Episode 233: Mariners Defeat Their Fenway Curse + Jack McMullen (Marlins Radio/Just Baseball)

[00:00:00] This season, a new hot deal has arrived at Metro. $25 a line for four lines with all the data you need and four free Samsung Galaxy A15 5G phones. Getting Metro's best deals is easy. No ID required, no activation fees. Get a new number or keep your own. It's up to you. That's four lines for $25 a line plus four free phones. Visit a store or go online today. Only at Metro by T-Mobile. When you join Metro Plus Tax. For a limited time, it's subject to change. Max one offer per account.

[00:00:30] Welcome to episode number 233 of the Marine Layer Podcast. We welcome on to our friend voice of the Miami Marlins and host of the Just Baseball Show. Jack McMullen will talk to him about becoming a big league broadcaster, his thoughts on the start of the M season and a little bit about his team coming into Seattle this weekend. The Mariners also win the series in Boston for the first time in 11 years, and we'll have something positive to talk about at the start of the episode.

[00:00:58] Here's another thing that's positive, you guys. There's one place you can stay on top of all of our stuff now. It's all over on our website, marinelayerpod.com. All our episodes, audio and video. Our Patreon, which we really encourage you to go sign up for. And our merch. Again, merch is flying these days. We've had it rolled out for a few weeks now. It's been awesome to see you guys wearing it. So go get your merch. All that's over at our website, marinelayerpod.com. And then follow us everywhere on social media, at marinelayerpod. Let's get it rolling.

[00:02:07] And the curse of Fenway and the green monster for the Mariners? After a decade plus, it's dead. How about this stat that they throw out there on the broadcast and probably the biggest reason the Mariners were able to go into Fenway and win this series? How about the Mariners starting pitching in the final two games of the series at Fenway?

[00:02:27] Emerson Hancock and Brian Wu became the first pair of starting pitchers in a Mariners uniform to record back-to-back quality starts at Fenway since 2001 when Jamie Moyer and Freddy Garcia did it. 25 years since the Mariners have gotten back-to-back quality starts in that ballpark. How unlikely that was. And the Mariners take well advantage of it. Shout out to those guys. You didn't even tell me you dug that up.

[00:02:57] That's a real stat? Yeah, that's a real stat. They said it on the broadcast. Ah. I'm not going to claim I dug that up, no. But I did double check. That is nuts. Look, Brian Wu's been the best pitcher in the rotation this season, which I've loved because I love to see that guy continue to grow and develop and turn into the pitcher that he has the very much potential to be. So Brian Wu dealt, and he looked great in the finale.

[00:03:25] But we talk about Brian Wu all the time. Can we spend a minute here on our guy, on Emerson, who went out and shut everybody up in this series? Let's go, Emerson. Yes. But you didn't shut us up because we've been doing nothing but singing his praises and waiting for a start like this to sing more of his praises. That was awesome. Awesome. Six innings, two earned.

[00:03:52] Amazing what happens when you don't just send a pitcher down after one bad start to start a season. Yeah, let's do some predictions here. What would Luis F. Castillo's stat line have been in Fenway Park against the Red Sox offense? Two and a third. Yep. Five walks. Five walks. I will say 87 pitches, six earned runs, two homers.

[00:04:23] Yeah, that sounds about right. And so they lose. They lose that game. Yes, they do. Dude, Emerson was awesome. Again, six innings, two earned, seven punchouts, career high, 12 whiffs, 12 swings and misses. And by the way, five of the 12, the majority of those, on his fastball. We know he has some good off speed, especially when he's on and he's got everything clicking.

[00:04:48] But a lot of the narrative around Emerson Hancock over the last couple of years is he's lost some of that fastball below. And a lot of that, I think, unfortunately, is some of those shoulder injuries that he's had accrued over time. But man, like, you look at that start in Boston. He is pumping rockets. He's throwing 95, 96, 97 miles an hour, and he is blowing it by guys. That was sick.

[00:05:12] And what I think really helped him, so the fastball velo, which has been there this season, is always a plus for him. When he's throwing it harder, it makes a fastball more valuable. You saw it earlier in the series, right? Bryce Miller has talked about for a lot of his career, he's got a plus fastball, but his fastball plays, it's a plus fastball when it's 95. Plus, it's not a plus fastball when he's throwing it 92 miles an hour.

[00:05:37] And I think you could say the same thing for Emerson Hancock, who, on a grading and I would say shape perspective, doesn't have the fastball that Bryce Miller does. But when you throw anything hard, it does make it harder for the hitter to hit it. What I was most impressed with is I think that's the most dialed we've seen a sweeper so far. You know, that's a pitch he introduced this season and he wanted to incorporate and use it a little bit more. And he was throwing that sweeper off the outside edge to the Red Sox hitters and they were chasing it. That's a very good thing.

[00:06:07] Something Emerson had struggled with was getting guys to chase and swing and miss at his stuff. If he gets guys chasing his sweeper, it just opens up so many more things. I mean, you can keep throwing the changeup. You can throw the fastball up in the zone because you know you have in your back pocket guys will go and swing at that sweeper away from them. And it was remarkable to see that from him to go into one of the toughest places to pitch and really perform well. I will say, Lyle, it helped he had some offensive help.

[00:06:36] It is a lot easier to pitch when you're out in front this entire time, which outside of game one, Lyle, the Mariners were ahead the rest of the way. The pitchers were pitching with a lead almost the entire time. And that is really, really helpful. It is. I just want to say one more quick thing on Emerson, too. Not only was that one of the toughest parks to pitch in in baseball and one of the toughest offenses, back-to-back starts he did that. The last two starts he's made, he's been two of the toughest environments to pitch in in baseball.

[00:07:06] Cincinnati and Boston, 5-2, and then 6-2 with the seven punch-outs. I'm thrilled for Emerson. By the way, off of the tough to pitch in, those stats we thought were true but might not be true on Wednesday's episode. I confirm those were true. Yeah, they were true. So, they've gone down now, thankfully, especially after today where the Mariners pitched collectively fine for nine innings and kept the Red Sox to three or two runs.

