August 31, 2026 • 17 mins
Former Mariners pitcher and analyst Bill Krueger joins Dave Softy Mahler and Dck Fain to talk about the M’s bad weekend against the Blue Jays, the mental mistakes including the lack of pressure to improve in that way, the behavior with the rotation, his manager experience applied to Dan Wilson’s case, Dan’s job security and Laz Montes coming up.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's time for our weekly conversation with Bill Kruger, brought
to you by the brand-new Occidental Hall next to Lumen
Field on Occidental, Seattle's newest hotspot for sports fans, with
massive HD screens and a menu packed with Seattle's best
smash burger, wings, and the best local craft beers in town.
Now with Bill Kruger, here's Softie and Dick.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Alright, we're back at Husky Stadium getting ready for the
Apple Cup on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
We may just stay here, by the way. I mean,
you're going, right, to the game on Sunday? Okay, good. Jackson,
are you coming Sunday for the game, by the way?
I'm not. Okay. I got tickets for you if you
want to go. Tickets are a problem. I got Dave Matthews, sorry.
Speaker 4 (00:36):
Oh, you. Jesus, man, unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
That's not on a Sunday afternoon. How many times have
you seen Dave Matthews in person? Oh, God. How many times?
Speaker 5 (00:44):
Huh?
Speaker 3 (00:44):
To the teens.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Nearing 55.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Yeah, well, I think you should reevaluate your options. Every
year at the Gorge. Okay.
Speaker 5 (00:50):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
You know what?
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Our next guest, I wonder if he's coming. Bill Kruger
joining us, courtesy of our friends at the Occidental Hall.
Great spot before and after Mariner games, Seahawks games as well. Bill,
are you planning on being here with us at the
greatest setting in college football on Sunday at 1 o'clock?
Speaker 4 (01:08):
I am probably not. But I'm not a Dave Matthews either,
so I just have no vocation, no interest.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Yeah, yeah. I get it.
Speaker 5 (01:18):
I get it. What's funny about Dave Matthews, my daughter,
who went off to college, this is a few years ago,
and mom thought it would be a good idea for
her to kind of get a little taste of what
the party scene might be like.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Right.
Speaker 5 (01:33):
And so she went to Dave Matthews, and just about
everything that you could possibly see happened. So without going long-winded, that's.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
What I gathered from Dave Matthews. Not that he's not
a great player, but a great entertainer. But, yeah, anyways.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Well, I have a very pristine image of your daughter.
I want to keep it that way, and your wife
as well.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
So I don't want to know anymore. Don't tell me
anything else.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
But I do start to have, and I'm starting to develop,
if I haven't developed already, a very sour impression of
what's happening with our Mariners, man.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
They go to Toronto.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
And, Billy, it just kind of felt like they just
got shoved around, you know, for three days by a
mediocre Toronto Blue Jay baseball team. And, frankly, I think
all of us, I think I speak for all of us,
we're getting sick and tired of watching it, man, like this.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
What the hell is going on with our team, man?
Speaker 5 (02:24):
Well, they just haven't been able to keep good play going.
You know, if we think back just a few days
prior to that, they were coming off winning two series
against the two, you know, juggernauts in the national league
and two out of three with the Cubs and two
out of three with the Phillies and, uh, four and
two on this, uh, really difficult stretch. And, you know,
(02:44):
they were sitting in pretty, pretty good spot and went
into Toronto and really just got outplayed. As you mentioned, um,
that's been sort of their, their tail this year. They
really have been able, uh, you know, keep good play going. Uh,
and they didn't play well. They didn't swing the bat.
They scored four runs in three games. They're starting pitching.
Didn't carry them. Um, They didn't play real sharp baseball
(03:06):
either where mistakes were made that were costly. So there's
just nothing really redeeming you can take from it other
than the fact that we can step back from it
a little bit. I think 6-6 was what I said
they needed to be in this 12-game stretch and then
have to play 10-11 over 500 the rest of the way.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
And I think that would get them in.
Speaker 5 (03:34):
But if you're not playing well, then it's hard to
anticipate you going on a run like that, even though
you're going to be playing some pretty meager competition.
Speaker 6 (03:43):
Bill, the mental mistakes just continue to come. And the
latest being Bizzardo at the plate, just with guys sliding
right behind him and he has got no idea. But
it just doesn't seem like there's a demand by Dan
Wilson that mental mistakes get taken care of because if
there was, I don't think we'd see as many of them.
