October 15, 2025 • 17 mins
Former Mariners pitcher and analyst Bill Krueger joins Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain to talk about the M’s being up 2-0 on the Blue Jays in the ALCS, the pitching matchup in Game 3 tonight, how to win it, plus the impacts of Jorge Polanco and Eduard Bazardo.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's time for our weekly conversation with Bill Krueger, brought
to you by the brand new Occidental Hall next to
Lumanfield on Occidental, Seattle's newest hut spot for sports fans
with massive HD screens and a menu backed with Seattle's
best smash burger, wings and the best local craft beers
in town. Now with Bill Krueger, here's Saffian Dick.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
You know, I got to assume that if you're coming
down to Occidental to trying to grab a table at
one of the bars here, like Jimmy's or Occidental your Fried,
just bypass it and go right into the ballpark, man,
right into the stadium. Well, here he is, Man. This
is the reason why we have these guys on the air.
This is the moment that we've been waiting for. To
talk to Bill Krueger about the Mariners being two wins
away from the World Series. It's almost hard to spit
(00:44):
the words out, Man. But here we are, Billy, and
we are literally, potentially, let's face it, maybe twenty eight
hours away from seeing this team in the World Series.
It's almost overwhelming when you think about it. Billy, how
are you man? Great to visit with you what's going
through your mind right now as we're sitting year an
hour away from Game three.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Well, I think it's just what's going through my mind
is just thinking about the long history of the Seattle
Mariners that's been somewhat toilet with so many great players
and so many great you know, just just great teams
that could never get there. A record setting team in
two thousand and one, the fabulous talented teams of the
(01:22):
late nineties, and yet here we are with a team
that's never been this far in the playoffs after all
that time and all those many Hall of Fame leable players,
that this group has a real chance to get to
the World Series, a very good chance. So that's exciting,
and it makes me reflect upon my time with the
Mariners and all the great players that played with Bill.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
I look back to Friday, September the fifth. The Mariners
were six and fifteen in their last twenty one on
that day with a lost game one of the final
series of the road trip in Atlanta, and we have
gotten to this point. How have we gotten to this
point from that point?
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Well, at that point, the Mariners that had the schedule
really go against them, they really did. They had a
schedule that was really tough. Have to go two within
a span of three weeks, have to go and have
two of those weeks played on the East Coast in
hot and human weather and horror really terrific or horrific
travel conditions, and played some pretty good teams and a
(02:23):
lot of those teams had a bevy of left handed hitting,
so it was the recipe for a struggle, and the
Mariner struggled. And I just think that it was you know,
matchups make fights, and those were tough matchups for the Mariners.
And I think since then they got into some some
teams that matched well against them that didn't have the
left hand hitting or were teams that weren't in the
(02:43):
playoff hunt, and they got their footing and they got
their confidence, and their pitching got back in order, and
they started to pitch well, and the additions to their
lineup started to shine through. And it wasn't necessarily that
it was one guy, but the whole, the whole gauntlet
of guys that they had in their lineup has really
served them well because no one player has to make
(03:04):
the difference. It doesn't have to be cal raally, it
doesn't have to be Luio Rodriguez. It doesn't have to
beat Hi and we've seen that play out because Lako
Joor Polanco has done over the past two serieses, he's
been the difference maker. So I think that gives this
team a lot of confidence, right, And they survived the
(03:24):
Detroit series, which they almost got put into a different
cat matchup scenario where they've played, you know, aj Hinch's
game almost to the point where he was able, he
was almost able to beat the Mariners. I don't think
they're in that place now. Toronto is a much better
matchup for the Mariners, and it's showing.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Listen, guys, here's the deal. And we've been kind of
reflecting here a little bit to start the segment. Ye,
there's gonna be plenty of time for that, you know,
if they pull this off, there's gonna be well, I
don't even know if it's DVDs anymore, but we have
Mayo my videotape from ninety five at Cunningham narrating that
great Husky run in ninety one back in the day,
things like that, So there will be a time for
(04:04):
all of that. The only thing that matters to me
right now is winning this game tonight, Bill and acting
like you're the team that's down two games to non.