[00:07:36] Three runs. Regardless. Didn't get blown up today on the finale. The most important stat there. The stat got to a 7-3-9 ERA the last 10 years at Fenway Park after game one. 7-3-9 ERA. And you know who helped take that down? Emerson. Yes, sir. Some unbelievable numbers, man. What's that? Some unbelievable numbers. They've given up 335 hits.

[00:08:07] 300! In 10 years. That's unbelievable. Guys, that is an average of over 11 hits a game for 10 years. Just hand the ball to Emerson and Brian Wu. They'll fix it. They'll fix it. Yeah, I guess so. Dude, I really am happy for Emerson, though. The fact that he's put together some good starts, seeing some success. Now he's going to get to make his next start at home.

[00:08:36] He can really build on this. So, it's pretty cool. Shout out to Brian Wu, too. Again, but he's been awesome all year. So, okay. The offense. Yeah? Offense is showing up. At the time of the final out of that series, the Mariners have the third most runs scored in the American League. Only behind the Yankees and the Red Sox. Who thought we'd be saying those words a month into the year?

[00:09:04] You know what I think is the most impressive thing about what I've seen from this offense? It's not been one singular aircraft carrier. Cal, if you were to make a case for anybody, it would be him at this point, right? Because he's hit the most home runs. He's been clutch. He gets the new extension. He's the name that's hitting well. Great. Perfect. Fantastic. Amazing. We love to see when that happens.

[00:09:28] But I think the biggest takeaway, because I went and I looked at this season at this point and last year at this point. Do you want to guess what the biggest difference is? The floor of the regulars is significantly raised. Doesn't need to be at the roof, but the floor of where some of these guys are is so much higher. If you remember at this point last year, Lyle, here are the Mariners at this point that had a WRC Plus below 100.

[00:09:58] Jorge Polanco, Ty France, Julio Rodriguez, JP Crawford, Mitch Garver, and Luke Raley. One year ago, everyday players in the lineup with a WRC Plus below 100. Does that sound like a solution to scoring runs? Well, considering that's two thirds of the lineup, no. Meanwhile, let me read you the regulars in the lineup this year that have a WRC Plus below 100.

[00:10:27] I'll consider Donovan Solano a regular. He's not above 100. He's quite far below it. In fact, I believe he's right now last in Major League Baseball on WRC Plus. Rowdy Tellez, kind of a regular. Doesn't, not all the time. Mitch Garver, right now he's a part-time DH and backup catcher. Kind of. But you know what? Really quick.

[00:10:55] He's swung the bat much better over the last seven to ten years. Yeah, he has. 100%. This was before today's game, by the way. And Garver had a good game today on Thursday. So give him the props for that. That number's going to go up. And then Victor Robles and Ryan Bliss, who are also both below 100, are Mariners regulars. But they're going to be out for multiple months each. So it doesn't even really factor into this argument. Everybody else is above 100. That's what we call raising a floor.

[00:11:25] That's very, very, very impressive. Look, it sounds difficult. And actually, it is difficult to have a collective group of that many guys that are average to above average hitters. But when everybody can do that and you do not have guys anchoring you down, God, it makes such a difference. It really, really just changes everything. Especially when the guys at the bottom of the lineup are doing what they're doing. This series was basically driven by the guys at the bottom of the lineup.

[00:11:54] J.P. Crawford's red hot. Last 15 games, his OPS is well over 800. Ben Williamson, for only being 10 games into his career, he has not looked overmatched one bit. He had a three-hit game in this series. And God, that play he made in game two at third base. Saver. I won't quite say game saver, but it was an inning saver. And it definitely was a turning point in that game. You know what I was most impressed about for him, though?

[00:12:23] We know the defense is good. We know he can hit for a little bit of average, and he's shown that here early. He hit a ball at 110 miles an hour today. He's not supposed to be able to do that. His exit velos, as we highlighted when he came up, his average exit velocity down in AAA was 87. That's a really low number. So you would think a guy with a number that low is not hitting a ball 110 miles an hour.

[00:12:53] For example, right? Let me throw some names out there. Like, think of like a Nicky Lopez or a Nick Madrigal, right? Those are the kind of guys that hit balls at the big league level on average about 87 miles an hour. Those guys don't hit balls at 110. So Ben Williamson's hitting balls at 110. I mean, you just love to see that. He had a 142 WRC plus entering Thursday's game.

[00:13:20] I know he's about 10 games into his career. And at some point, yes, the league will make some adjustments to him, and he's going to have to do a thing or two to adjust back, which is what every guy that ever debuts and comes up has to do at some point. But the fact that he's looked like this so far with the defense, everything's kind of changed since Ben Williamson came up. Think about this road trip. He came up the day before the road trip. He didn't start in that last game in Seattle.

[00:13:48] But all of a sudden, like, he's stabilized a lot. The fact you can pencil him in plenty often to play third base makes everything a lot easier. And guess what? If he can stick there, then all of a sudden, Jorge Polanco moves to second for a little while. If no other solutions are had by the time Cole Young's up at some point in the summer, maybe you can move Polanco over to first. If you haven't found a solution at first base yet, you can DH him more. They're like Ben Williamson provides some serious stability if he can keep this up.

[00:14:17] As long as he hits. As long as that WRC plus stays above 100 or even he could keep it right at 100. And I think everyone would be totally fine if we're here in September and it is 100 on the dot. That's valuable. Yeah. Even if it's 90, I'd still say that's worth it. His exit velocity at the big league level, by the way, is 90. So it's been able to raise it a little bit from where it was in Tacoma. I want to give a shout out to JP Crawford.

[00:14:45] I think JP is a super underrated part of the Mariners offense sort of gluing together. Because there's been some production in the middle of the lineup. There's been some production at the bottom of the lineup. Who's the bridge between the bottom of the lineup and the middle of the lineup? It's JP Crawford. His first 12 games. I didn't find these numbers, but I'm just reading them off a tweet I found. JP Crawford's first 12 games. He had a 67 WRC plus. He was hitting just 125. He was striking out 25% of the time.

[00:15:14] His last 12 games. A 188 WRC plus. 351 average. A 455 on base percentage. He's striking out just 11% of the time. It's looking a little bit more like he was in the 2023 season. Small sample. But it's very encouraging. Mm-hmm. What do we say about JP at the start of the year? He does not have to repeat 2023.

