April 16, 2024 • 18 mins
Steven Souza Jr, former Mariners and MLB outfielder, joins Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain to talk about the Mariners continuing to lose series and the overall picture so far, Julio Rodriguez pinch-running on Sunday, the bright spots pitching, and Jonatan Clase.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Coming to you live from the EllietAvenue studios of Sports Radio ninety three point
three KJRFM. This is our weeklyvisit with former Mariners outfielders Steven Suza Junior,
powered by Taco Time. For allyour favorites and to order ahead from
any Taco Time restaurant, download theTaco Time Northwest app today from the Ample
app Store or the Google Play Store. Taco Time a Pacific Northwest favorite since
(00:25):
nineteen sixty two. Now with StephenSusa Junior, Here's SOFTI and dig all
right, here we go. Bigthanks to our friends at Taco Time for
sponsoring the Shindig every single Monday.Always use the order ahead option at Taco
Time in w dot com. Ourfriend here he is former big league or
baby, recently retired and now memberthe media, just like a Steven Suza
(00:48):
Junior. How are you pal?Now? What's going on? Guys?
Excited to be a part of themedia. You know I was gonna ask
you do you do you miss playing? I mean, never think that.
Man, Maybe retiring was the wrongmove because now I'm sitting here talking to
these bozos on Monday's o'clock. No, you know what I miss competing?
I love competing for so many years. There's something about trapping it on and
(01:11):
just going up against somebody of equalor higher or lesser talent and seeing who's
the best. I mean, that'swhat I missed. But talking about it,
I love the game so much.You make it interesting. Guys.
Well, you know what's not beeninteresting, Steven? These baseball games.
They have not been interested. Solet's just start big picture. Is this
(01:32):
something really to worry about what you'reseeing? Or is this just the typical
April Seattle Mariner offense not getting outof its winter slumber. Yeah? I
think you know, we talked aboutearly. Over the last three seasons,
they've really just continuously got off toreally bad starts, and you know,
(01:52):
I think you you're apt to believethat they'll turn it around and go on
a hot street, because that's whatthey've kind of shown. I think everybody's
just getting frustrated with kind of theinconsistent play and the dispairity. Rather the
it's such a huge gap from whenthey're hot and when they're not going well
like good teams, that the GAP'snot huge. Right. They make a
(02:14):
bad series, make some bad plays, but man, when they when they
mess up the Mariners, they messup bad, and when they go good,
it's exciting. And I think that'swhere you see the roller coaster of
emotions from the fan base reacting thatway. Yeah, well, let's let's
start at the top with Julio Rodriguezhad the day off yesterday until he didn't
and then he gets picked off toend the game at first base. What'd
(02:37):
you make of that decision number oneto insert Julio into the game. And
then when you look at Julio andafter sixteen he's got an ops A three
seventy four or excuse me, fourforty one, which is three seventy four
points below his career average. Bythe way, I think it's kind of
fair to ask what's happening with thebiggest star on this baseball team so far?
(02:58):
Yeah, I don't know. Ican't quite put my finger on it,
you know, I think you know. I went back and forth last
night on got service pinch running Juliothere. Obviously, obviously from a logistics
standpoint, he's the fastest base runnerand if somebody puts one in the gap,
he's gonna score for first base.But you know, when you've got
your star that's kind of treading waterand trying to find his way. A
(03:20):
great, full day off is agreat thing to give him, to let
him just kind of decompress, gethis mind away from the game. And
to me, you know, Scottputting him in right there puts him back
in that adrenaline. He really nevergot a full day off, you know,
when you're asking him to steal abase or that's what it looked like
at least in the ninth inning.There's just you're putting a lot on Julio,
I guess to do and be successfulearly on. Now, look,
(03:44):
he's a superstar and he can handlethe responsibility, and that's what he's gonna
do. Being paid that contract andhitting in the middle of the lineup,
that's that's what comes with that territory. But I do think like if you
take him away out of that lineup, like what does that lineup look like?