So let's talk about Shane Bieber, right, former Cy Young
Award winner, acquired at the deadline by Toronto from the Guardians.
He was on the IL, he had Tommy John. He's
made seven starts eight if you include the Yankee game
in game three. What is the key to getting to
(04:24):
Shane Bieber tonight and knocking him out early?
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Well, Shane Bieber is a crafty pitcher. He's not overpowering.
He has great breaking stuff. He understands how to make
you make it difficult on you. He understands hit her profile.
So he's not going to miss a step as far
as strategically how to face the Mariners. But this is
the Mariner club that has some very interesting hitters on
(04:50):
our team. We have hitters that handle the breaking ball.
We have three of them that if you make mistake
breaking ball pitches to them, they're going to lose it.
Andy Rose, Arena, Julio Rodriguez and Cal Rawley, which is
kind of different. Most teams are all about basketball mistakes.
We have three of our six hitters that really handle
(05:12):
the breaking ball. And I'm actually leading out one others,
and that's Gino Suarez, who is also a mistake breaking
ball hitter. We're a little more vulnerable to teams with
big fastballs, and so I think that Beaber, even though
he's a great pitcher and he's going to be smart
and he's not a guy that gives up a lot
of home runs. I think it's a good matchup for
(05:33):
this team. I think he's going to be forced to
be pretty careful and he's not a guy that's gone
deep in games, and the Jays bullpen hasn't been too great.
So I think the Mirrors are in a good position
now to be a little better than that because it's
a little more difficult to hit a homer at Team
Mobile Park. So they're going to lean on slugging. That's
(05:53):
just who they are. But I think they need to
be a little bit more willing to get a walk
or put the ball in play to kind of set
the table for that one or two slogging opportunities.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
Bill, you mentioned Jorge Polanco. Has this just been matchups
that he's taken advantage of that are to his favor,
or as I mentioned in the last segment, as kids
say today, he's just got that dog in him. There's
just certain guys on certain teams when the spotlight is
the brightest, they just love to come through.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Well, I think he's just a guy that's underappreciated. I mean,
he had such a point in his career where he
looked like he was done, and then he had this
unbelievable start of the season after nobody wanted him, and
even the Mariner's kind of game late to the party.
Because here's a guy that almost flatlined in his career,
had a Petella knee repair, wasn't ready to play in
spring training, and yet here he is today and he's
(06:45):
a difference maker for the Mariners. What a great pickup
he's been. He's quiet, he's not assuming, he's not a
guy that everybody's paying a whole lot of attention to.
But he's a dangerous guy. And why is he so dangerous. Well,
he's a switch hitter. Number one, he's experienced, number two
and number three, he's very short. He's short. She's short
to the ball, and that makes him dangerous. That makes
a day. So why I hit a couple homers off
(07:07):
of school ball Because he's short to the baseball, And
I think that Uh, you know, he's tightened up some
of his holes from last year. He just is strong,
stronger and quicker. I don't know how he's pulled it off.
I mean, did he find the path that pugs of
Dali Leone was looking for and found the fountain of youth?
I don't know. Maybe he did, maybe it thin Clayellham,
who knows, But uh, yeah, I don't know how he's
(07:27):
been able to do it. He did have some struggles
in the middle of the season, but now he's rallied
back and he's a dangerous cat because he's quick to
the baseball. He's short, he's got a short swing, and
you better not if you think you're gonna sneak the
rooster pass, you're gonna sneak the sun faster or rooster
with this guy, you're wrong because he can hit a fastball. Well.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
So, I mean, what's the key for Kirby? We talk
about getting the Bieber. I mean, Kirby's been sensational in
his first two games in the playoffs so far. Uh,
what do you want to see from from from angry
George Kirby tonight?
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Well, George is on a nice role. He's a confident pitcher.
This is a team that doesn't have a really dangerous
component of left hand hitters. They've got a nice collection,
but not great. He's probably the best guy, and he's
probably the one you wouldn't think of. They got him
and z, They've got var Show, they got Barger. These
aren't guys that are gonna be a big problem for him.