[00:15:41] If he's a 105 to 110 WRC plus hitter, that is valuable. The way he walks. His approach. He plays not elite defense, but quality defense. At the very least, it'll be average shortstop defense. He does that. That is a valuable number nine hitter to a team and in this lineup. So again, if he can keep somewhat of this pace up. Yeah. You talk about raising the floor. JP Crawford helps raise the floor if he can keep that up.

[00:16:12] Last thing to note on the offense for me. I thought it was so impressive how they knocked Garrett Crochet out on Thursday. Garrett Crochet was on a rampage to start this season. He had a 1-1-3 entering today. 1-1-3 ERA. He had gone in his last two starts, six shutout and seven and a third with one earned run with 11 strikeouts. And the Mariners knocked him out in five innings today, made him throw 110 pitches, and made

[00:16:40] him walk five guys. Dude's got elite, elite stuff. Elite swing and miss stuff. And the Mariners managed to knock him around enough to put up the four runs. And push him out of the game. And really not ever let himself get established. I thought that was very impressive. Awesome. What is it with the Mariners beating all these aces this year all of a sudden? You beat Scooble. You beat Crochet. You beat... He's not really an ace anymore. But you beat Verlander.

[00:17:10] Like, they've beaten some real guys so far to start the year. Crazy. They didn't beat Verlander. Oh, did they not? They might have hit well against him, but they didn't win the game. Oh, right. Sorry. You're right. They did hit him. Yeah. Okay. I don't know, man. It's the Edgar Martinez effect, I guess. I guess. All right. Last thing from me. And our buddy Aram Layton, also of the Just Baseball Show. He mentioned this on one of their recent episodes, which you should go check out. It's from this week.

[00:17:41] Shout out to Jorge Polanco. Look, we've talked about him plenty, and we've talked about what a great start to the year he's had. Listen to this stat. Entering the Red Sox series, Jorge Polanco had not swung and missed at a four-seam fastball all year. Crazy. And if you remember last year, the biggest part of his struggles, the first three or so months in Seattle, was he was awful against fastballs.

[00:18:10] He was one of the worst players in the league against four-seam fastballs. Now to get to this point where he's hot and he's hitting, and the fastball's his strength, it's pretty awesome. It lines up a lot more with what he's done in his career. He's always hit fastballs in his career, and now he's feeling good enough, at least hitting from the left side, to take it to that level where he's just not missing. He's turning himself into Jacob Wilson. Yeah.

[00:18:38] So he swung and missed at one in this Red Sox series, I believe. So now it's not at 0% in terms of a whiff rate anymore, but still. And it's still a small sample. I know. It's about 50 pitches. That's still crazy, though. Jorge Polanco hit .220 against four-seam fastballs last year. Right now he's hitting .330 against them, and he's slugging .667. Polo looks like Polo. It's pretty good. From the left side. Well, that's all he can do right now.

[00:19:07] So yeah, I mean, he's not hitting from the right side, and he's not playing defense yet. So yeah. Yeah. And he's not good enough from the left side to hit against lefties yet. Or they tried it once. You can't really say that. He's never tried. He's never done it in his life. No switch hitter does it. So then that's true. Okay. But that's not really his fault. It's a technicality, but it is. I mean, he took one at-bat against a lefty this road trip, and it was awful. All right. But he doesn't practice that. I'm not going to get on him for that. I'm not saying he sucks.

[00:19:35] Just saying, like, since he hasn't done it, obviously he's not good at it. I'm just not going to fault him or any switch hitter for it because nobody does it. It is not his fault. You're right. Anyway. Shout out to Jorge Polanco. Again, he had not whiffed at a four-seam fastball until this series, and now he's whiffed at one. That's crazy. I know you want to talk about this bullpen management for a second. Okay. Just for a minute. Just for a minute. I'm going to take a quick pause, though, because we're going to talk to you about our friends over at Pogaccia's Pub 85.

[00:20:06] Over in Kirkland, you guys want to watch the games this weekend, or all season for that matter, can head over there. It's great food, drinks, games like pool and darts, 20 TVs in the place. It's an awesome spot to hang out with your friends. If you go during happy hour, drinks are $3 and $4, 2 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, awesome deals. Again, drinks are $3 and $4 during happy hour. All that is over at Pogaccia's Pub 85 in Kirkland. Go check it out.

[00:20:31] It is a positive week and a positive road trip to discuss Seattle Mariners baseball because they went 6-3. They've won five series in a row. It's been awesome. It really has. I just got to spend 60 or not. We've got to spend 60 seconds here on this Dan Wilson bullpen decision. It just he goes to Trent Thornton in that eighth inning of the finale. It was 4-3 at this point.

[00:20:59] Gabe Spire gave up a very, very fluky home run with a stupid homer to give up. Give up. By the way, that homer was a homer in one of 30 ballparks because the pesky pole is a Mickey Mouse part of Fenway Park. Anyway, Gabe Spire was only at 13 pitches. He opts to go with Trent Thornton, go the righty-righty against Alex Bregman. Ended up working for the most part. Leo Rivas made a pretty ridiculous over-the-shoulder catch to end the inning, but the process behind

[00:21:28] it doesn't really make any sense at all to me. So not only is Gabe Spire far and away your second best arm in the bullpen right now behind Munoz, but he'd only thrown 13 pitches. And when you look at Alex Bregman's splits on the year, he's like 140 points higher OPS-wise against righties right now than lefties. His career splits are about the same. Hits righties and lefties both very well. And right now he's destroying right-handed pitching.

[00:21:56] And then to go to Trent Thornton, who unfortunately has had his struggles through the first month, I don't get it. As a lot of people tweeted out, bad process, good result. That's happened a few times this year with some decisions, whether it be pinch-hitting decisions, whether it be bullpen decisions. There are times where things do work out for you. And there was another situation in this game where this popped up. A little focus on this one here for now.

[00:22:26] Now, yeah, I don't know. This is a situation that if we're going to go look at the pass regime, because that's the example we have, Andres Munoz would have collected a four-out save today. He would have come in in the eighth inning. If they really thought that, all right, we don't want Gabe facing a good righty in Alex Bregman. Okay, from like a manager processing perspective, you have a lefty on the bump, you have a righty hitter at the plate, who's off to a really good start this season.