Is it, is it just that simple to put one
plus one equals two or is it something else?
Speaker 4 (04:06):
Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 5 (04:07):
They're, they're scattered throughout the season, you know, base running mistakes.
There's been a variety of mistakes as teams played. It's
not been real crisp baseball. Bizzardo, I just think that
it was a lapse on his part. You know, you
got to, Baseball is a game where you can prescript everything.
So when you're on the mound, you've got to know
(04:30):
who's on base and the possibilities.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
As soon as you saw the ball.
Speaker 5 (04:35):
Where Cal couldn't find it, it had to be in
the back of your mind that I need to take
a peek and see if this guy's coming because your
mental clock in your head is ticking, right? So I
have to say that that's an easy one for me.
but obviously he, he didn't, it didn't even cross his mind.
And I'm not so sure if that's because, you know, he,
(05:01):
you know, maybe because I was a position player most
of my life before I came to picture.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
I don't know.
Speaker 5 (05:06):
Um, but you know, I can't make an excuse for it.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
He should have peaked. It doesn't happen.
Speaker 5 (05:10):
It's a pretty rare occurrence. A guy will take a
chance like that. And he did take a chance. I mean, if, uh,
if he reads the plays out, if he reads the
plays out, so they took a big risk there.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
So, uh, I don't know.
Speaker 5 (05:22):
I mean, the mistakes, they haven't been a great defensive team.
They haven't stolen outs defensively. Ronan can't make the play
in game one, costs Hancock three. Crawford can't make the
play yesterday. That's sort of opened the gate. And then
(05:44):
we just don't have starting pitching that can carry. That's
been the story for the past couple of months. This
team's always been been an up-and-down offensive team, but our
pitching just hasn't been nearly as good as starting pitching
hasn't been nearly as.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
Good as it needs to be to be successful. I mean,
that's really the story.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
We can talk about little mental mistakes, and we can
talk about the up-and-down hitting part of the game, but
our starting pitching is our ticket. And what disturbs me
a little bit is our lack of will to let
starters pitch. Because if it's your strength, if it's your
trump card, don't you have to... Get these guys to
give you more. And if they're not giving you more,
(06:22):
don't you have to step back and say, but why?
Why aren't they giving us more? Because we don't allow them.
That's part of it. But the 90-pitch line, sometimes you
have to be able to be a little bit more
lenient with that line, I think.
Speaker 4 (06:36):
Now, there are extenuating circumstances.
Speaker 5 (06:38):
I don't know how much Hancock was hurting, but I
didn't get that impression when I was watching.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
But maybe he was. Gilbert comes out, three runs.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
I guess.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
He's your number one starter. Don't you?
Speaker 3 (06:51):
I don't know.
Speaker 5 (06:53):
And he gobbles up pitches. The same with Anderson. What
were they doing with Anderson for the past two months?
He was just babysitting at Eddie Pitches. You know, just
tooling guys. Don't you want to get him ready to
pitch in the big leagues? But we're just playing the
game for next year and the year after. We're counting
pitches like every one is a step toward the grave.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
I don't know. I'm taking you off the topic here,
but Yes. Have they played sharp? No. Should they play better? Yes.
Is that the manager's fault? I don't know. I don't
think so. You're pros. You got to come out and
play the game.
Speaker 5 (07:29):
Today's game is, is not about old school, putting heat, feeling,
feeling the human element, having that stress laid on you.
If you don't perform, that's just not the style of,
of managing that's going on today. From my estimation, I
don't see every manager. So I don't know.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
And managers are, Less in charge, right?
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Well, let me, you know, Bill, let me jump in
there for a second. I'm glad that you brought that up.
Bill Kruger with us. I'm going to give you a
list of people. You tell me, Bill, what they all
have in common. And I think I have my list
right now. Sparky Anderson, Lou Piniella, Tom Kelly, Tommy Lasorda,
Tony La Russa. What do all those guys have in common?
Speaker 4 (08:07):
They were all my managers.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
You played for every single one. You played for every
single one. So when Bazzardo pulled that nonsense on Saturday,
when Julio throws a ball into the stands with one out,
when he's soft tossing with a fan as the game's
getting going, when Josh Naylor's running the bases like a bonehead,
what do you think the reaction of those guys would
have been? How come none of these guys has been
(08:30):
pulled from a game or benched for this crap that
we've been watching all year long?