(08:22):
They're right hand hitting. Are the guys that you have
to be wary of. And after watching Miller pitch and
how many fastballs he threw, George has got to be
licking his chops because he's gonna throw a ton of fastballs,
and he should because the Jays haven't proved they can
handle it, especially from the right side. And Vladimir Guerrero,
who turned the Yankees on its ear. We're not gonna
(08:43):
show him breaking stuff from left handed pitchers. This is
gonna be fastballs and fastballs in and they've kept him
in check. So all George Kirby, and granted he's gonna
be who he is after watching Bryce Miller pitch, he
should have the template. That's the template. Bryce Miller throw
a ton of fastballs. He pitched them in. He showed
him breaking stuff, but mostly he pitched with his fastball,
(09:04):
and the Jays they are dangerous when you get into
long counts with them and they're able to take stuff
that's a little bit off speed or a little bit
away from them and put balls in play. That's what
they do, and they beat you with paper cuts. And
I think George is gonna man handle them. So that's
the thing. Now, where is it? Where does the danger lie? Is?
(09:25):
How many times can Bizardo pitch? That's the real question, right,
how many times can he pitch? Can he pitch again?
He's got a rubber arm. He has been the most
the most incredible story, maybe on the team, but certainly
in the bullpen. He's been their best pitcher. Argue with
me on that one. I know Munos had a great year.
I know he went to the All Star Game. I
(09:46):
know Brash is a super unbelievable Nintendo Slider guy. But
for me, the best pitcher in our bullpen is is
where Edward Bizardo. And I probably have under appreciated him
for sure. But can he pitch again tonight? I guess
he can. He's got to rubb her arm. But I
think that's where you kind of would like to see
George carry the game into the seventh inning. Uh, that
(10:09):
would be like, great, Caspire isn't the guy you necessarily
want to say, Hey, he's our seventh inning guy. He's
going to be a complimentary pitcher against this team. He's
not going to be the guy you go to. And
I'm not saying that because he's been nicked up a
little bit. I think it would be great to see
George hands the brash. That would be like, we're going
to come for the kill.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
Then I think, talk to me more about Bizarto, because
you know, we played a cut where somebody was calling
Bryce Miller a journeyman pitcher, which he obviously Carton Craig Carton.
But Bizardo, I mean, he is kind of the definition
of THEI. He's just he's a moron. But Bizardo is
a thirty year old journeyman pitcher. He's been to Boston,
(10:51):
he's been to Baltimore, he's been to Seattle. How is
he doing this? Why is Edward Bizardo no longer the
mop up guy that we kind of teased for being
for so long.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Well, I think he found a place that believed in
him and told him that, you know it isn't all
about how hard you throw. That we appreciate the fact
that he's got good movement and a good breaking ball,
and we just want to see him succeed with those
pitches and be more willing to pitch in the strike
zone with it and let the movement of your pitches
work for you. And I don't think the Mariners realized
(11:25):
how good he could be because he still started and
you know, kind of in the back of the bullpen,
and he's just gradually worked his way up all the
guys that kind of fell to the side because of
injury or underperformance. He's risen to the point where and
when you really needed someone to pitch in the middle
of the game, he's someding with the guy that could
do it. He not only pitched well when we need
him in even games, he's pitching games where the team's
(11:46):
been ahead. He's one game in games in extra any
which is like astounding in today's game. I mean, when
someone pitches three things out of the bullpen, I want
to think he's an iron man, which is ridiculous, But
I think it's if the guy that matured a little later.
Pitchers can mature later, and he's one of them, and
he's found a role that suits him well, and he's
(12:08):
pitching with confidence. He's got great movement on his fastball,
he wins in the strike zone, he's got great tilt
on his breaking ball, and he's fearless. I think he's
a what a tremendous story he's been.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
No doubt, Hey, Bill, one more from me. We started
this segment off by saying, Hey, you know the fan
in you comes out, They're gonna stup on their throats,
ah bury him tonight, take away their hope right, bury
him in Game three and finish them. What does that
look like in baseball terms? I think in football, we
all know what it looks like. It means, go rip
somebody's head off is what it means in football. But
(12:43):
what does that mean in baseball? If you're Dan Wilson
and you really really don't want this to go back Toronto,
and you know that you can deliver a hammer death
blow tonight in Game three and send them one foot
to the grave with a win tonight, what does that
look like in baseball terms? How Dan Wilson maybe manage
this game different if he really wants to step on
(13:04):
their throats tonight?