[00:22:55] I'd rather have a righty in there. Okay, fine. They would have gone to Andres Munoz for a four-out save in this game as an attempt to go win it. But they didn't do that. They instead went to Trent Thornton, as you mentioned, has really struggled this year, has been one of the least valuable pitchers statistically in the Mariners' bullpen this year. It just doesn't really check out.

[00:23:19] When you're trying to find the reasons why this happened and why these decisions are made, you can't put your finger on, you know, this is exactly the reason why. And I think that's what frustrates Lau and I a little bit. Well, and fans too, because like, to be fair, like Mera's reporters have asked about it, and they've done a great job with it. They've asked questions regarding some of the decisions, but Dan Wilson doesn't really ever give much insight to anything.

[00:23:49] No. Not at all. Like, here's the thing about Scott Service, and I think this is what TJ and I appreciated about him. I think this is what a lot of people appreciated about him. You didn't always have to agree with the way that Scott Service manages bullpen. Maybe you didn't. But when Scott was asked about it postgame, anytime he was asked about it, he would always give an explanation, and he would always walk people through his thought process. And there was always a process behind it. It doesn't always work, but there was a process. I'll even use the extreme example.

[00:24:17] People do not let that Robbie Ray at bat against Jordan Alvarez go, in terms of Scott Service's management, in that playoff game. And you can disagree with it. TJ and I talk about all the time, we wish Eric Swanson had thrown in that game because he was really good against lefties. If you look at it, and I'm sure this is what Scott Service and his analytics people knew, Jordan Alvarez was hitting 0-30, I believe, against lefty sliders that year.

[00:24:44] Robbie Ray was brought into that game to get Jordan out on sliders. Now, unfortunately, Ray tried to sneak a fastball past Jordan, and we know what happened next. Anyway, there was a process behind it. You don't have to agree with it, but there was a process. Not only does it not feel like there's a process behind most of these bullpen decisions, but people can't even understand what the thought is because he doesn't really answer. There's a danger when you just do things by feel, right?

[00:25:14] There are some people out there who probably got sick of how Scott managed, and they want a manager there to make the decisions that is going based off the feel and the flow of the game. I think that's okay. I think there's always a balance of things. You have to understand human side, and you have to understand numbers side as well. But I do feel like you need, at some point, explanations for the decisions you make.

[00:25:43] Here's the thing on this entire scenario, though. If it keeps working for him, then it doesn't matter, right? If the games are won, then it does not matter at this point, right? And if it still happens in June and July, but the Mariners have a seven-game lead in first place, just part of the job, right? Dan will make some head-scratching decisions, but the Mariners will end up winning games anyways. Sure.

[00:26:11] So, we can always mention it, but how it affects the wins and losses, I think, are really the important thing. And today, it did work, even if we didn't feel like the process was good. Okay. Here's the other example. Can I just jump in for five seconds? It worked, but Alex Bregman also hit an absolute nuke of a foul ball that was a few feet from tying that game. So, again, not only is Bregman hitting 130 points better OPS-wise about against righties than lefties this year,

[00:26:38] but he smoked a ball that barely went foul off Thornton. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good. Something the Mariners have not had enough of in their franchise history, by the way. This is true. There was another situation that popped up today, too, that I thought was interesting. Dan likes to use his bench sometimes. There are platoon bats on this lineup. It was sixth or seventh inning, later in the game. Dylan Moore's the leadoff hitter in this game. The Red Sox put a righty on the mound.

[00:27:07] I don't know if it was Liam Hendricks yet, but it was a righty out of their bullpen to go to throw when Dylan Moore was at the plate. Dylan Moore has drastic right-left splits. His OPS entering Wednesday, I think, against lefties, when Salk was talking about it, was like 1,600. And then his OPS against righties was 500. Just these astronomical splits, righty-lefty. Dan sends Miles Masturbone to hit for him. I get it.

[00:27:36] There's a process. Here's the process. Dylan Moore doesn't hit well against righties. That's correct. Miles Masturbone has hit well this season and bats left-handed. I get it. And they're both infielders. So it fits. Works out fine. Later, I think it was the next inning.

[00:27:54] Donovan Solano, who we noted, who right now has the worst WRC Plus in Major League Baseball, among guys with as many at-bats as he does, was up at the plate with Liam Hendricks pitching right on right. Donovan Solano, for his career, doesn't really have righty-lefty splits. But Donovan Solano, right now, is really struggling at the plate. You had two lefties on your bench in Luke Raley and Rowdy Tellez.

[00:28:24] Both could have come in and played first base where Donovan Solano was playing today. But Dan decided to let Solano hit. Solano ended up walking. This is where it comes back to again. The process. Do we agree with the process? The result ended up being good because Donovan Solano walked. And walks are good. But getting to that point where you have two guys on the bench whose job it is to hit righties. One of them, it's only really to hit righties and play first base.

[00:28:54] Come up in a situation that is perfect for that after you'd already made a decision in the inning before about how you were going to handle a situation like this when it comes to platoon splits. And then change your mind when it comes to a different player who is not hit as well as Dylan Moore this year. That sort of just doesn't really make any sense, right? Lyle and I are trying to ask, why do these things happen? What is the explanation for this decision?

[00:29:21] And unfortunately, we're just not really getting any right now. If anybody listening to this has some ideas for us of process of why these decisions are made, YouTube comments, DMs, emails, however you guys want to send it to us. I'm all ears right now. So some of these things are a little confusing to the both of us. Sure. The only thing I'd ask about this scenario is we were just texting back and forth about this the other day.

[00:29:49] Is there anything to the idea of the Mariners are at the point with Donovan Solano where they say, look, we need to either start playing him more regularly or maybe it's just not going to work out. We did talk about that and say like, because here's the thing. In case people don't know, Donovan Solano is better against lefties than righties. He's still a perfectly fine hitter for his career against righties. He is not a strict platoon bat the way somebody like Luke Raley is.