Speaker 4 (08:34):
Why? I don't have your, I don't have the answer
you're looking for. I don't know. I don't know.
Speaker 5 (08:42):
Sometimes, you know, this, the sheer fact that, that, that we've,
we've prepared ourselves to play better and there's a higher
calling about how we're going to play. And that starts
in spring training. I mean, Tom Kelly was the best. He,
he prepared us.
Speaker 4 (08:58):
We, we, we, we practiced. It was almost like groundhog day.
Speaker 5 (09:01):
I mean, I could go into these long stories about
a world championship team that I joined in 1992, where,
We had a drill where the infield had what's called
perfect infield, and there was a number of plays that
had to be made. And if they didn't get every
single one of them right, these were bunt plays, these
were all the fielding plays, they were relays.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
They were everything. And if they didn't get it right,
they did it again. This is a world championship team.
Tom Kelly parked us in the minor league complex and.
Speaker 5 (09:30):
Told us every day that we weren't very good.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
If we don't start playing better, we're not going to
get over to the big leagues. complex and good. The
best players.
Speaker 5 (09:37):
That just won a world championship, Kirby pocket and the
gang hanging their jeans on a, on a, on a
rusty nail. So, yeah, I mean, it's a different world
and you know, Lou, I don't need to explain him
to you and Tony Russo. I, I, I don't think.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
It would last. It wouldn't, it would have been nipped
in the bud immediately. Tom Kelly, I'll give you one story.
Speaker 5 (09:56):
Tom Kelly, Chuck Knobloch was a first or second year
player for a second baseman.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
Really good player before he got the phobia. He could run.
Speaker 5 (10:04):
He was an excellent defender and he could really hit.
Line drive hitter. He's leading the American League in hitting.
We're in the second week of May. And he hits
a ball to second base. He kind of got off stride.
He kind of put the ball in play and he
was pissed. And he didn't run the ball out. He
kind of jogged to first base. And it was like
he was the first or second inning. And there were
(10:27):
no odds that it was the first out.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
And Tom goes, hey, Chuck, come on down here. Sit
with me. So he goes down and sits with him.
He doesn't say a word to him. And the inning ends.
And Chuck goes to grab his glove. And Tom goes, no,
you're going to sit here with me today. Leading the
American League in hitting. So it's a different time and place, right? Yeah.
So I don't know.
Speaker 5 (10:49):
And veteran players probably wouldn't get the same treatment as
a young player when you're trying to make an impression
on somebody. But when the veteran players have the manager's back,
that's when you can do things like that. You have
to have a team where veteran players have the back
of the manager and then you're able they're able to
be a part of making sure that guys play the
(11:09):
game right.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
So.
Speaker 5 (11:11):
I don't know what's happening behind the scenes with Dan.
I know that he was brought up right. I know
that Lou Piniella breathed down his neck every single day
his rookie season and told him everything he was doing
wrong on every pitch.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
So, yeah, he's been there, okay? He knows what it
takes to win.
Speaker 5 (11:27):
And I think he probably is messaging players individually. We're
just not seeing anything because Dan refuses to be negative
on any player in the press.
Speaker 6 (11:37):
Right.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (11:38):
Agreed. Well, Bob Nightingale of the USA Today came out
with a report a couple weeks ago that says if
Dan Wilson's gone, if they don't make the playoffs, and
they are further away from the playoffs now than they
were when that report was put out there, do you
believe that, and do you think that's the right move
if that happens?
Speaker 4 (11:56):
Huh. Well, I think you're guessing into the wind here
a little bit.
Speaker 5 (12:02):
You know, he took the team to the level, to
the closest that we've ever been, He came in and
kind of salvaged them to begin with and then had
a greater last year. And then they were hampered by injury, right,
this year.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
I think that's fair to say. So that's a call
the management has to make.
Speaker 5 (12:19):
And it's a call that Dan probably would have to
make if it's something that he's eager to continue to manage.
I mean, I don't point the finger at Dan. I
point the finger at injury and the guys in the
middle line are not performing. And the philosophy around pitching.
Speaker 6 (12:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (12:37):
That's what I point out. This team needs more than
what they have. I think Cal Raleigh ran into 60
balls last year and had an incredible year and wore
down and got an injury and really slumped this year.
And he'll come back next year and he'll be better.
