playoffs. I don't know if that's a exactly
one that's he's gonna remember too fondly, even though he
did have a clutch hit at one point here in
the postseason. And then I want to talk about Julio.
We haven't talked about Julio because Julio got off to
such a phenomenal start last night. He gets the leadoff
(14:17):
double to start the game. Then he hits the home
run that gave us the lead, which we held for
several innings, and it just looked like, oh my gosh,
Julio Rodriguez is gonna have a legendary game in this moment,
and then sort of emblematic of this team that could
not stand prosperity this entire year. Like every time things
(14:39):
seemed to be going every direction for the Mariners, Ah,
we are our steamroll in our competition, something would happen
where you're like, why are we playing this badly? Why?
How is this happening now? Why are we falling down
on the standings, Why are we letting the Astros win
the division again? And then they would ru remarkably rally.
(15:01):
They did it just all your luck even in the Alds.
Why did we blow it through nothing lead when it
looked like the Tigers had given up. You know, that's
kind of the way that they played all season long.
And I think Julio had a game like that last night.
It's like, here, you have everything going your way, Julio,
you might become a household name, you might become a
(15:23):
national icon with the game that you're having. There are
televisions on in every city in America watching Julio Rodriguez
look like he's going to take over the game. And
then he had three at bats later in the contest
with several guys on base that he doesn't come through
at all, and then strikes out with cal Raley on
(15:45):
deck without seeing a single pitch in the strike zone
from closer Jeff Hoffman could have at least earned a
walk there. And it was just he played. He had
two such great at bats and then three such bad
at bats. It's like, who could have had it all
last night? And he ends up kind of in a
strange way, being a little bit of a goat in
(16:06):
that situation.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Well, I mean, if this series wasn't the epitome of
what we've watched out of Julio. I don't know what
is the first three games that you win to and
lose one, he hits four hundred, He's four for ten
with a couple homers and a bunch of RBIs and
is a key contributor to your first couple wins and
even was an offensive, shining, shining light in your first
(16:29):
loss that you got your butt whooped in.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
And then he goes oh for ten the next.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Three games and basically is a non factor. And then
he comes out and gets you going to start the game,
and then the go ahead home run and you feel like, okay,
we're off and running. Cow chips in with his home run.
Now you're like, okay, a little bit of breathing room,
not a ton, obviously not enough, but you feel like
(16:55):
you feel good about it. And then a couple less
than stellar at bats, like it's just the bat is
not good. It's not the outcome that I care about.
If you finished two for five with a home run
and and and you you helped and you played good defense, okay,
if the but if you have a couple at bats
where this is a situation that I'm not going to
(17:16):
get beat on a pitch that's inside. I'm just not
going to be tardy because it's a You live to
fight another day if you get out in front of
that pitch. The one I'm talking about is the double
playground ball that you had a situation that there was
a walk right before Robus gets a walk, which Robus,
that's a whole nother thing. The bottom of the order
did not contribute much in the in the final little
(17:37):
part of this series.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
They didn't.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
It was it kind of became a little bit of
a void. But he ends up battling getting a walk there.
And then you get a pitch inside and you get beat,
and you hit a ground ball and next thing you know, boom,
the chance of a big inning or just an inning
that you're going to tack on a run or two
of insurance and you get beat. If you hit that
ball one hundred miles foul and one hundred and ten,
(18:00):
I was an hour off the bat. Yeah, it's a strike,
but it tells the pitch or something, it tells him
you better not coming there.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
I'm ready.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Then you get to play chess and say so now
I'm going to sit off speed because I know that
you're not coming back in there. I scared you out
of there, and now you get to take the pitch
that is down and a way, or the pitch that
you get to having a bat that might lead to
getting cal rawly back up to the dish, and instead
there's times when he will just he kind of gives
(18:27):
it bats away. Not intentionally, it's just the lack of
focus on the small details of what how you win
at bat, pitch by pitch.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
And if I had to say.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Why we end up losing a game or a series
four games to three against that team is up and
down their lineup, they had a better approach.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
They did.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
They gave away fewer at bats, They took more advantage
of the opportunities given to them, and we didn't. And
you basically find yourself to where all of our pitchers
are pitching on the razor's edge at all times. You're
always just like, I can't make any mistakes. Their team
kind of has this feel, their offensive side of their team,
their position players kind of give you this feel like
(19:08):
we're gonna wear you down, We're gonna grind out. If
you don't make a play, we're gonna capitalize on it.