[00:30:14] So is this possibly the Mariners saying, let's give him a little bit of time to see if playing him more often gets him out of this drastic slump that he's in? And if it doesn't work, then fine. We'll make some decisions. Maybe. Perfectly reasonable expectation. I'm just saying based off of the decision they made the inning before with a player who's playing better. Sure. At that point. There are two contrasting things, right?

[00:30:37] And I agree with you because, you know, we both came up and said at this point, Donovan Solano can't be playing part time. He's either got to snap him out of this or just let him go. Right? Because it's clearly not working. It is making Colton Wong and Tommy La Stella and AJ Pollock right now look like all stars. Unfortunately, that's true.

[00:31:02] Colton Wong's WRC plus is almost 100 points higher than Donovan Solano's right now as Mariners. That's not good. I know. Yeah. Yeah. So maybe they're trying some things out. I just like the reason we bring this stuff up, especially the bullpen stuff when things get tight late in games and you've got to make, you know, you've got to push the right buttons and make sound decisions. One, you hope there's a process behind it, but even more so than that, TJ's right.

[00:31:31] If Dan Wilson and the Mariners coaching staff continue to manage games like this and it works, fine. Because what are you going to say if they're winning games? Nothing. This is just us saying a month into the year that if these types of processes continue, I think it is unfortunately going to cost them games this year. I think it is going to cost them some games. If, again, if you don't balance out a little bit the feel and the numbers. Yeah.

[00:32:00] It's going to have to come at some point. Yeah. Right. There's going to need to be an explanation. Right. And I guess we can't say for certain that Dan Wilson's not playing the numbers at all because, again, he just doesn't really give explanations about this stuff. But, like, when you look at it from an outsider's perspective or you just look at the numbers as a fan, as a media person, as podcasters like we do, the numbers stuff doesn't really feel like it lines up.

[00:32:27] Because, again, like, to go to Trent Thornton there against Alex Bregman does not make any sense when Bregman so far this year has crushed righties. His career platoon splits are not that different. And Gabe Spire's the better reliever. I don't know. Regardless, though, they're off the road and they get to come back home and play the Miami Marlins here in Seattle. How many times have the Marlins played in Seattle? Like, we asked Jack this. Did he? I want to say it's four or five. It's not a lot.

[00:32:57] Yeah. All time, it is. Yeah. It's not that many series. Before we get to Jack, let's talk to you guys about our friends at Game Time. Because Lyle and I are going to be out at the park this weekend. You excited, Doug? The weather should be good. I can't wait. The weather should be pretty good. And we're looking forward to seeing some of you guys out there. If you are trying to find somewhere to get your tickets and come hang out with us, you guys should go use the Game Time app.

[00:33:22] I got, you know, something I'm keeping my eye on a couple weeks from now as we get closer to Maylile. It's Mother's Day. And my mom loves going to Mariner Games on Mother's Day. She loves it. So if there's one thing I'm making sure I'm looking at when I'm looking for Mother's Day tickets, it's Game Time. Because the tickets get sent right to your phone in a simple, easy process. That right there is why Game Time is the official ticketing partner of the Marine Layer podcast. They make getting tickets faster and easier.

[00:33:52] Prices on the Game Time app actually go down the closer you get to first pitch. Mariners are back at home this weekend. And you can snag tickets for $8 tonight, $9 on Saturday, and $5 on Sunday. All right on the Game Time app. Save even more money on zone deals where you choose the section and Game Time chooses the seats. Toggle the all-in pricing feature so there are no surprise fees at checkout. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app.

[00:34:21] Create an account and use code JUSTBASEBALL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code JUSTBASEBALL for $20 off. Download the Game Time app today. Last-minute tickets. Lowest price guaranteed. It's good getting to have Jack on. The last time we had Jack on the podcast, he had not yet been hired by the Marlins.

[00:34:46] So we refer to him as Jack McMullen, national baseball broadcaster and host of the Just Baseball Show. So how well does this work out now, Lyle, that he is the voice of the Miami Marlins and the Marlins get to come here to Seattle and we get an opposing broadcaster on the podcast? It's awesome. Although I don't know if we can really say he was a national broadcaster before. He was just, you know, a national host. Oh, yeah, for sure. In that sense, yes. Absolutely.

[00:35:15] And now he gets his call to the big leagues and we'll save the stories for you guys to listen to with Jack. But it is not easy to be a big league broadcaster, man. It really is not. It is. The numbers game is really hard to do it at Jack's age, which I want to say he's the youngest broadcaster in the majors right now. Like to do it. Full time? Yeah. Yeah. Or he's one of. Close. Yeah. He's one of. Sorry. One of.

[00:35:44] But to do it like to get that job at this age is crazy and it takes incredible talent and drive and work ethic and he has all of it. And you'll get to hear him talk about it because it's really, really cool to see guys, you know, achieve like a lifetime goal like that. So we talk plenty to Jack about that and we talk about the Mariners, which, you know, if you listen to the Just Baseball show, he is.

[00:36:13] He's his ball knowledge really is off the charts. I mean, he can talk baseball with anybody and we preview the series a bit. So it's it was fun. I mean, it's always good to have Jack on. I could talk to Jack about baseball forever and thrilled for him. Thrilled that he's in a big league booth now because he started in the minors at 21 years old when we were still in college. And now he worked his way up. So thrilled to have him on. Thrilled we're going to see him this weekend and was a great conversation. We won't keep you guys any longer.

[00:36:41] Let's get you to the interview with Jack McMullen. All right. We've got our friend Jack McMullen back on with us. Recurring guest host of the Just Baseball show and radio broadcaster of the Miami Marlins. Jack, thanks for coming on. Does it feel like are you used to hearing that yet? Uh, no, I've heard it. I've heard it approximately four billion times in the last two months.

[00:37:07] And it doesn't sound right still because it's like, oh, no, that's just one of those dreams that never comes true. But here we are. So, no, it is still hard to believe. And listen, when we take a seven hour flight and get out to your place and get off the plane at SeaTac, it's still not going to feel real. But you know what? We're in it. So we might as well keep going. That's the big leagues. You're going to be one of the few Miami Marlins broadcasters that actually gets to make that trip.