Like we saw it on Sunday,It's it's not the greatest, right,
And so I feel like there's alot that falls on a twenty two
year old shoulders. That he's donepretty well and I have no doubt he'll
(04:08):
turn it around. It's just thatwhen he's not doing well. You see
the results as a team, it'sreally tough to kind of fallow, and
so you know he'll turn it around, no doubt, but a lot ways
on his shoulders and is going toin the coming games and future. What
I thought was weird is you hada day game on Wednesday, you had
an off day on Thursday, andthen he plays two games and then he
(04:30):
needs a day off, Like,I'm surprised that on April fourteenth, a
twenty three year old superstar is gettinga day off. Is that was that
surprising to you? Yeah, it'snot so much the physicality, right,
Like I think we all can agreephysically he doesn't need it, like he's
young, he's energetic, and he'sgood to go. But I think it's
the mental break when you're just seeingthe bat's kind of spiral and sitting there
(04:55):
on the bench and watching the gameis a little bit different than being involved,
and even the the day off atyour house, Dack, it's right
being able to slow down and seeit from a different perspective and just watch
the ball goal around the yard,take your time to walk through the at
bats in your mind with the picture, and even check out a little bit
with no stress of like I needto produce right here, there's something that
(05:15):
does to your mind more than yourbody. It's sitting there and watching the
game. Yeah, I just thinkthe mental stress of having to stay prepared
to enter a game. Yeah right, I mean, I mean there's certainly
a something to that. And I'mtotally with you. You want to give
a guy a day off, givehim mental break, then let him stay
home, watch a game on TV, and kick his legs up and have
a glass of wine for God's sake. So I'm with you on that.
(05:36):
But Steven Susan junior with us courtesyat tackle time every Monday at five o'clock?
What is going on with Luis Castile? Had a better performance over the
weekend against the Cubs, but stillnowhere near that dominant, number one starter
type of performance that we've been waitingfor. What do you see happening with
this guy? He's oh and fourso far? Man, unbelievable. Yeah,
(05:59):
you know, the star was definitelybetter. It was a quality start,
but you know his filo is thattick down. Things just don't look
as sharp early on, and youknow, I can't really pinpoint what that
is. I know, he's aworkhorse and really gets after it, and
those guys Wouldy and the rest ofthose guys are trying to really put their
finger on it. But he's toogood to be pitching like this, And
(06:21):
I think, you know, kindof the reaction is heightened when you've got
your ace not doing well, yoursuperstar not doing well. George Kirby hasn't
pitched great, right, and sothese things are all kind of magnified when
you see it. I have nodoubt that Julio and Castillo will turn it
around. It's just that can theybe dominant the rest of you Can they
(06:46):
have big years? Because if theydon't, then what does this seem look
like going forward? That's a greatpoint. And you know you mentioned the
April starts, and you're exactly right. So what is the culpability level of
Scott's service? I mean, ifyou have one April, so it's bad,
Okay, that happens, right,it's kind of fluky. You get
four bad aprils in a row,that's a trend. So what's the culpability
(07:06):
of the manager not getting his teamgoing right out of the gates after spring
training? I don't know, youknow, because I know in listening to
him in some of his press conferenceand talking to some of the guys,
it's like they made it a pointto try and get out the gates hot,
like, hey, let's not startslow, that we can be in
a much better position throughout the year. Now, I was thinking about this,
(07:30):
and this isn't going to get easierfor them, because Texas is going
to get healthy, Houston's not healthy, and their schedule is not getting easier.
You know, last year, Ithink you could throw them a bone.
The league was just not as good. You know. There was a
lot of teams that just weren't verygood last year and that you could wipe
away some series wins, some seriessweeps. It's not like that this year.
(07:55):
The league is a lot better thisyear, through and through. And
so I'm a little bit more concernedthat if they don't take care of business
this week, They've got Atlanta comingin, they've got to go to Minnesota,
they've got New York next month tostart it off. They've got a
tough set of games to come up, and they're gonna need to take care
of business. I think all thatto be said, there's still only two
(08:16):
games back that the Rangers aren't playinggreat, but this is their time.
They've got to turn it around andget ahead of the Rangers in the Astros
so that when all those guys gethealthy, it's gonna be a battle for
that division. It's a big weekfor them, no question about it.
Obviously cannot save the season, butit could put them in a gigantic hole
that might be really hard to getout of it if they can't find a
(08:37):
way to play well this week.Steven Susan Junior is with us on the
air. What do you see,Stevens specifically from Jorge Polanco? I mean,
he was your kind of premier acquisitionright in some ways over the offseason,
and he's off to a real slowstart, hitting a buck ninety six
with a six to twenty two ops. What do you see specifically from jehey
men, Well, he started offmiserable right. The first week and a
(09:01):
half was I don't even know ifhe had more than two or three hits,
right, It was pretty bad.So recently it's been really good.