Speaker 3 (13:05):
And finish them well, when you have to let the
game come to you. He needs to let players play,
and the Mariners will play good baseball, and they're going
to have a crowd that's going to be rowdy and
loud and behind them. And it's clear this team gets
a tailwind from them. They get a real push. It's
shown up since the clouds started showing up in September,
(13:28):
So that's going to work in their favor. This is
the crowd that's going to be loud. They're not going
to go quiet. If the Mariners will score the first
ratings like Toronto's crowd did, it went really quiet, right,
So I think that works in their favor, and I
think the matchup favors the Mariners. If the trip to
the Blue Jays can't start posting some runs, it's going
to start to lay heavy on them, right. If Carrero
(13:49):
doesn't show up and we continue to they continue to
pound it inside and he can't get it done, the
Jays are going to be in trouble. And so I
think the game comes to the Mariners. The Mariners sit
in the driver's seat. They have an excellent starting pitcher,
They've got two guys at the end that they don't
that the Lujas don't want to see in Brash and
Munio's and it's a lineup that's that's hard because they're slugging.
(14:11):
There's that moment of the home run ball where the
Jays don't have that they got it. They gotta spring
hits together and that's going to be tough against our pitching.
So I think Dan Wilson needs to let the game
come to him. And you know, my only suggestion would be, Hey,
you know, you're going to try to play to what
the situation asked you to play too. And he had
(14:33):
a great feel, not strong, he was flat, and he
got him out of there quick and he was able
to because Bryce Miller pitched six and he's have Bizarro
when he really really needed him, and that's where he
performed and was brilliant. Again. I think George needs some rope.
I need to give him some room. I don't think
(14:53):
he's going to make the colossal mistake that he's that
he made in his last start. He's going to learn
from that. There's no lefty that's got that kind of
that's going to do that to him. So I'd like
to see like I'd like to see him give Georgia
little rope, but a three run home ern in the
game weren't hurt, right, So let the game come to you, Dan,
and I think the Mariners are a good place to win.
I think it's it, you know. I know we want
(15:14):
to see him whitewash him, but I think they're in
the driver's seat to win it. I'm not so sure
they can beat him four roh, but hey, could happen.
Speaker 4 (15:23):
Bill, What do you think about the decisions that Dan
and Jerry have made on who's starting what game in
this series?
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Well, I think it's a it's an excess of riches, right,
and some of it has been fatigue, right. But I
think you know, when you feel like you have options
and your number one starter isn't even pitching, that should
tell you something about how deep you are, right, I
mean pretty remarkable how deep this team is. And these
two guys like castill you and we're stepping up in
the game that's need to sit side of the season.
(15:53):
The game that they had to win, the fifth game
against Detroit, where those two guys came through its pages
and shows you why the starting picture is the best
picture of the game. Don't forget that. Who the best
pictures are. They're the starters, don't forget that. And uh,
you know, I think we could argue it, and I
think you know they they uh, they've had it right
so far. So you got to let them make those decisions.
(16:16):
I think you can't really go wrong. Is it cast You,
is it Gilbert? Is it Kirby? I mean yeah? And
then it's Miller when you didn't even expect it. So
I think they're just blessed by depth and blessed by talent.
Because Brian moves not even in the mix. Most teams
would be dead without the number one starter.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Right, all right, Billy, great stuff man, let's uh, let's
hope you're wrong about not getting the sweep, because I'm
not sure if I can take.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
It to be somewhat of a real.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Get enough for your realism. All right, you take your
realism and you know where to stick it. I want
two wins tonight. One okay, one that that's said, I'm done.