[00:37:33] I'm trying to think back how many times the Marlins have actually played games in Seattle. It can't be more than five, I'm going to say. You know, so can I tell you, I love the way that the schedule is set up now. And I thought that that was one of the great things to come out of the last few years in terms of scheduling. And I understand the genesis of it. Like, Major League Baseball wants Shohei Otani to play in Kansas City, Missouri. I totally understand.

[00:37:59] They want the best players to be marketed to every single baseball fan around the United States. And that is why you guarantee one trip to every single ballpark for each team over the course of two years. And the way that it's structured, right? Instead of 18 division games, you play 12 division games. And then you play each team. The Mariners will play each team in the American League for a home and home. And then you play each team in the National League, what, once a year.

[00:38:25] And it will alternate which site you're at except for the token rival. Like, the Marlins play the Rays home and away every single year. Who do the Mariners play home and away? Padres. Padres. Padres. Okay, there you go. So it's like you've got that one token team and that fills out 162. I think it's awesome. Like, I think Marlins Mariners is good for baseball. And I'm totally fine taking that seven-hour flight.

[00:38:51] Well, it also gives you a chance to get to see not just every ballpark in the league and all these different cities across the country and probably all these different friends that it's hard to get out and see travel-wise otherwise. But just on the baseball standpoint of it all, you get to see everybody every year. I mean, is that like a cool aspect of it for you? It is. I'm kind of dreading seeing Lyle and TJ. Well, I did leave that part out. I mean, you're not the first person to say that. It is. It's really cool.

[00:39:20] And like, it's funny. In Indianapolis, we actually weren't traveling to call the games in Indianapolis the last few years. So it's like even when we were going to Toledo and Columbus, like I wasn't going. So if I had friends that happened to be in Columbus or Louisville, I couldn't see them because we were in Indianapolis the whole time. So it's funny. Like, I get texts from people that I haven't talked to in a year or two, and they say, Hey, I see you're going to be in New York this weekend. Would love to get a drink. Would love to get coffee.

[00:39:48] Okay, yeah, I could set a world record for play dates, I think. But it is nice to see everybody. And it's also nice to see every single player in Major League Baseball. Obviously, what we do, we are baseball dorks. And I am a baseball dork to my core. I stay up late watching Julio Rodriguez play baseball. And I stay up late watching the best catcher in baseball, Cal Raleigh, play baseball. And I'm excited to get that in person for a weekend. Have you had to relearn how to navigate opposing ballparks?

[00:40:17] Because when you're in the minor leagues, you only have to know your own ballpark because you weren't traveling. And now you have to go, at some point, all 30. Right? So is that a skill you have to relearn? I don't think so. I think most Major League ballparks set the record for most security employees in a certain space. So everybody, if I make a wrong turn, I hear about it within approximately three seconds. So I'm not too worried about it.

[00:40:45] I will say, like, navigating that has kind of been fun. And I've made sure to take a lap at each opposing ballpark. The lap in Philly was really cool. Just seeing Citizens Bank Park going through there. I did a little pregame walk of the Battery in Atlanta. That was cool. And I took the subway to Citi Field, which I'm absolutely going to do every time we go to New York. I'm going to take the subway to games. Yeah, seven trains. Awesome. So when you're talking lap, you're talking around the just main concourse. Concourse.

[00:41:15] I will also go below the building in the inner workings. I want to see what's in the belly of the beast. But I want to see what all the fans see as well. Because, like, you know, I think it's kind of misleading for everybody to think that I've been to a bunch of different ballparks. Because I really haven't. Like, I had probably gone to 12, maybe 15 ballparks. But a lot of these are new. Like, I've been to T-Mobile Park.

[00:41:42] I was there for All-Star, but this is going to be my first time at Dodger Stadium after that. That was my first time at Citizens Bank Park. That was my second time ever at Citi Field. And I just sat in the corner when I was 12 years old the first time. So I'm pretty much experiencing all these ballparks for the very first time. So I do like kind of doing that lap on the concourse and saying, Oh, you have an artisan chicken tender spot in left field? That's funny. If someone's walking up to you on the concourse,

[00:42:08] are they talking to you as Jack the Marlins broadcaster or Jack the guy on TikTok? Jack the guy on TikTok. Yeah. Really? Always Jack the guy on TikTok. How about that? That is pretty well. It's funny. We even got a couple of those a couple weeks ago because people said, Oh, like, we love all the Just Baseball stuff too. And a couple people said to us, Isn't Jack going to be in town in a couple weeks? And we said, yeah, he's the Marlins guy now. He's the Marlins broadcaster. He'll be here. So that's funny.

[00:42:36] Jack Lyle and TJ from TikTok is going to be a really good meetup. It's so funny because you have this prestigious one of 30 jobs in the entire world. And you're still just the guy on TikTok. It is funny. A couple people at the ballpark have been, I walked into the ballpark the other day and somebody just pointed at me and said, I know you. And it's like, really? I don't even know myself that well, but okay. Thank you. Is there a player, speaking of getting to see every player now with the new schedule,

[00:43:05] either that you have circled in terms of really getting to look forward to seeing or somebody you've already gotten to see that had you not been in this job, maybe you hadn't seen play in person yet. Like, Paul Skeens isn't a good example because obviously he called his games in the minors. But have you seen Bobby Witt play in person? Have you seen Shohei play in person? All that? Shohei is the one circled three times in Sharpie. And we go to LA right after we get out of Seattle.

[00:43:32] And that's one that I'm going to be floored with. Harper was another one. And Harper homered in the first inning of game one in Philly. And I mean, that was a sensation. I was like, whoa, this place was crazy. And that guy, to use a young word, that guy has an absurd amount of aura. And Bryce Harper, I was just kind of encapsulated by the aura. But Otani's up there.

[00:43:58] I will say it was cool seeing Skeens from the other side and just chatting with him and wearing different colors and having it be in a real ballpark. And you've got, you know, you feel like 50 pairs of eyes. You're just staring a hole into the back of your head. Like, who's this nobody talking to Paul Skeens? And it's like, yeah, I'm the nobody. Let's go, baby. You know, Jack, as I'm writing down these questions and I'm thinking about when I see

[00:44:25] you take this job and you have, you, you, you are Peter and ever all the great people at Just Baseball built this amazing product with a great show that covers the league nationally. And, you know, you're, you're a huge part of that. And then you get this job, something you've been working really, really hard towards. And I sit there and think, man, how is he going to do both? It actually kind of sounds like, tell me if I'm wrong or not. This is actually going to help you do that significantly better. Yeah, I think so.