Yeah. Yeah, back quality hasbeen really good. He hit the homer
the other day, and you seehim bailing up a lot of balls.
I see the back quality raising right, he's staying inside the ball a lot
better. Brownie's done a good jobof keeping him through the middle of the
(09:22):
field. And I see him reallyturning around, and they're gonna need him
because he's sitting in the middle ofthat lineup. Let's change it to a
little bit of positivity. What areyou seeing in Bryce Miller? Because this
guy hasn't given up an earned runsince his first start, you know,
every time, then every time,I'm telling you, right, he's hey
(09:46):
Jackson, put him on hold?Will you get him back on hold?
His phone's breaking up over there.I'm telling you there are certain things that
just set me off. And intwenty twenty four, losing a cell phone
signal drives me nuts. Did younotice the timing? Though we were negative,
three were negative for ten straight passand I asked negative. I asked
(10:07):
him one positive question and he getsone word out of his mouth and it's
gone. It's like it's it's likeright, meant to be. It's not
meant to be about this baseball?All right? We got him back.
Steven Dick was asking about Bryce Miller. Man go ahead and jump in.
Yeah, No, he just he'sthrowing it a lot more to Steamers.
He's his fastball's elite, right.He does a good job getting behind it,
(10:28):
and the splitter has been really good. So I think he was just
trying to find after that first startaway to mix them all together, and
he's done a good job. He'sgot such confidence, he attacks his own
and he's really been a stopper inthese kind of tough series going forward,
and I see him have a goodyear. Logan Gilbert's been great as well.
Those two guys have been a brightspot. A makes this kind of
drudgy start if you will. Yeah, Well, Steven Susan Junior is with
(10:52):
us. So Jonathan Classe, twentyone year old from Dominican who spent last
year in Arkansas and Everett's seventy ninestolen bases combined is getting to start in
left field tonight. Give us yourthoughts on what you think we'll see from
this kid starting this evening. Then. Yeah, he's a little guy.
He's five to nine, but heis fast, right, Like, I
(11:13):
think he's graded out as like aseventy runner out of eighty. He can
really really run and developed into somepower. I think he kind of surprised
everybody with the twenty seventy season thathe put together first time since nineteen sixty
one that anybody's ever done that inthe minors. He's he's an exciting player
and he's gonna bring a lot tothe table. But he's also young and
(11:33):
he's gonna make some mistakes still.He's still learning this game kind of like
Julio was, and it is andso you're gonna take some of the good
with the bad. So I thinkJerry's looking to interject some energy into the
lineup and put some more exciting players. You put him and Dylan and Julio
and just trying to produce runs anyway you can. But he's a great
(11:54):
talent. He's the number ten prospect, number eight I think at the most
this year, and you know they'rehoping that he can really be a catalyst
to this lineup. Do you likethe timing because you know we've seen it
before where guys come up and youknow Jared Kellenk's perfect example. Do you
like the timing of how quickly he'scoming up and how young he is coming
up? You know, for mepersonally, I like season in the in
(12:16):
the minor leagues, like he hasn'thad that much success at Triple A yet,
although it was early, I reallylike Dominic cam'z own. I mean,
it's unfortunate that he went down.He was having some really good at
bats and really driving the ball inthe yard. But you know, you
got to do what you can withwhere you are in the standings. I
mean it shows you they're they're takingthis stuff seriously where they're at, and
so they're calling up who they thinkis the best, has the best chance
(12:39):
to be productive, and that's JonathanClass steven susan junior with us on the
air. Not sure if we've discussedthis or not, but the Mariners a
few weeks ago signed Dallas Kaikole downthere in Tacoma. Would you make of
that signing? And what does thatmean that he's gonna be number six if
there is another pitcher that goes down. Is he going to be a long
(13:01):
reliever? What kind of impact doyou see Dallas Kiko playing on this major
league club? Yeah? I thinkyou know, when Brian wu comes back,
I think he'll probably be the seventhstarter. Right Emerson Hancock has showed
he's very valuable in that fifth starterrole and giving quality innings. Listen,
tackles. A veteran pitcher knows howto pitch. Know it's how to make
(13:22):
spot starts. You know, somethinghappens, you can trust Dallas in a
pinch. I mean, he's aconsummate professional. You know, the stuff
isn't quite there. I know hewent to drive Line, as everybody else
in the world apparently is going.And he's made his stuff better right and
got some v LO which they're goodat doing. They're really good at doing,
and helping his pitch hicks. Sohe is still working and trying to
(13:43):
better himself, and he's had somereally good results so far in Triple A
in a hitters league, So Iwouldn't be surprised if he made some really
important starts for the Mariners this year. We were talking about this earlier on
Today, and I sent a pollout last week about this. What pitcher
would you want on the mount forthe Mariners in a must win situation right
now? Because that's really the questionof who your ace is, right,
(14:05):
your ace is the guy and ifyou could choose from anybody on your team,
he would start a must win game. So who's your ace? I
mean, is the game tomorrow?Yeah, the game is tomorrow, everybody's
rested. Yeah, the games tomorrow, everybody's rested, and you got a
winner. You're not in the playoffs. If the game is tomorrow, I'd
(14:26):
go Logan Gilbert, Bryce Miller,George Kirby. Wow, really why?