I can't handle this anymore. Billy, you're the man, great stuff,
And h hey, next time we talk, we could be
talking about these guys in the world series, So be ready, buddy.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
Appreciate it all right, Go get them.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Bill Krueger. With us, we're gonna break. Rick Riz gonna
join next on ninety three three kji RFM
It's time for our weekly conversation with Bill Krueger, brought
to you by the brand new Occidental Hall next to
Lumanfield on Occidental, Seattle's newest hut spot for sports fans
with massive HD screens and a menu backed with Seattle's
best smash burger, wings and the best local craft beers
in town. Now with Bill Krueger, here's Saffian Dick.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
You know, I got to assume that if you're coming
down to Occidental to trying to grab a table at
one of the bars here, like Jimmy's or Occidental your Fried,
just bypass it and go right into the ballpark, man,
right into the stadium. Well, here he is, Man. This
is the reason why we have these guys on the air.
This is the moment that we've been waiting for. To
talk to Bill Krueger about the Mariners being two wins
away from the World Series. It's almost hard to spit
(00:44):
the words out, Man. But here we are, Billy, and
we are literally, potentially, let's face it, maybe twenty eight
hours away from seeing this team in the World Series.
It's almost overwhelming when you think about it. Billy, how
are you man? Great to visit with you what's going
through your mind right now as we're sitting year an
hour away from Game three.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Well, I think it's just what's going through my mind
is just thinking about the long history of the Seattle
Mariners that's been somewhat toilet with so many great players
and so many great you know, just just great teams
that could never get there. A record setting team in
two thousand and one, the fabulous talented teams of the
(01:22):
late nineties, and yet here we are with a team
that's never been this far in the playoffs after all
that time and all those many Hall of Fame leable players,
that this group has a real chance to get to
the World Series, a very good chance. So that's exciting,
and it makes me reflect upon my time with the
Mariners and all the great players that played with Bill.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
I look back to Friday, September the fifth. The Mariners
were six and fifteen in their last twenty one on
that day with a lost game one of the final
series of the road trip in Atlanta, and we have
gotten to this point. How have we gotten to this
point from that point?
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Well, at that point, the Mariners that had the schedule
really go against them, they really did. They had a
schedule that was really tough. Have to go two within
a span of three weeks, have to go and have
two of those weeks played on the East Coast in
hot and human weather and horror really terrific or horrific
travel conditions, and played some pretty good teams and a
(02:23):
lot of those teams had a bevy of left handed hitting,
so it was the recipe for a struggle, and the
Mariner struggled. And I just think that it was you know,
matchups make fights, and those were tough matchups for the Mariners.
And I think since then they got into some some
teams that matched well against them that didn't have the
left hand hitting or were teams that weren't in the
(02:43):
playoff hunt, and they got their footing and they got
their confidence, and their pitching got back in order, and
they started to pitch well, and the additions to their
lineup started to shine through. And it wasn't necessarily that
it was one guy, but the whole, the whole gauntlet
of guys that they had in their lineup has really
served them well because no one player has to make
(03:04):
the difference. It doesn't have to be cal raally, it
doesn't have to be Luio Rodriguez. It doesn't have to
beat Hi and we've seen that play out because Lako
Joor Polanco has done over the past two serieses, he's
been the difference maker. So I think that gives this
team a lot of confidence, right, And they survived the
(03:24):
Detroit series, which they almost got put into a different
cat matchup scenario where they've played, you know, aj Hinch's
game almost to the point where he was able, he
was almost able to beat the Mariners. I don't think
they're in that place now. Toronto is a much better
matchup for the Mariners, and it's showing.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Listen, guys, here's the deal. And we've been kind of
reflecting here a little bit to start the segment. Ye,
there's gonna be plenty of time for that, you know,
if they pull this off, there's gonna be well, I
don't even know if it's DVDs anymore, but we have
Mayo my videotape from ninety five at Cunningham narrating that
great Husky run in ninety one back in the day,
things like that, So there will be a time for
(04:04):
all of that. The only thing that matters to me
right now is winning this game tonight, Bill and acting
like you're the team that's down two games to non.
So let's talk about Shane Bieber, right, former Cy Young
Award winner, acquired at the deadline by Toronto from the Guardians.