If you end up, you know, having a you do
a leadoff walk, we might buy a guy over and
now all of a sudden you have to play this
game of do we walk him?
Speaker 1 (19:21):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Then Lad's waiting lurking in the in the bushes over there,
and next thing you know, you come and you make
one mistake and boom they capitalize on It.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Just was Julio.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Yes, it was a great first half of the game,
and then a not great approach in the in his
final couple of AB's in the costume, well.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
And it's even more painful. I wanted that for him.
I mean, this is somebody that took a lot of
slings and arrows throughout the first half of this season,
redeemed himself in the second half. Still had to watch
cal Rawley become the face of the franchise this year
over him and maybe even going back to last year,
and I wanted that for him. Last night, he was
(19:55):
just off to this like legendary start, Like you could
have the legendary moment, carry to victory, Julio, carry us
to the World Series tonight if you have to. And
after his first two at bats, he had three really
bad at bats, last night and opportunities to lengthen that lead,
and it's a little frustrating, all right. Coming up next,
Ryan Healey joins the Sports Radio ninety three point three
(20:16):
kh A RFM.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
Well, throughout this Major League Baseball postseason, we have had
the joy of getting to know and having analyze our
Mariners for us, former Mariner Ryan Healey, He's joined the
conversation almost I think, after every single game so far
in this postseason, and so we talked to him about
(20:42):
the final game of the year, which is sad to say, Good.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Morning, Ryan, Good morning man. How are we doing tonight?
I'm doing all right. I want to lead you in
any direction, like your big takeaway as you start thinking
about the Mariners this morning, what pops into your mind?
Speaker 5 (20:59):
What a se and what a series and such fight,
so many things that you could analyze, kind of pitch
by pitch, an by any player by player. For me, though,
trying to zoom out a little bit and look at
just the body of work of this whole season. I
mean that that game was a pitch.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
Away, Yeah, I mean give us the idea that he
freeze up, a freeze up, yeah, really, well, he can
really stand still there he's back.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
He's moving. Hey, it's too early for your internet again.
I told you it's nine am.
Speaker 5 (21:39):
So what I was saying is that the body of work,
though of just this season and also the series, their
ability to bounce back from adversity. Game seven, they responded
really early, scoring the run there the nailor singled RBI
after the double from Julio. I saw them bounce back
and really controlled that game. Disappointing how it ended, but
really proud of how this team conducted themselves.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
Yeah, I mean I think that you know, there's a
lot of there's a lot of pain in this fan
base based on the way things have gone, and unfortunately
the last night kind of adds to it a little bit.
But I'd love you to give your perspective on how
you win and you lose as a team, because there's
a lot of blame going to be thrown around, right,
and questions and criticisms are valid, And yet the idea
(22:23):
of when you're in that locker room, when you're in
that clubhouse, when you're on that field and the manager's like,
all right, let's go bizarro, get us out of this,
or let's do this to whomever. Hey, revos, you're in
the game, we thanks for that double you hit, and
you've grinded out some AB's, whatever the case may be.
How do you feel when you come up on the
losing end of things and there's questions and yet as
(22:44):
a team, you're gonna win some and you're gonna lose some,
but you're always gonna do it as a squad.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
It's a great question, Bucky. I said this early on.
Speaker 5 (22:52):
I believe in the Alds series about how I love
watching betteran managers conduct themselves in moments of defeat because
for me, you can really see what type of leader
you have there. And my show prep this morning was
watching Dan Wilson interviews. I wanted to see the questions
he was getting asked how he was able to respond
to those questions because I knew what they were gonna
be about. It was gonna be about the pitching decision
(23:13):
late in the game, the one swing that changed the game.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
And I thought that the.
Speaker 5 (23:16):
Way he navigated the answer was exactly how he navigated
the playoffs. He chose the players that got him there,
the guys that he relied on. There was no panic,
there was no Oh, this guy had a tough inning
like yesterday, I got to go try someone else now
like there was no panic decisions made. It was complete
conviction in his players and whether they succeeded or failed,
(23:37):
he had the confidence in them to come through in
that spot because they've done it all season long, And
there was so many moments throughout that Game seven last
night when I was watching it, when man, this storyline
is perfect for the Mariners back up against the wall
once again this season. They're gonna come through for us,
and for the first time all season long, they didn't.