I just think Logan has a lotof pitches to offer. He's been really,
really good. He faced a reallygood Milwaukee lineup. Bryce Miller's been
solid. I just I want tosee going into those moments. I need
guys that have a little bit oftime. Logan's got some time in the
(14:48):
big LEAs he's acclimated played in theplayoff. I need guys with big power
stuff, and I need guys thatare hot. Right. I know that
George Kirby and Luis Casill are verycapable of making that start, But if
you're asking me that the start istomorrow, those guys aren't rolling right now,
right, and they would admit thatto you, like they're not hot,
they're not locked in. And Iwant those guys that whoever's gonna make
(15:09):
that start, it would be LoganGilbert because right now, to me,
he's got the most pitches and he'sgot the most consistent starts so far this
year. What do you make ofthis Reds team we're about to see And
Frankie Montoss we know from his dayswith the A's obviously, but what do
you make of the Big Red Machinecirca twenty twenty four. Yeah, they're
kind of opposite of them. They'reyoung in the lineup, and they're exciting
(15:33):
and they're energetic, they're fast.Elie day La Cruz is a great player
who's you know, got off toa good start. They they hit the
ball really well and they drive theball out of the yard. They've made
some improvements to their bullpen and addedsome guys in the winner, and so
they're a little bit you know,they're taking a step forward and they're trying
to make it a way to theplayoffs and push down that door. And
(15:56):
I think this is gonna be moreof a challenge than it was in the
past against the This is a goodReds team that is hungry, right and
we know from the Mariners a coupleof years ago, when you're hungry and
you're young and you're talented, that'sa tough team to overcome. So if
the Mariners are gonna beat these guys, they got to pitch well. I
mean, that's the bottom line.They got to pitch. Well, get
these guys out, make sure Aliede la Cruz doesn't be a catalyst of
(16:18):
the lineup, and they'll they'll comeout with a series win. I got
a couple just general baseball questions foryou, Steve will start with this one.
Another Angel Hernandez strike zone debacle thisweek, and he's got guys like
Jeff Passing on ESPN saying that baseballshould have a replay challenge system for balls
and strikes basically due to the incompetenceof Angel Hernandez. Mind the plate,
(16:41):
man, if you watch that atthat I think it was Wyatt Langford in
Boston. Is that the one you'rereferring to. Yes, we're just outside,
even more outside, even more outsidestrike three. I mean that was
insane. You know, it's likea little bit okay, it happens a
little bit more like all right,I'll give it to you, but not
(17:02):
really. The last one is like, all right, what are you doing
back there? Right? And theseguys they're still the best in the world.
But when you see something like that, it's it's crazy. Angel Hernandez
is a really nice guy, andthat's fantastic, But listen, these guys
are grinding for these at bats andthose pitches. We can't have that big
of misses over and over and overagain. And these guys are are so
(17:23):
good, but not a lot ofthem do that right there, and that's
just questionable. Along with the thingthat happened in New York when he made
up, he changed his whole statementwith somebody hit the check swing halfway through
the bat. It's just getting outof control with Angel, and I think
it's time for baseball to move onfrom Angel Hernandez and bring in somebody else.
All right, Steven sous Up,great stuff. We love you,
(17:45):
I'm telling you, by this timenext week, I'm calling it right now.
Boys, by this time next week, the vibes will be good with
this baseball team. Yeah, you'reoff, all right, it's gonna be
different. I love it. We'lltalk. I love it. Appreciated.
Stephen Susan Junior with us courtesy atTaco time. We've got a break.