But he's not going to be a 280 hitter with
50 homers every year. Josh Naylor is not a home
(12:59):
run hitter. And Julio Rodriguez, that's a head scratcher for me.
I'm not so sure who the player that he is.
We need another bonafide bat that can really play. And
we're going to have to sort out our starting pitching.
And I think starting pitching has got to pitch further.
And we can't have these ridiculous six-man rotations piggyback stuff
that really hurt the team.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Okay? So, yeah.
Speaker 5 (13:21):
I mean, I see a lot of those things being
more central than whether or not Dan's tipping the spread
over and screaming at people in the press.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
Well, here comes the Messiah we've all been waiting for, fellas.
Laz Montes coming up from Tacoma, right? I mean, the
guy has been destroying pitching in the minor leagues. 38
home runs combined this year between AA and AAA. He's
got a 928 OPS, I would assume. If he's coming up,
(13:51):
he's going to play every day. Otherwise, why bring him up?
May as well leave him in the minors. But how
would you handle Laz Montes coming up and– What do
you think we'll see from this young man?
Speaker 5 (14:04):
Well, they have a spot, and they're looking at DH
against right-handed pitching, and we're just not there. Taylor Ward
is hitting a buck-twelve. So he's not going to DH
against right-handed pitching. Canzone's going to play right, and Montez
is going to get a chance because he gives us
a better chance against right-handed pitching. So they're going to
give him a look, and that's a peek into the future.
(14:27):
I think Arroyo is probably the more polished hitter. But
he's not here because he's learning left field, and you're
not going to take Randy out of left field. So
Montez is a logical choice. It's hard to say whether
he's ready. He's got a high strikeout rate. But, boy,
when he touches it, it goes. And he's got a
high slugging percentage, and he's putting up those kinds of
home run numbers in a big park in Arkansas. So
(14:48):
I think it's intriguing to see what he can do.
Speaker 4 (14:52):
And maybe he gives them a little bit of a lift.
They need a lift. This is a team that's not scoring.
Speaker 5 (14:59):
So I'm excited to see him, and he's going to
get some chances.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
That's for sure. I think he's going to DH against
right-handed pitching.
Speaker 5 (15:08):
So they see this as a way to help the
team and get a little peek at what this guy
might be all about.
Speaker 6 (15:17):
Taylor Ward there, and he's just in a long list
of right-handed hitters that the Mariners acquire that just go
to die. They have 700, 800, 850 OPSs wherever they're at.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
Rob Refsnyder, whatever.
Speaker 6 (15:29):
They come here and they just die.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Why is that?
Speaker 6 (15:32):
I mean, T-Mobile's a hard place to hit, but they're
dying on the road, too.
Speaker 5 (15:38):
Well, I think when you're shopping, you know, if you're
going to play the Monopoly board, you know, backwards from
from the get out of jail free spot, you're, you're
going to, you're going to have to get a little
bit lucky, right? You know, you didn't get, you're not
getting a bonafide right-hand bat. You're getting the bat that
matches the price you're.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
Willing to pay.
Speaker 5 (15:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
Okay. So, you know, Randy Rosarino represents a bonafide right-handed bat. Okay.
And that's, that's what it's supposed to look like. Right.
Speaker 5 (16:09):
Um, and otherwise what you've seen beyond that are, are,
are guys that just are, less expensive and there's a little.
Speaker 4 (16:18):
Bit of hope there.
Speaker 5 (16:18):
Now they've done a good job of finding relief pitching. That's, that's, that's,
that's undervalued. They've done a really good job of finding
those guys over time. But I think sometimes, you know,
you're going to have to pay retail to get a
real bad, to get a real bright hand bat that
plays every day. You know, they had a whole third
base that they, they, they're going to have, I think
that's where they have to solve. And whether that there's
(16:41):
a guy out there like that, but you know, They
need to find a guy that plays all the time
that hits right-handed that can give them, you know, that
presence in the lineup on a regular basis. So I
just think it's, you know, you're meeting the market and
that's where you're willing to spend and that's what you get.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Third base has been a massive problem since 2024. Remember
Josh Rojas, anybody? Jorge Polanco at third base. So, yeah,
that's got to be fixed for sure. All right, Billy,
great stuff. And if you change your mind on the
Apple Cup or Dave Matthews on Sunday, let us know.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
All right? We'll take care of you.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
Yes, I will. I will, guys. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Thanks, Bill.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
All right, Bill Kruger with us. Let's talk some Seahawks.