[00:44:51] You know, I, I will say I lead the league in watching condensed games on MLB TV and I still lead the league in watching condensed games on MLB TV. And what I typically do, like just to walk you kind of through my day is I will listen or watch. I will listen to a West Coast game on my way home or listen to the end of an East Coast game. And then I will turn on a West Coast game. And then the next day I wake up and I watch the condensed games of any game that was within about five runs.

[00:45:19] And then I pick a starting pitcher, usually like best starting pitcher of the day, best outing. I want to see why that outing was awesome. Sometimes I pick two, but like that Yamamoto deGrom matchup on Friday in Arlington, like I sat there and I kind of went through pitch by pitch of Yamamoto. I was like, why is that guy awesome? DeGrom, why is that guy awesome? So I haven't gotten sick of baseball yet, but it not being in AAA kind of hurts the prospect

[00:45:48] side in me, but I'm still again, a total baseball dork. And this is just what I do with my free time too. So in terms of seeing the league, it is, it's really cool to get that up close and personal look and having that next appreciation for Zach Wheeler who struck out 13 or, you know, Max Myers knew and improved. And I mean, just, just having that in-person look is helping a little bit. I'm with you. I do obviously want to get to some Mariners and Marlins talk.

[00:46:17] One of many reasons we're having you on is because the two teams are squaring off this weekend. But before we get to that, I do just want to ask you about like the day you got the job and the day you got the call. Cause I'm sure there's fans out there that don't realize just the level of difficulty that it takes to become a big league broadcaster. And that call that broadcasters get when they get their call up to the big leagues, it is very similar to the videos you'll see on social media of guys that get their big league call up. Like you've worked forever for this.

[00:46:46] It's a kind of all encompassing moment. Certainly not everybody gets to do it. In fact, there's far less broadcasting jobs in the big leagues than there are playing jobs in the big leagues. Although I, you know, the physicality of the two jobs are just a little bit different. What are you saying, man? I put in work. Well, did you hear it? Lowell Rice and plantains every day. He's ready to go. This, this is true. Jack, Jack could be Max Meyer. If he, if the Marlins let him pick up a baseball, let's just say that.

[00:47:13] But I'm genuinely just curious, like the day you get the call, cause I'm sure you were pretty deep into the process, but does it feel kind of like those players getting their big league call? Yeah. I mean, it's, it's different because like you have that build up, build up, build up. And I, I, you know, going into it that the odds are stacked against you every single time you put your hat in the ring for something like this. And you know, you go into it saying, listen, I'm putting my best foot forward. We'll see what happens.

[00:47:39] And then you get a little bit deeper into the process and you talk to more people and then you talk to more people. And then you talk to people whose name you've actually heard before and names you respect in the baseball industry. And I don't know, like it was, it was one of those buildups where it was like kind of a symbol tap. You know, when you're tapping a symbol and it just gets louder and louder and louder and louder. And then all of a sudden it gets to this crescendo. Like that's what that phone call was for me.

[00:48:08] And I, like, I was just kind of in silence when heard initially and then got off, cried, called my mom, cried, called my fiance, cried. Um, and I, it was, it was just kind of an overwhelming process. And I don't know, I, it's hard to like kind of put into words just how meaningful it was internally.

[00:48:34] But I'm just, I'm so unbelievably grateful to the Marlins and to everybody that helped make this dream come true. And I'm so grateful to Indianapolis for giving me the place to, you know, fine tune these skills and like put stuff on tape that was, that was worthy of this. And I'm, I'm just, I'm the luckiest person on, on earth. That's, that's, that's pretty awesome for, for anyone that wants to, you know, chase a dream.

[00:49:00] I'd say that's, uh, just to hear what it's like to actually get to the finish line. It can't for, for some people who think things are, you know, it's hard, like day to day is like very hard and it's really a grind. Like there is, you know, the, the, the allure of what Jack talked about of like, what happens when you do make it. Yeah. And I mean, that can be totally the thing that drives people. And it's important to like, never lose sight of that. Like the moment you lose sight of that, you start to, I think, plateau in whatever you're doing.

[00:49:28] And I hope that I, you know, never lose sight of that. Like there's, there's a ton for everybody to accomplish. And it's not just like work stuff. Sorry to get like deep and philosophical on you, but like you have to push every single day because when you stop pushing is when things stop happening. And I, I know you guys know that and everybody listening to this knows that as well, but it was, it was cool to kind of feel that, that door open and it was amazing and hard to put into words. Pretty cool. Pretty cool.

[00:49:58] Uh, before we get into like the team specific things, I want to call back one specific thing we talked about, uh, in a last interview. And some of you guys listening might remember this. Some of you might not. So just, just hang along with me as I, as I go through this process here. So we have Jack on in October after the season ends and we're just, you know, kind of kicking around some ideas for the off season. We talk about the team, the results from the 2024 season.

[00:50:24] We decide on let's, let's ask Jack about Cal Raleon and Jack comes out and says, pay the man. And then you paused. And then you said, you got to find the money, pay him. We cut that into a clip. We posted it, clipped it extremely well. People really like listening to Jack's opinion on things. And then Cal Ralee likes the post as well. Then we get seven months later, give or take. And Cal Ralee has a new six year extension on the table.

[00:50:54] Would you like a share of the credit pie for Cal Ralee being extended? Yeah. Typically I think 3% is the going rate of that. So I would love that. That'd be awesome. He, it was like the most, I would love to take an insane amount of money. But it was the most slam dunk, no brainer extension ever. You have, I think the best catcher in baseball because you have, okay. You have William Contreras in Milwaukee, right?

[00:51:23] That's the other guy that kind of holds a candle to Cal Ralee. Obviously Adley Rudgeman is awesome too. But what does Cal promise you every year? He promises you platinum glove level defense and 30 homers. You give me that every year from a catcher. I'm doing backflips. I'm thanking my lucky stars. And I'm never thinking about that position ever, ever again. And he's durable. He is not only one of the best in baseball. I think the best catcher in baseball.