I believe our ace reporter inside theMariner Clubhouse will join us. That's Mike
(18:08):
Benton. By the way of fiveforty five. Did you happen to hear
Caitlin Clark go on SNL on Saturdaynights. If you missed it, We're
gonna let you hear it next onninety three three kJ R
Coming to you live from the EllietAvenue studios of Sports Radio ninety three point
three KJRFM. This is our weeklyvisit with former Mariners outfielders Steven Suza Junior,
powered by Taco Time. For allyour favorites and to order ahead from
any Taco Time restaurant, download theTaco Time Northwest app today from the Ample
app Store or the Google Play Store. Taco Time a Pacific Northwest favorite since
(00:25):
nineteen sixty two. Now with StephenSusa Junior, Here's SOFTI and dig all
right, here we go. Bigthanks to our friends at Taco Time for
sponsoring the Shindig every single Monday.Always use the order ahead option at Taco
Time in w dot com. Ourfriend here he is former big league or
baby, recently retired and now memberthe media, just like a Steven Suza
(00:48):
Junior. How are you pal?Now? What's going on? Guys?
Excited to be a part of themedia. You know I was gonna ask
you do you do you miss playing? I mean, never think that.
Man, Maybe retiring was the wrongmove because now I'm sitting here talking to
these bozos on Monday's o'clock. No, you know what I miss competing?
I love competing for so many years. There's something about trapping it on and
(01:11):
just going up against somebody of equalor higher or lesser talent and seeing who's
the best. I mean, that'swhat I missed. But talking about it,
I love the game so much.You make it interesting. Guys.
Well, you know what's not beeninteresting, Steven? These baseball games.
They have not been interested. Solet's just start big picture. Is this
(01:32):
something really to worry about what you'reseeing? Or is this just the typical
April Seattle Mariner offense not getting outof its winter slumber. Yeah? I
think you know, we talked aboutearly. Over the last three seasons,
they've really just continuously got off toreally bad starts, and you know,
(01:52):
I think you you're apt to believethat they'll turn it around and go on
a hot street, because that's whatthey've kind of shown. I think everybody's
just getting frustrated with kind of theinconsistent play and the dispairity. Rather the
it's such a huge gap from whenthey're hot and when they're not going well
like good teams, that the GAP'snot huge. Right. They make a
(02:14):
bad series, make some bad plays, but man, when they when they
mess up the Mariners, they messup bad, and when they go good,
it's exciting. And I think that'swhere you see the roller coaster of
emotions from the fan base reacting thatway. Yeah, well, let's let's
start at the top with Julio Rodriguezhad the day off yesterday until he didn't
and then he gets picked off toend the game at first base. What'd
(02:37):
you make of that decision number oneto insert Julio into the game. And
then when you look at Julio andafter sixteen he's got an ops A three
seventy four or excuse me, fourforty one, which is three seventy four
points below his career average. Bythe way, I think it's kind of
fair to ask what's happening with thebiggest star on this baseball team so far?
(02:58):
Yeah, I don't know. Ican't quite put my finger on it,
you know, I think you know. I went back and forth last
night on got service pinch running Juliothere. Obviously, obviously from a logistics
standpoint, he's the fastest base runnerand if somebody puts one in the gap,
he's gonna score for first base.But you know, when you've got
your star that's kind of treading waterand trying to find his way. A
(03:20):
great, full day off is agreat thing to give him, to let
him just kind of decompress, gethis mind away from the game. And
to me, you know, Scottputting him in right there puts him back
in that adrenaline. He really nevergot a full day off, you know,
when you're asking him to steal abase or that's what it looked like
at least in the ninth inning.There's just you're putting a lot on Julio,
I guess to do and be successfulearly on. Now, look,
(03:44):
he's a superstar and he can handlethe responsibility, and that's what he's gonna
do. Being paid that contract andhitting in the middle of the lineup,
that's that's what comes with that territory. But I do think like if you
take him away out of that lineup, like what does that lineup look like?