The roster has been set. Any surprises at all? We'll
talk about it next on 93.3 KJRFM.
It's time for our weekly conversation with Bill Kruger, brought
to you by the brand-new Occidental Hall next to Lumen
Field on Occidental, Seattle's newest hotspot for sports fans, with
massive HD screens and a menu packed with Seattle's best
smash burger, wings, and the best local craft beers in town.
Now with Bill Kruger, here's Softie and Dick.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Alright, we're back at Husky Stadium getting ready for the
Apple Cup on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
We may just stay here, by the way. I mean,
you're going, right, to the game on Sunday? Okay, good. Jackson,
are you coming Sunday for the game, by the way?
I'm not. Okay. I got tickets for you if you
want to go. Tickets are a problem. I got Dave Matthews, sorry.
Speaker 4 (00:36):
Oh, you. Jesus, man, unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
That's not on a Sunday afternoon. How many times have
you seen Dave Matthews in person? Oh, God. How many times?
Speaker 5 (00:44):
Huh?
Speaker 3 (00:44):
To the teens.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Nearing 55.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Yeah, well, I think you should reevaluate your options. Every
year at the Gorge. Okay.
Speaker 5 (00:50):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
You know what?
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Our next guest, I wonder if he's coming. Bill Kruger
joining us, courtesy of our friends at the Occidental Hall.
Great spot before and after Mariner games, Seahawks games as well. Bill,
are you planning on being here with us at the
greatest setting in college football on Sunday at 1 o'clock?
Speaker 4 (01:08):
I am probably not. But I'm not a Dave Matthews either,
so I just have no vocation, no interest.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Yeah, yeah. I get it.
Speaker 5 (01:18):
I get it. What's funny about Dave Matthews, my daughter,
who went off to college, this is a few years ago,
and mom thought it would be a good idea for
her to kind of get a little taste of what
the party scene might be like.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Right.
Speaker 5 (01:33):
And so she went to Dave Matthews, and just about
everything that you could possibly see happened. So without going long-winded, that's.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
What I gathered from Dave Matthews. Not that he's not
a great player, but a great entertainer. But, yeah, anyways.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Well, I have a very pristine image of your daughter.
I want to keep it that way, and your wife
as well.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
So I don't want to know anymore. Don't tell me
anything else.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
But I do start to have, and I'm starting to develop,
if I haven't developed already, a very sour impression of
what's happening with our Mariners, man.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
They go to Toronto.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
And, Billy, it just kind of felt like they just
got shoved around, you know, for three days by a
mediocre Toronto Blue Jay baseball team. And, frankly, I think
all of us, I think I speak for all of us,
we're getting sick and tired of watching it, man, like this.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
What the hell is going on with our team, man?
Speaker 5 (02:24):
Well, they just haven't been able to keep good play going.
You know, if we think back just a few days
prior to that, they were coming off winning two series
against the two, you know, juggernauts in the national league
and two out of three with the Cubs and two
out of three with the Phillies and, uh, four and
two on this, uh, really difficult stretch. And, you know,
(02:44):
they were sitting in pretty, pretty good spot and went
into Toronto and really just got outplayed. As you mentioned, um,
that's been sort of their, their tail this year. They
really have been able, uh, you know, keep good play going. Uh,
and they didn't play well. They didn't swing the bat.
They scored four runs in three games. They're starting pitching.
Didn't carry them. Um, They didn't play real sharp baseball
(03:06):
either where mistakes were made that were costly. So there's
just nothing really redeeming you can take from it other
than the fact that we can step back from it
a little bit. I think 6-6 was what I said
they needed to be in this 12-game stretch and then
have to play 10-11 over 500 the rest of the way.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
And I think that would get them in.
Speaker 5 (03:34):
But if you're not playing well, then it's hard to
anticipate you going on a run like that, even though
you're going to be playing some pretty meager competition.
Speaker 6 (03:43):
Bill, the mental mistakes just continue to come. And the
latest being Bizzardo at the plate, just with guys sliding
right behind him and he has got no idea. But
it just doesn't seem like there's a demand by Dan
Wilson that mental mistakes get taken care of because if
there was, I don't think we'd see as many of them.
Is it, is it just that simple to put one
plus one equals two or is it something else?