He was on the IL, he had Tommy John. He's
made seven starts eight if you include the Yankee game
in game three. What is the key to getting to
(04:24):
Shane Bieber tonight and knocking him out early?
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Well, Shane Bieber is a crafty pitcher. He's not overpowering.
He has great breaking stuff. He understands how to make
you make it difficult on you. He understands hit her profile.
So he's not going to miss a step as far
as strategically how to face the Mariners. But this is
the Mariner club that has some very interesting hitters on
(04:50):
our team. We have hitters that handle the breaking ball.
We have three of them that if you make mistake
breaking ball pitches to them, they're going to lose it.
Andy Rose, Arena, Julio Rodriguez and Cal Rawley, which is
kind of different. Most teams are all about basketball mistakes.
We have three of our six hitters that really handle
(05:12):
the breaking ball. And I'm actually leading out one others,
and that's Gino Suarez, who is also a mistake breaking
ball hitter. We're a little more vulnerable to teams with
big fastballs, and so I think that Beaber, even though
he's a great pitcher and he's going to be smart
and he's not a guy that gives up a lot
of home runs. I think it's a good matchup for
(05:33):
this team. I think he's going to be forced to
be pretty careful and he's not a guy that's gone
deep in games, and the Jays bullpen hasn't been too great.
So I think the Mirrors are in a good position
now to be a little better than that because it's
a little more difficult to hit a homer at Team
Mobile Park. So they're going to lean on slugging. That's
(05:53):
just who they are. But I think they need to
be a little bit more willing to get a walk
or put the ball in play to kind of set
the table for that one or two slogging opportunities.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
Bill, you mentioned Jorge Polanco. Has this just been matchups
that he's taken advantage of that are to his favor,
or as I mentioned in the last segment, as kids
say today, he's just got that dog in him. There's
just certain guys on certain teams when the spotlight is
the brightest, they just love to come through.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Well, I think he's just a guy that's underappreciated. I mean,
he had such a point in his career where he
looked like he was done, and then he had this
unbelievable start of the season after nobody wanted him, and
even the Mariner's kind of game late to the party.
Because here's a guy that almost flatlined in his career,
had a Petella knee repair, wasn't ready to play in
spring training, and yet here he is today and he's
(06:45):
a difference maker for the Mariners. What a great pickup
he's been. He's quiet, he's not assuming, he's not a
guy that everybody's paying a whole lot of attention to.
But he's a dangerous guy. And why is he so dangerous. Well,
he's a switch hitter. Number one, he's experienced, number two
and number three, he's very short. He's short. She's short
to the ball, and that makes him dangerous. That makes
a day. So why I hit a couple homers off
(07:07):
of school ball Because he's short to the baseball, And
I think that Uh, you know, he's tightened up some
of his holes from last year. He just is strong,
stronger and quicker. I don't know how he's pulled it off.
I mean, did he find the path that pugs of
Dali Leone was looking for and found the fountain of youth?
I don't know. Maybe he did, maybe it thin Clayellham,
who knows, But uh, yeah, I don't know how he's
(07:27):
been able to do it. He did have some struggles
in the middle of the season, but now he's rallied
back and he's a dangerous cat because he's quick to
the baseball. He's short, he's got a short swing, and
you better not if you think you're gonna sneak the
rooster pass, you're gonna sneak the sun faster or rooster
with this guy, you're wrong because he can hit a fastball. Well.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
So, I mean, what's the key for Kirby? We talk
about getting the Bieber. I mean, Kirby's been sensational in
his first two games in the playoffs so far. Uh,
what do you want to see from from from angry
George Kirby tonight?
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Well, George is on a nice role. He's a confident pitcher.
This is a team that doesn't have a really dangerous
component of left hand hitters. They've got a nice collection,
but not great. He's probably the best guy, and he's
probably the one you wouldn't think of. They got him
and z, They've got var Show, they got Barger. These
aren't guys that are gonna be a big problem for him.