Like we saw it on Sunday,It's it's not the greatest, right,
And so I feel like there's alot that falls on a twenty two
year old shoulders. That he's donepretty well and I have no doubt he'll
(04:08):
turn it around. It's just thatwhen he's not doing well. You see
the results as a team, it'sreally tough to kind of fallow, and
so you know he'll turn it around, no doubt, but a lot ways
on his shoulders and is going toin the coming games and future. What
I thought was weird is you hada day game on Wednesday, you had
an off day on Thursday, andthen he plays two games and then he
(04:30):
needs a day off, Like,I'm surprised that on April fourteenth, a
twenty three year old superstar is gettinga day off. Is that was that
surprising to you? Yeah, it'snot so much the physicality, right,
Like I think we all can agreephysically he doesn't need it, like he's
young, he's energetic, and he'sgood to go. But I think it's
the mental break when you're just seeingthe bat's kind of spiral and sitting there
(04:55):
on the bench and watching the gameis a little bit different than being involved,
and even the the day off atyour house, Dack, it's right
being able to slow down and seeit from a different perspective and just watch
the ball goal around the yard,take your time to walk through the at
bats in your mind with the picture, and even check out a little bit
with no stress of like I needto produce right here, there's something that
(05:15):
does to your mind more than yourbody. It's sitting there and watching the
game. Yeah, I just thinkthe mental stress of having to stay prepared
to enter a game. Yeah right, I mean, I mean there's certainly
a something to that. And I'mtotally with you. You want to give
a guy a day off, givehim mental break, then let him stay
home, watch a game on TV, and kick his legs up and have
a glass of wine for God's sake. So I'm with you on that.
(05:36):
But Steven Susan junior with us courtesyat tackle time every Monday at five o'clock?
What is going on with Luis Castile? Had a better performance over the
weekend against the Cubs, but stillnowhere near that dominant, number one starter
type of performance that we've been waitingfor. What do you see happening with
this guy? He's oh and fourso far? Man, unbelievable. Yeah,
(05:59):
you know, the star was definitelybetter. It was a quality start,
but you know his filo is thattick down. Things just don't look
as sharp early on, and youknow, I can't really pinpoint what that
is. I know, he's aworkhorse and really gets after it, and
those guys Wouldy and the rest ofthose guys are trying to really put their
finger on it. But he's toogood to be pitching like this, And
(06:21):
I think, you know, kindof the reaction is heightened when you've got
your ace not doing well, yoursuperstar not doing well. George Kirby hasn't
pitched great, right, and sothese things are all kind of magnified when
you see it. I have nodoubt that Julio and Castillo will turn it
around. It's just that can theybe dominant the rest of you Can they
(06:46):
have big years? Because if theydon't, then what does this seem look
like going forward? That's a greatpoint. And you know you mentioned the
April starts, and you're exactly right. So what is the culpability level of
Scott's service? I mean, ifyou have one April, so it's bad,
Okay, that happens, right,it's kind of fluky. You get
four bad aprils in a row,that's a trend. So what's the culpability
(07:06):
of the manager not getting his teamgoing right out of the gates after spring
training? I don't know, youknow, because I know in listening to
him in some of his press conferenceand talking to some of the guys,
it's like they made it a pointto try and get out the gates hot,
like, hey, let's not startslow, that we can be in
a much better position throughout the year. Now, I was thinking about this,
(07:30):
and this isn't going to get easierfor them, because Texas is going
to get healthy, Houston's not healthy, and their schedule is not getting easier.
You know, last year, Ithink you could throw them a bone.
The league was just not as good. You know. There was a
lot of teams that just weren't verygood last year and that you could wipe
away some series wins, some seriessweeps. It's not like that this year.
(07:55):
The league is a lot better thisyear, through and through. And
so I'm a little bit more concernedthat if they don't take care of business
this week, They've got Atlanta comingin, they've got to go to Minnesota,
they've got New York next month tostart it off. They've got a
tough set of games to come up, and they're gonna need to take care
of business. I think all thatto be said, there's still only two
(08:16):
games back that the Rangers aren't playinggreat, but this is their time.
They've got to turn it around andget ahead of the Rangers in the Astros
so that when all those guys gethealthy, it's gonna be a battle for
that division. It's a big weekfor them, no question about it.
Obviously cannot save the season, butit could put them in a gigantic hole
that might be really hard to getout of it if they can't find a
(08:37):
way to play well this week.Steven Susan Junior is with us on the
air. What do you see,Stevens specifically from Jorge Polanco? I mean,
he was your kind of premier acquisitionright in some ways over the offseason,
and he's off to a real slowstart, hitting a buck ninety six
with a six to twenty two ops. What do you see specifically from jehey
men, Well, he started offmiserable right. The first week and a
(09:01):
half was I don't even know ifhe had more than two or three hits,
right, It was pretty bad.So recently it's been really good.
Yeah. Yeah, back quality hasbeen really good. He hit the homer
the other day, and you seehim bailing up a lot of balls.