Speaker 4 (04:06):
Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 5 (04:07):
They're, they're scattered throughout the season, you know, base running mistakes.
There's been a variety of mistakes as teams played. It's
not been real crisp baseball. Bizzardo, I just think that
it was a lapse on his part. You know, you
got to, Baseball is a game where you can prescript everything.
So when you're on the mound, you've got to know
(04:30):
who's on base and the possibilities.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
As soon as you saw the ball.
Speaker 5 (04:35):
Where Cal couldn't find it, it had to be in
the back of your mind that I need to take
a peek and see if this guy's coming because your
mental clock in your head is ticking, right? So I
have to say that that's an easy one for me.
but obviously he, he didn't, it didn't even cross his mind.
And I'm not so sure if that's because, you know, he,
(05:01):
you know, maybe because I was a position player most
of my life before I came to picture.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
I don't know.
Speaker 5 (05:06):
Um, but you know, I can't make an excuse for it.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
He should have peaked. It doesn't happen.
Speaker 5 (05:10):
It's a pretty rare occurrence. A guy will take a
chance like that. And he did take a chance. I mean, if, uh,
if he reads the plays out, if he reads the
plays out, so they took a big risk there.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
So, uh, I don't know.
Speaker 5 (05:22):
I mean, the mistakes, they haven't been a great defensive team.
They haven't stolen outs defensively. Ronan can't make the play
in game one, costs Hancock three. Crawford can't make the
play yesterday. That's sort of opened the gate. And then
(05:44):
we just don't have starting pitching that can carry. That's
been the story for the past couple of months. This
team's always been been an up-and-down offensive team, but our
pitching just hasn't been nearly as good as starting pitching
hasn't been nearly as.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
Good as it needs to be to be successful. I mean,
that's really the story.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
We can talk about little mental mistakes, and we can
talk about the up-and-down hitting part of the game, but
our starting pitching is our ticket. And what disturbs me
a little bit is our lack of will to let
starters pitch. Because if it's your strength, if it's your
trump card, don't you have to... Get these guys to
give you more. And if they're not giving you more,
(06:22):
don't you have to step back and say, but why?
Why aren't they giving us more? Because we don't allow them.
That's part of it. But the 90-pitch line, sometimes you
have to be able to be a little bit more
lenient with that line, I think.
Speaker 4 (06:36):
Now, there are extenuating circumstances.
Speaker 5 (06:38):
I don't know how much Hancock was hurting, but I
didn't get that impression when I was watching.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
But maybe he was. Gilbert comes out, three runs.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
I guess.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
He's your number one starter. Don't you?
Speaker 3 (06:51):
I don't know.
Speaker 5 (06:53):
And he gobbles up pitches. The same with Anderson. What
were they doing with Anderson for the past two months?
He was just babysitting at Eddie Pitches. You know, just
tooling guys. Don't you want to get him ready to
pitch in the big leagues? But we're just playing the
game for next year and the year after. We're counting
pitches like every one is a step toward the grave.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
I don't know. I'm taking you off the topic here,
but Yes. Have they played sharp? No. Should they play better? Yes.
Is that the manager's fault? I don't know. I don't
think so. You're pros. You got to come out and
play the game.
Speaker 5 (07:29):
Today's game is, is not about old school, putting heat, feeling,
feeling the human element, having that stress laid on you.
If you don't perform, that's just not the style of,
of managing that's going on today. From my estimation, I
don't see every manager. So I don't know.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
And managers are, Less in charge, right?
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Well, let me, you know, Bill, let me jump in
there for a second. I'm glad that you brought that up.
Bill Kruger with us. I'm going to give you a
list of people. You tell me, Bill, what they all
have in common. And I think I have my list
right now. Sparky Anderson, Lou Piniella, Tom Kelly, Tommy Lasorda,
Tony La Russa. What do all those guys have in common?
Speaker 4 (08:07):
They were all my managers.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
You played for every single one. You played for every
single one. So when Bazzardo pulled that nonsense on Saturday,
when Julio throws a ball into the stands with one out,
when he's soft tossing with a fan as the game's
getting going, when Josh Naylor's running the bases like a bonehead,
what do you think the reaction of those guys would
have been? How come none of these guys has been
(08:30):
pulled from a game or benched for this crap that
we've been watching all year long?
Speaker 4 (08:34):
Why? I don't have your, I don't have the answer
you're looking for. I don't know. I don't know.