And unfortunately the spot was in the Game seven and
alcs and that hurts a lot. But this fan base
(23:59):
has been on this Jarnie for a lot of time
with this team, and you saw the emotion on the
player's face. They care, Man, Then if there's never a
question if they do or don't. But you saw they
got a taste of it and they wanted it, and
that those emotions are going to feel them even further
to get past this hurdle next year.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Well, I can appreciate your appreciation for how Dan Wilson
handled it in the post game, But that said, I
know you were sitting there armchair managing just like all
the rest of us, Did he make the right move?
How would you have?
Speaker 5 (24:27):
What I don't like about this question, Chuckie, and I
understand it has to be asked, is that the end
result is already determined, so now it's so much easier
of an opinion. But I'll be honest with you, because
that's my job as an analyst. Is when I saw
Bazar to win there, I was really hoping to see
Munjos in that spot. Do I understand why he made
the spot after or the decision after seeing the postgame interview? Yes,
(24:50):
I do, and I appreciate it. You're the manager, You've
earned the right to make those decisions. But as a
fan and someone that really want to see the scene succeed,
I thought that was an opportunity to bring move in
early and stretch him out, and it didn't happen. But
we don't know if the result had been different even
if Munyas was there.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Yeah, I'm with you, Okay. Is there an idea that
if you were if you had that hat on? And again,
I agree that it feels superficial to say the least,
that the conversation after knowing the outcome, and yet in
the midst of it, we were all having that same
thing of man, should Muno's being there, should Brash be
in there?
Speaker 1 (25:24):
Or should Woo?
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Considering how bad he made Springer look and he hit
him in the knee and then he diced him up
on three straight pitches the previous time, I'm thinking that
that George Springer is taking a siary leaf when he's
seeing anybody else come in from the bullpen. Considering how
the previous at batwin is there a part of you
there was like, dude, he can pitch out of this jam.
You're bringing in a guy that's been been doing good
(25:47):
for us all season long and Bizardo and he's used to,
you know, pitch him with guys on base. But that's
Brian Wu. That's an All star. That's maybe been our
most solid dude on the bump all year long.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
There's no maybe about it.
Speaker 5 (26:00):
Wu's been the best picture on this Marritor's pitching staff
in twenty twenty five, no question. He just thought the
way that he came back and the injury, and he
is a saint. He came out of the bullpen twice
for us and he filled the zone up. It was
coming out of his hand really clean. There was a
lot of conversation in the Dodgers Brewer series, especially when
Blake Snell went eight innings in Game one and then
Yamamoda went nine innings in Game two, And there's a
(26:21):
psychological aspect as a hit or to that when a
starting pitcher is just in a groove and you're able
to get them out of the game. I don't care
if e Raaldess Chapman is coming in or if the
best pitchure in the world is coming in, Like it's
just not the guy that had my number today. I
can at least compete against him. So there is some
of that psychological that I'm sure that Springer had of Like, man,
I'm kind of happy Wu isn't in there because that
(26:42):
sinker he's gonna throw under my hands again because his
game plan is he's got to push me off the plate.
And last time he did that, he threw ninety six
or ninety seven off my right knee cap and that's
still hurts.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
So yeah, maybe there is some psychological with that.
Speaker 5 (26:54):
But we have to also trust the medical staff and
the coaching staff was analyzing how Wu was doing, and
you know, maybe they didn't want to push him in
that moment because the future of Brian Wu was bigger
than that one pitch that won at bat Really hard
to digest the thought of that at this point in time.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
I gotta get your thoughts on this. It ended up
not being that impactful of a play in the game,
but Bucky loved it. Every former player that I've heard
talk about this is just like going crazy over this moment,
Josh Naylor deciding not to slide and taking one to
the noggin. Well, as a former player, what did you
(27:32):
think of that play from him? I was actually in
the batting cage.
Speaker 5 (27:37):
I was there last night with a bunch of hitters
and one of my good buddies was actually there with us,
just kind of hanging out, dropping some knowledge in the guys,
and he looked at me and goes, That's the most
Josh Naylor play I've ever seen in.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
My entire life, and I love it.
Speaker 5 (27:50):
He kind of like ducks his head, but then he
jumps up into the ball and I'm like, the worst
worst case in aario is used to kind of kill
the momentum. You stop the game for a little bit.