I see the back quality raising right, he's staying inside the ball a lot
better. Brownie's done a good jobof keeping him through the middle of the
(09:22):
field. And I see him reallyturning around, and they're gonna need him
because he's sitting in the middle ofthat lineup. Let's change it to a
little bit of positivity. What areyou seeing in Bryce Miller? Because this
guy hasn't given up an earned runsince his first start, you know,
every time, then every time,I'm telling you, right, he's hey
(09:46):
Jackson, put him on hold?Will you get him back on hold?
His phone's breaking up over there.I'm telling you there are certain things that
just set me off. And intwenty twenty four, losing a cell phone
signal drives me nuts. Did younotice the timing? Though we were negative,
three were negative for ten straight passand I asked negative. I asked
(10:07):
him one positive question and he getsone word out of his mouth and it's
gone. It's like it's it's likeright, meant to be. It's not
meant to be about this baseball?All right? We got him back.
Steven Dick was asking about Bryce Miller. Man go ahead and jump in.
Yeah, No, he just he'sthrowing it a lot more to Steamers.
He's his fastball's elite, right.He does a good job getting behind it,
(10:28):
and the splitter has been really good. So I think he was just
trying to find after that first startaway to mix them all together, and
he's done a good job. He'sgot such confidence, he attacks his own
and he's really been a stopper inthese kind of tough series going forward,
and I see him have a goodyear. Logan Gilbert's been great as well.
Those two guys have been a brightspot. A makes this kind of
drudgy start if you will. Yeah, Well, Steven Susan Junior is with
(10:52):
us. So Jonathan Classe, twentyone year old from Dominican who spent last
year in Arkansas and Everett's seventy ninestolen bases combined is getting to start in
left field tonight. Give us yourthoughts on what you think we'll see from
this kid starting this evening. Then. Yeah, he's a little guy.
He's five to nine, but heis fast, right, Like, I
(11:13):
think he's graded out as like aseventy runner out of eighty. He can
really really run and developed into somepower. I think he kind of surprised
everybody with the twenty seventy season thathe put together first time since nineteen sixty
one that anybody's ever done that inthe minors. He's he's an exciting player
and he's gonna bring a lot tothe table. But he's also young and
(11:33):
he's gonna make some mistakes still.He's still learning this game kind of like
Julio was, and it is andso you're gonna take some of the good
with the bad. So I thinkJerry's looking to interject some energy into the
lineup and put some more exciting players. You put him and Dylan and Julio
and just trying to produce runs anyway you can. But he's a great
(11:54):
talent. He's the number ten prospect, number eight I think at the most
this year, and you know they'rehoping that he can really be a catalyst
to this lineup. Do you likethe timing because you know we've seen it
before where guys come up and youknow Jared Kellenk's perfect example. Do you
like the timing of how quickly he'scoming up and how young he is coming
up? You know, for mepersonally, I like season in the in
(12:16):
the minor leagues, like he hasn'thad that much success at Triple A yet,
although it was early, I reallylike Dominic cam'z own. I mean,
it's unfortunate that he went down.He was having some really good at
bats and really driving the ball inthe yard. But you know, you
got to do what you can withwhere you are in the standings. I
mean it shows you they're they're takingthis stuff seriously where they're at, and
so they're calling up who they thinkis the best, has the best chance
(12:39):
to be productive, and that's JonathanClass steven susan junior with us on the
air. Not sure if we've discussedthis or not, but the Mariners a
few weeks ago signed Dallas Kaikole downthere in Tacoma. Would you make of
that signing? And what does thatmean that he's gonna be number six if
there is another pitcher that goes down. Is he going to be a long
(13:01):
reliever? What kind of impact doyou see Dallas Kiko playing on this major
league club? Yeah? I thinkyou know, when Brian wu comes back,
I think he'll probably be the seventhstarter. Right Emerson Hancock has showed
he's very valuable in that fifth starterrole and giving quality innings. Listen,
tackles. A veteran pitcher knows howto pitch. Know it's how to make
(13:22):
spot starts. You know, somethinghappens, you can trust Dallas in a
pinch. I mean, he's aconsummate professional. You know, the stuff
isn't quite there. I know hewent to drive Line, as everybody else
in the world apparently is going.And he's made his stuff better right and
got some v LO which they're goodat doing. They're really good at doing,
and helping his pitch hicks. Sohe is still working and trying to
(13:43):
better himself, and he's had somereally good results so far in Triple A
in a hitters league, So Iwouldn't be surprised if he made some really
important starts for the Mariners this year. We were talking about this earlier on
Today, and I sent a pollout last week about this. What pitcher
would you want on the mount forthe Mariners in a must win situation right
now? Because that's really the questionof who your ace is, right,
(14:05):
your ace is the guy and ifyou could choose from anybody on your team,
he would start a must win game. So who's your ace? I
mean, is the game tomorrow?Yeah, the game is tomorrow, everybody's
rested. Yeah, the games tomorrow, everybody's rested, and you got a
winner. You're not in the playoffs. If the game is tomorrow, I'd
(14:26):
go Logan Gilbert, Bryce Miller,George Kirby. Wow, really why?