Speaker 5 (08:42):
Sometimes, you know, this, the sheer fact that, that, that we've,
we've prepared ourselves to play better and there's a higher
calling about how we're going to play. And that starts
in spring training. I mean, Tom Kelly was the best. He,
he prepared us.
Speaker 4 (08:58):
We, we, we, we practiced. It was almost like groundhog day.
Speaker 5 (09:01):
I mean, I could go into these long stories about
a world championship team that I joined in 1992, where,
We had a drill where the infield had what's called
perfect infield, and there was a number of plays that
had to be made. And if they didn't get every
single one of them right, these were bunt plays, these
were all the fielding plays, they were relays.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
They were everything. And if they didn't get it right,
they did it again. This is a world championship team.
Tom Kelly parked us in the minor league complex and.
Speaker 5 (09:30):
Told us every day that we weren't very good.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
If we don't start playing better, we're not going to
get over to the big leagues. complex and good. The
best players.
Speaker 5 (09:37):
That just won a world championship, Kirby pocket and the
gang hanging their jeans on a, on a, on a
rusty nail. So, yeah, I mean, it's a different world
and you know, Lou, I don't need to explain him
to you and Tony Russo. I, I, I don't think.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
It would last. It wouldn't, it would have been nipped
in the bud immediately. Tom Kelly, I'll give you one story.
Speaker 5 (09:56):
Tom Kelly, Chuck Knobloch was a first or second year
player for a second baseman.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
Really good player before he got the phobia. He could run.
Speaker 5 (10:04):
He was an excellent defender and he could really hit.
Line drive hitter. He's leading the American League in hitting.
We're in the second week of May. And he hits
a ball to second base. He kind of got off stride.
He kind of put the ball in play and he
was pissed. And he didn't run the ball out. He
kind of jogged to first base. And it was like
he was the first or second inning. And there were
(10:27):
no odds that it was the first out.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
And Tom goes, hey, Chuck, come on down here. Sit
with me. So he goes down and sits with him.
He doesn't say a word to him. And the inning ends.
And Chuck goes to grab his glove. And Tom goes, no,
you're going to sit here with me today. Leading the
American League in hitting. So it's a different time and place, right? Yeah.
So I don't know.
Speaker 5 (10:49):
And veteran players probably wouldn't get the same treatment as
a young player when you're trying to make an impression
on somebody. But when the veteran players have the manager's back,
that's when you can do things like that. You have
to have a team where veteran players have the back
of the manager and then you're able they're able to
be a part of making sure that guys play the
(11:09):
game right.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
So.
Speaker 5 (11:11):
I don't know what's happening behind the scenes with Dan.
I know that he was brought up right. I know
that Lou Piniella breathed down his neck every single day
his rookie season and told him everything he was doing
wrong on every pitch.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
So, yeah, he's been there, okay? He knows what it
takes to win.
Speaker 5 (11:27):
And I think he probably is messaging players individually. We're
just not seeing anything because Dan refuses to be negative
on any player in the press.
Speaker 6 (11:37):
Right.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (11:38):
Agreed. Well, Bob Nightingale of the USA Today came out
with a report a couple weeks ago that says if
Dan Wilson's gone, if they don't make the playoffs, and
they are further away from the playoffs now than they
were when that report was put out there, do you
believe that, and do you think that's the right move
if that happens?
Speaker 4 (11:56):
Huh. Well, I think you're guessing into the wind here
a little bit.
Speaker 5 (12:02):
You know, he took the team to the level, to
the closest that we've ever been, He came in and
kind of salvaged them to begin with and then had
a greater last year. And then they were hampered by injury, right,
this year.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
I think that's fair to say. So that's a call
the management has to make.
Speaker 5 (12:19):
And it's a call that Dan probably would have to
make if it's something that he's eager to continue to manage.
I mean, I don't point the finger at Dan. I
point the finger at injury and the guys in the
middle line are not performing. And the philosophy around pitching.
Speaker 6 (12:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (12:37):
That's what I point out. This team needs more than
what they have. I think Cal Raleigh ran into 60
balls last year and had an incredible year and wore
down and got an injury and really slumped this year.
And he'll come back next year and he'll be better.
But he's not going to be a 280 hitter with
50 homers every year. Josh Naylor is not a home
(12:59):
run hitter. And Julio Rodriguez, that's a head scratcher for me.
I'm not so sure who the player that he is.