Did everyone's chance to breathe while they were it? But man,
what just what an old school baseball player that really
had people chuckling and confuse of what what's the results
of this?
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Yeah, he just decided. I mean they always tell us
if he played beyond a little league that just throw
it right at his head. He'll get down. And Naylor's like,
I'm not gonna get down, so there's no rule that
I have to slide. They still called him for interference,
which I think was the right thing to do, but yes,
for him to just say in that moment, I'll take
one to the head. I don't care, see if I
(28:28):
can get a play here, right, And he was smart
enough to turn his back to the ball so that
it didn't get him in the face. Even that, even
Naylor's intelligence was on display in that moment.
Speaker 5 (28:38):
It would have at a next level if he was like, man,
i could really use some new veneers this offseason. So
I'm actually not gonna turn my head. I'm like his
baseball because I need some new show chips.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
Chips. And how disappointing was it? Just you know, as
you're rooting there for the Mariners, you got cal Raley
on deck. I just kept thinking the same the whole time,
like he's gonna get bat It's the era of cow
We're gonna pull this thing off, and he's gonna put
on the cape one more time. How disappointing was it
for you that he never got into the batter's box.
Speaker 5 (29:10):
As a baseball fan, you wanted to see that an
opportunity happen, and I felt like there was There were
pitches that were non competitive from Hoffman there to to
Rodriguez Julio. There obviously a really tight slider along the
way and they got Julio to expand. And you know,
that was a tough one, just for the way that
this season is kind of unfolded. In the role that
col has played for this team in twenty twenty five,
(29:32):
I would have loved to have seen it, even if
Cal strikes out the end of the season, like, I
just would have loved to have seen him in that
in that moment with the opportunity to tie the game
or put us ahead. I think that Mariners fans deserved that,
and I was disappointing not to see it.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
Even if he didn't come through. It just felt like
the season should be in his hands at a good point. Yeah,
well man, you've been awesome. Thank you very much. Don't
go far. I'm sure we're gonna be bugging the hell
out of you here in the offseason, so we really
appreciate it. And I think you got a future in
this business if you do intend to pursue it, and
(30:05):
of course we'll be bugging you whenever we get the opportunity.
So thank you very much.
Speaker 5 (30:10):
It's been outstanding to you, Chuck, to you, Bucky, to
you actually, to the Mariner stands out there that allowed
me the opportunity to come on here, the producers at KJR,
thank you so much for the chance to come on
this playoff journey. It's been a lot of fun and
the chance to be so tightly wound into this sport
again was a real blessing. So thank you guys very much.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
All Right, we'll be in touch you all right. Ryan
Heley joining us right here on Chuck and Buck coming
up next. The m's future. Yeah, I'm going to spend
five minutes on it. I know people don't want to
think about the future, but I think it's worth spending
five minutes on before we Monday morning quarterback at nine
o'clock on KJR, kind of talking about the Mariners season
(30:50):
coming to and end last night. I think there's at
least five minutes that need to get spent on the future.
I do love what Bucky said. I think it's a
phenomenal point at the very beginning of the show. It
is daunting to sort of sit here at the end
of this get so close to the World Series, the
objective of getting to the World Series, which has eluded
this city for half a century, and then think about
(31:11):
next year and starting the process all over again, and
then thinking about another excruciating, potentially postseason where you're you know,
gut ringing round after round trying to get to that
ultimate destination of the World Series. And I get why
people may want to put a hold on talking about
(31:32):
the future of the Mariners for that very reason.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
Yeah, yeah, well, it does feel like I'm not ready yet.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
I'm not ready, and I don't.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Know what the stages of grief are, but I know
sitting in it for a minute and feeling it is
part of it. And so I mean, I think I
think a lot of folks are not ready, probably to
be to have some silver lining of what might be
in the future rammed down their throat. At the same time,
I think it is good perspective that it can be
(32:03):
to try to find something about that makes you feel
good about where we are, even though what we just occurred,
what just occurred to us. I think that's a thing
that's good.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
I think it's healthy.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
I think that there's something to be said about trying
to find something that makes you feel a little bit
better considering the way last night went.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
Well.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
I know this like from a physical standpoint, like I
used to be in pretty phenomenal shape when I moved here.
I was about as fit as I've ever been in
my entire life. I'm not right now, And for me,
it feels like I'm back at the bottom of the
mountain and I got to climb my way all the
way back up to and that's very intimidating for me.