I just think Logan has a lotof pitches to offer. He's been really,
really good. He faced a reallygood Milwaukee lineup. Bryce Miller's been
solid. I just I want tosee going into those moments. I need
guys that have a little bit oftime. Logan's got some time in the
(14:48):
big LEAs he's acclimated played in theplayoff. I need guys with big power
stuff, and I need guys thatare hot. Right. I know that
George Kirby and Luis Casill are verycapable of making that start, But if
you're asking me that the start istomorrow, those guys aren't rolling right now,
right, and they would admit thatto you, like they're not hot,
they're not locked in. And Iwant those guys that whoever's gonna make
(15:09):
that start, it would be LoganGilbert because right now, to me,
he's got the most pitches and he'sgot the most consistent starts so far this
year. What do you make ofthis Reds team we're about to see And
Frankie Montoss we know from his dayswith the A's obviously, but what do
you make of the Big Red Machinecirca twenty twenty four. Yeah, they're
kind of opposite of them. They'reyoung in the lineup, and they're exciting
(15:33):
and they're energetic, they're fast.Elie day La Cruz is a great player
who's you know, got off toa good start. They they hit the
ball really well and they drive theball out of the yard. They've made
some improvements to their bullpen and addedsome guys in the winner, and so
they're a little bit you know,they're taking a step forward and they're trying
to make it a way to theplayoffs and push down that door. And
(15:56):
I think this is gonna be moreof a challenge than it was in the
past against the This is a goodReds team that is hungry, right and
we know from the Mariners a coupleof years ago, when you're hungry and
you're young and you're talented, that'sa tough team to overcome. So if
the Mariners are gonna beat these guys, they got to pitch well. I
mean, that's the bottom line.They got to pitch. Well, get
these guys out, make sure Aliede la Cruz doesn't be a catalyst of
(16:18):
the lineup, and they'll they'll comeout with a series win. I got
a couple just general baseball questions foryou, Steve will start with this one.
Another Angel Hernandez strike zone debacle thisweek, and he's got guys like
Jeff Passing on ESPN saying that baseballshould have a replay challenge system for balls
and strikes basically due to the incompetenceof Angel Hernandez. Mind the plate,
(16:41):
man, if you watch that atthat I think it was Wyatt Langford in
Boston. Is that the one you'rereferring to. Yes, we're just outside,
even more outside, even more outsidestrike three. I mean that was
insane. You know, it's likea little bit okay, it happens a
little bit more like all right,I'll give it to you, but not
(17:02):
really. The last one is like, all right, what are you doing
back there? Right? And theseguys they're still the best in the world.
But when you see something like that, it's it's crazy. Angel Hernandez
is a really nice guy, andthat's fantastic, But listen, these guys
are grinding for these at bats andthose pitches. We can't have that big
of misses over and over and overagain. And these guys are are so
(17:23):
good, but not a lot ofthem do that right there, and that's
just questionable. Along with the thingthat happened in New York when he made
up, he changed his whole statementwith somebody hit the check swing halfway through
the bat. It's just getting outof control with Angel, and I think
it's time for baseball to move onfrom Angel Hernandez and bring in somebody else.
All right, Steven sous Up,great stuff. We love you,
(17:45):
I'm telling you, by this timenext week, I'm calling it right now.
Boys, by this time next week, the vibes will be good with
this baseball team. Yeah, you'reoff, all right, it's gonna be
different. I love it. We'lltalk. I love it. Appreciated.
Stephen Susan Junior with us courtesy atTaco time. We've got a break.
I believe our ace reporter inside theMariner Clubhouse will join us. That's Mike
(18:08):
Benton. By the way of fiveforty five. Did you happen to hear
Caitlin Clark go on SNL on Saturdaynights. If you missed it, We're
gonna let you hear it next onninety three three kJ R
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