(08:22):
They're right hand hitting. Are the guys that you have
to be wary of. And after watching Miller pitch and
how many fastballs he threw, George has got to be
licking his chops because he's gonna throw a ton of fastballs,
and he should because the Jays haven't proved they can
handle it, especially from the right side. And Vladimir Guerrero,
who turned the Yankees on its ear. We're not gonna
(08:43):
show him breaking stuff from left handed pitchers. This is
gonna be fastballs and fastballs in and they've kept him
in check. So all George Kirby, and granted he's gonna
be who he is after watching Bryce Miller pitch, he
should have the template. That's the template. Bryce Miller throw
a ton of fastballs. He pitched them in. He showed
him breaking stuff, but mostly he pitched with his fastball,
(09:04):
and the Jays they are dangerous when you get into
long counts with them and they're able to take stuff
that's a little bit off speed or a little bit
away from them and put balls in play. That's what
they do, and they beat you with paper cuts. And
I think George is gonna man handle them. So that's
the thing. Now, where is it? Where does the danger lie? Is?
(09:25):
How many times can Bizardo pitch? That's the real question, right,
how many times can he pitch? Can he pitch again?
He's got a rubber arm. He has been the most
the most incredible story, maybe on the team, but certainly
in the bullpen. He's been their best pitcher. Argue with
me on that one. I know Munos had a great year.
I know he went to the All Star Game. I
(09:46):
know Brash is a super unbelievable Nintendo Slider guy. But
for me, the best pitcher in our bullpen is is
where Edward Bizardo. And I probably have under appreciated him
for sure. But can he pitch again tonight? I guess
he can. He's got to rubb her arm. But I
think that's where you kind of would like to see
George carry the game into the seventh inning. Uh, that
(10:09):
would be like, great, Caspire isn't the guy you necessarily
want to say, Hey, he's our seventh inning guy. He's
going to be a complimentary pitcher against this team. He's
not going to be the guy you go to. And
I'm not saying that because he's been nicked up a
little bit. I think it would be great to see
George hands the brash. That would be like, we're going
to come for the kill.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
Then I think, talk to me more about Bizarto, because
you know, we played a cut where somebody was calling
Bryce Miller a journeyman pitcher, which he obviously Carton Craig Carton.
But Bizardo, I mean, he is kind of the definition
of THEI. He's just he's a moron. But Bizardo is
a thirty year old journeyman pitcher. He's been to Boston,
(10:51):
he's been to Baltimore, he's been to Seattle. How is
he doing this? Why is Edward Bizardo no longer the
mop up guy that we kind of teased for being
for so long.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Well, I think he found a place that believed in
him and told him that, you know it isn't all
about how hard you throw. That we appreciate the fact
that he's got good movement and a good breaking ball,
and we just want to see him succeed with those
pitches and be more willing to pitch in the strike
zone with it and let the movement of your pitches
work for you. And I don't think the Mariners realized
(11:25):
how good he could be because he still started and
you know, kind of in the back of the bullpen,
and he's just gradually worked his way up all the
guys that kind of fell to the side because of
injury or underperformance. He's risen to the point where and
when you really needed someone to pitch in the middle
of the game, he's someding with the guy that could
do it. He not only pitched well when we need
him in even games, he's pitching games where the team's
(11:46):
been ahead. He's one game in games in extra any
which is like astounding in today's game. I mean, when
someone pitches three things out of the bullpen, I want
to think he's an iron man, which is ridiculous, But
I think it's if the guy that matured a little later.
Pitchers can mature later, and he's one of them, and
he's found a role that suits him well, and he's
(12:08):
pitching with confidence. He's got great movement on his fastball,
he wins in the strike zone, he's got great tilt
on his breaking ball, and he's fearless. I think he's
a what a tremendous story he's been.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
No doubt, Hey, Bill, one more from me. We started
this segment off by saying, Hey, you know the fan
in you comes out, They're gonna stup on their throats,
ah bury him tonight, take away their hope right, bury
him in Game three and finish them. What does that
look like in baseball terms? I think in football, we
all know what it looks like. It means, go rip
somebody's head off is what it means in football. But
(12:43):
what does that mean in baseball? If you're Dan Wilson
and you really really don't want this to go back Toronto,
and you know that you can deliver a hammer death
blow tonight in Game three and send them one foot
to the grave with a win tonight, what does that
look like in baseball terms? How Dan Wilson maybe manage
this game different if he really wants to step on
(13:04):
their throats tonight?