And yet everybody that will tell you that is you know,
(32:44):
into fitness, will tell you no, because you have that
history with it, it'll come back faster than it will
be for somebody that truly is starting at the bottom
of the mountain and trying to get healthy again. I
relate that to the mariners, because we're not going to
start at the bottom of the mountain next day. I mean,
we're gonna start in a really good place next year
with a really great foundation of some outstanding young pitchers
(33:06):
who still have multiple years left on their first contracts.
Even Luis Castillo has multiple years left on his deals.
We've got a foundation of Julio and Cal that has
not just signed for a couple more years, they're signed
for like a decade together to build around. And we've
got the number one farm system in the sport by
some measurements out there, that's going to help supplement this team.
(33:30):
We're also going to be clearing a lot of caps,
or not cap space, but payroll space, with Mitch Haniger's
contract coming off the books, and Mitch Garver's and Dylan
Moore's and Donovan Solano's, so we should be able to
without much sweat, be able to resign Josh Naylor and
maybe even a Jorge Polanco, maybe not Gino two. I
don't know how they'll do it, but this team is
(33:54):
not just gonna win next year. And maybe you don't
want to hear it, but I'm gonna say it anyway
because it's feels appropriate now that the season has come
to a close. This team's set up to win and
win big for the next decade, and that is credit
to Jerry Depoto and Justin Hollander. I know that they've
done some frustrating things here in the recent years, and
(34:15):
I know that they haven't gone for it as often
as they should. I think they finally did this year.
So I'm kind of hoping that they've learned from their
major weaknesses and have corrected them this year because there
are so many strengths with them and with the organization
and what the foundation that we have to build off of.
I think we're going to go on a really great run,
(34:36):
and I think we are going to make it to
the World Series multiple times, and I think we are
going to win at least one in the next ten years.
And I know that that doesn't feel good right now,
but I'd sure much rather be in this position than
in almost any other twenty five other franchises in Major
League Baseball. We are in a fortunate position. We got
(34:57):
one of the best five situations probably in a league
baseball going right now.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
Yeah, but I mean it feels like, you know, anyway
it's went through a breakup and somebody goes, well, there's
a lot more fish in the sea, and I mean
the fish are other baseball seasons. Yes, that's true, but
right now my heart hurts and I just want that fish,
the fish that I just was dating, and so that's
weird of dating a fish. But anyways, I mean.
Speaker 1 (35:20):
The Academy Award one time, that's true, that is true.
I am wondering if really happy, and I mean, yeah,
we just wanted to be Darryl him mermaid.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
I mean, who doesn't want a mermaid? That's I thought
you were talking about like fish called Wander or something.
Speaker 3 (35:38):
Yeah, that was good too.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
No, there was that movie though, like one Academy Award.
It was where the woman fell in love with a fish.
Speaker 3 (35:44):
Oh I don't remember that one. Oh yeah, I think
you're talking about fish called Wanda too, and then splash
obviously half fish half human.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
Yeah exactly, or regardless, if you want to date a fish,
we're going to have another fish next season, and it's
going to be a good looking fish. I mean, they
got some work to do to figure out who you're
bringing back that isn't locked up. But yeah, if you
just look at what is locked up, you've still got
majority of this team coming back. And I'll just say this,
I don't think this team played anywhere near where their
(36:14):
ceiling is. I mean, I think the pitching stacker the
majority of the season to some degree, injured Bryce Miller.
I think we saw here at the end and in
the playoffs pitching like real Bryce Miller, where he was
pitching with that bone spur and some injuries throughout the
course of the season, you know. I mean, I think
cal Rawley maybe played up to like his ceiling. But
(36:35):
for the most part, I think that there's still is
a lot of room for growth. I think this team
still is young and and yeah, I'm expecting to have
another similar ride. Now, nothing is guaranteed that you're going
to get three innings away from making a World Series.
It's the playoffs are difficult. You're can play in some
good teams. But yeah, I'm looking forward. I think the
future is bright, and yet right now it just hurts.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
The Shape of Water twenty seventeen Picture of the Year.
Found it by just typing into Google Fish Woman Love
Movie and it popped right up. Oh yeah, I like
that search all right. Humellan Mike Holmgrenet Sports Radio ninety
three point three kJ A r f M
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