We need another bonafide bat that can really play. And
we're going to have to sort out our starting pitching.
And I think starting pitching has got to pitch further.
And we can't have these ridiculous six-man rotations piggyback stuff
that really hurt the team.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Okay? So, yeah.
Speaker 5 (13:21):
I mean, I see a lot of those things being
more central than whether or not Dan's tipping the spread
over and screaming at people in the press.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
Well, here comes the Messiah we've all been waiting for, fellas.
Laz Montes coming up from Tacoma, right? I mean, the
guy has been destroying pitching in the minor leagues. 38
home runs combined this year between AA and AAA. He's
got a 928 OPS, I would assume. If he's coming up,
(13:51):
he's going to play every day. Otherwise, why bring him up?
May as well leave him in the minors. But how
would you handle Laz Montes coming up and– What do
you think we'll see from this young man?
Speaker 5 (14:04):
Well, they have a spot, and they're looking at DH
against right-handed pitching, and we're just not there. Taylor Ward
is hitting a buck-twelve. So he's not going to DH
against right-handed pitching. Canzone's going to play right, and Montez
is going to get a chance because he gives us
a better chance against right-handed pitching. So they're going to
give him a look, and that's a peek into the future.
(14:27):
I think Arroyo is probably the more polished hitter. But
he's not here because he's learning left field, and you're
not going to take Randy out of left field. So
Montez is a logical choice. It's hard to say whether
he's ready. He's got a high strikeout rate. But, boy,
when he touches it, it goes. And he's got a
high slugging percentage, and he's putting up those kinds of
home run numbers in a big park in Arkansas. So
(14:48):
I think it's intriguing to see what he can do.
Speaker 4 (14:52):
And maybe he gives them a little bit of a lift.
They need a lift. This is a team that's not scoring.
Speaker 5 (14:59):
So I'm excited to see him, and he's going to
get some chances.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
That's for sure. I think he's going to DH against
right-handed pitching.
Speaker 5 (15:08):
So they see this as a way to help the
team and get a little peek at what this guy
might be all about.
Speaker 6 (15:17):
Taylor Ward there, and he's just in a long list
of right-handed hitters that the Mariners acquire that just go
to die. They have 700, 800, 850 OPSs wherever they're at.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
Rob Refsnyder, whatever.
Speaker 6 (15:29):
They come here and they just die.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Why is that?
Speaker 6 (15:32):
I mean, T-Mobile's a hard place to hit, but they're
dying on the road, too.
Speaker 5 (15:38):
Well, I think when you're shopping, you know, if you're
going to play the Monopoly board, you know, backwards from
from the get out of jail free spot, you're, you're
going to, you're going to have to get a little
bit lucky, right? You know, you didn't get, you're not
getting a bonafide right-hand bat. You're getting the bat that
matches the price you're.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
Willing to pay.
Speaker 5 (15:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
Okay. So, you know, Randy Rosarino represents a bonafide right-handed bat. Okay.
And that's, that's what it's supposed to look like. Right.
Speaker 5 (16:09):
Um, and otherwise what you've seen beyond that are, are,
are guys that just are, less expensive and there's a little.
Speaker 4 (16:18):
Bit of hope there.
Speaker 5 (16:18):
Now they've done a good job of finding relief pitching. That's, that's, that's,
that's undervalued. They've done a really good job of finding
those guys over time. But I think sometimes, you know,
you're going to have to pay retail to get a
real bad, to get a real bright hand bat that
plays every day. You know, they had a whole third
base that they, they, they're going to have, I think
that's where they have to solve. And whether that there's
(16:41):
a guy out there like that, but you know, They
need to find a guy that plays all the time
that hits right-handed that can give them, you know, that
presence in the lineup on a regular basis. So I
just think it's, you know, you're meeting the market and
that's where you're willing to spend and that's what you get.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Third base has been a massive problem since 2024. Remember
Josh Rojas, anybody? Jorge Polanco at third base. So, yeah,
that's got to be fixed for sure. All right, Billy,
great stuff. And if you change your mind on the
Apple Cup or Dave Matthews on Sunday, let us know.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
All right? We'll take care of you.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
Yes, I will. I will, guys. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Thanks, Bill.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
All right, Bill Kruger with us. Let's talk some Seahawks.
The roster has been set. Any surprises at all? We'll
talk about it next on 93.3 KJRFM.
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