Speaker 3 (13:05):
And finish them well, when you have to let the
game come to you. He needs to let players play,
and the Mariners will play good baseball, and they're going
to have a crowd that's going to be rowdy and
loud and behind them. And it's clear this team gets
a tailwind from them. They get a real push. It's
shown up since the clouds started showing up in September,
(13:28):
So that's going to work in their favor. This is
the crowd that's going to be loud. They're not going
to go quiet. If the Mariners will score the first
ratings like Toronto's crowd did, it went really quiet, right,
So I think that works in their favor, and I
think the matchup favors the Mariners. If the trip to
the Blue Jays can't start posting some runs, it's going
to start to lay heavy on them, right. If Carrero
(13:49):
doesn't show up and we continue to they continue to
pound it inside and he can't get it done, the
Jays are going to be in trouble. And so I
think the game comes to the Mariners. The Mariners sit
in the driver's seat. They have an excellent starting pitcher,
They've got two guys at the end that they don't
that the Lujas don't want to see in Brash and
Munio's and it's a lineup that's that's hard because they're slugging.
(14:11):
There's that moment of the home run ball where the
Jays don't have that they got it. They gotta spring
hits together and that's going to be tough against our pitching.
So I think Dan Wilson needs to let the game
come to him. And you know, my only suggestion would be, Hey,
you know, you're going to try to play to what
the situation asked you to play too. And he had
(14:33):
a great feel, not strong, he was flat, and he
got him out of there quick and he was able
to because Bryce Miller pitched six and he's have Bizarro
when he really really needed him, and that's where he
performed and was brilliant. Again. I think George needs some rope.
I need to give him some room. I don't think
(14:53):
he's going to make the colossal mistake that he's that
he made in his last start. He's going to learn
from that. There's no lefty that's got that kind of
that's going to do that to him. So I'd like
to see like I'd like to see him give Georgia
little rope, but a three run home ern in the
game weren't hurt, right, So let the game come to you, Dan,
and I think the Mariners are a good place to win.
I think it's it, you know. I know we want
(15:14):
to see him whitewash him, but I think they're in
the driver's seat to win it. I'm not so sure
they can beat him four roh, but hey, could happen.
Speaker 4 (15:23):
Bill, What do you think about the decisions that Dan
and Jerry have made on who's starting what game in
this series?
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Well, I think it's a it's an excess of riches, right,
and some of it has been fatigue, right. But I
think you know, when you feel like you have options
and your number one starter isn't even pitching, that should
tell you something about how deep you are, right, I
mean pretty remarkable how deep this team is. And these
two guys like castill you and we're stepping up in
the game that's need to sit side of the season.
(15:53):
The game that they had to win, the fifth game
against Detroit, where those two guys came through its pages
and shows you why the starting picture is the best
picture of the game. Don't forget that. Who the best
pictures are. They're the starters, don't forget that. And uh,
you know, I think we could argue it, and I
think you know they they uh, they've had it right
so far. So you got to let them make those decisions.
(16:16):
I think you can't really go wrong. Is it cast You,
is it Gilbert? Is it Kirby? I mean yeah? And
then it's Miller when you didn't even expect it. So
I think they're just blessed by depth and blessed by talent.
Because Brian moves not even in the mix. Most teams
would be dead without the number one starter.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Right, all right, Billy, great stuff man, let's uh, let's
hope you're wrong about not getting the sweep, because I'm
not sure if I can take.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
It to be somewhat of a real.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Get enough for your realism. All right, you take your
realism and you know where to stick it. I want
two wins tonight. One okay, one that that's said, I'm done.
I can't handle this anymore. Billy, you're the man, great stuff,
And h hey, next time we talk, we could be
talking about these guys in the world series, So be ready, buddy.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
Appreciate it all right, Go get them.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Bill Krueger. With us, we're gonna break. Rick Riz gonna
join next on ninety three three kji RFM
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