[00:51:52] He's also the safest catcher in baseball. Those are the guys you pay. And I understand not wanting to pay catchers. When you see Will Smith get a 10-year deal with the Dodgers, you give Cal Ralee whatever he wants. And that was awesome from them. And I love that they paid the man. And I cannot wait to watch him play at T-Mobile for the next, you know, however many years. I bet there's another extension coming after that one. Just crazy. And everything he does with the pitching staff too. Yeah. I mean, around here it's talked about so much.

[00:52:21] And like Logan Gilbert and Brian Wu and all these guys have talked about just how valuable Cal's been to them. And the organization talks about how valuable he's been to them. And it kind of felt like a no-brainer, like you said. It was such a slam dunk where it felt like you've got to find a way to get this one done. And he couldn't directly say, like, yes, I'd take any extension, obviously, because, you know, he's got an agent. He's got, you know, the business side of things. But he made it pretty clear saying, I would love to play in one place my whole career.

[00:52:50] And then he lived up to that. Did he not switch agents, though? I think he switched agents. I think he went from the Boris Corp to Excel. And I think that that kind of shows you that he wasn't hell-bent on getting to free agency. I loved that from him. I mean, listen, if you like a place, sometimes the grass isn't greener. It's okay to really like your situation and be happy in a good situation. And I love that Cal is happy in a good situation.

[00:53:16] I'd love to get your take on this because Lyle and I were kicking this around when we were talking about the extension. When Cal looks at his arbitration clock, and I'll loop Logan Gilbert into this too because I believe they were on the same timetable when it came to their arbitration. And they look out at the future and they see this lockout coming along. And they say, free agency could be fun. Free agency could also be, we're going to miss a ton of time. Revenue could be down. There could be a new model that will not let us get paid as much.

[00:53:45] And that will incentivize guys taking a slightly below market rate now to lock that in instead of going into a more uncertain future. How does that sound? From a place with zero background information and just attacking this from a fan lens makes a lot of sense to take your deal now. Does it not? Like just based on reading all of the tea leaves, like why would you not guarantee yourself through whatever could come from the next CBA?

[00:54:12] And I don't know anything about the next CBA. No idea where we're going on that front, but the bird in hand might be a good option with the uncertainty surrounding the RSNs. To your point, TJ, like there are a lot of wrinkles to this where it makes sense to get paid right now. And, you know, if a team is willing to pay you right now, yeah, like totally entertain that offer. So it makes a lot of sense to me.

[00:54:39] I also think when you talk about the arbitration clock with Cal and with Gilbert and with a couple of these other Mariners, you also have to factor in the team wrinkle there. And the Mariners have one of the best farm systems in Major League Baseball. Like they've got guys coming and Cal Raleigh knows that he's teammates with Dylan Moore, but he also knows that he's going to be teammates with Lazaro Montes in three years. And I think the organization that you are committing to really factors in here.

[00:55:06] So I think he felt like he was in a situation where it's an organization that is committed to elongated success and having the winning window open for as long as possible. And also the bird in hand being a lot of money. So I think that he just found a perfect situation and they were able to capitalize on that and mutually beneficial, I think.

[00:55:27] Let me break this up a little bit with some Marlins talk, which for Mariners fans who don't follow the team that is as far away from their region as you can possibly draw up, the team that's in a totally different league. Again, corner ends of the country. You're coming into town this weekend. The Marlins are coming to town this weekend. What should Mariners fans be looking out for when they watch Miami Marlins baseball this weekend?

[00:55:52] Yeah, I think, you know, as weird as it sounds, like they should be looking out for a very scrappy baseball team. And you ask, OK, what does scrappy look like? Well, scrappy going into Monday, it was the third best team batting average in Major League Baseball. And you wouldn't expect it from the Marlins because the Marlins are not hitting the ball out of the ballpark much. They went in tied for the fourth fewest home runs in Major League Baseball. But they will make a lot of opposing pitchers really frustrated.

[00:56:19] I think that they are one of the better headache inducers in Major League Baseball. Like the Baltimore Orioles lineup, I think, is a headache inducer. And what I mean by that is Gunnar Henderson's going to see a lot of pitches. And Jackson Holliday is going to see a lot of pitches. And Adley Rutschman is going to see a lot of pitches. I think what you get from the Miami Marlins, like Xavier Edwards is not going away. This is a guy that could absolutely win a batting title in the National League this year and could steal 50 bases.

[00:56:47] And then you've got Otto Lopez, who's not going to go away. And then you've got Kyle Stowers, who's not going to go away. And then you've got guys like Matt Mervis, who's really starting to find his footing and can hit the ball out of the ballpark. And then you're going to see this young top prospect catcher, Augustin Ramirez, who can hit a ball 110. He just did so in his Major League debut. They will find a way to tick off Mariners pitching. And then I think offensively, you've got to gear up for a couple of really good pitchers, man.

[00:57:16] Like this bullpen has been really solid to begin the year. Calvin Fauché is starting to find his footing. Jesus Tinoco is finding his footing. Ronnie Enriquez has been a dream come true for them. He was a waiver claim from Minnesota. And I just watched Max Meyer punch out 14, and Seattle gets Max Meyer. And this is a new and improved Max Meyer. This is a guy that is not just a hard slider. He's now got a depthier sweeper, and he's putting 95 where he wants. And he's got a really good changeup, too.

[00:57:46] And he's going to give some people fit. So I think they're getting a scrappier team than you may expect from what you typically read. And Max Meyer will throw Sunday. Should throw Sunday. Yeah. Yes. And how's his progression back from injury? Because he was hurt. Like last year he was hurt, and he was working his way back. So he's full go right now. Yeah.

[00:58:11] So last year, 2024 was really a buildup for Meyer in his first year back from Tommy John surgery. And Tommy John's a weird one. I've heard plenty of pitchers who have undergone Tommy John say, you're back to pitching in 14 months, but you're back to feeling like your old self in two years. Takes you 24 months. And I think we're seeing that with Sandy Alcantara right now. Like Sandy got cut at the end of the 23 season, and Sandy hasn't really looked like Sandy just yet.

[00:58:41] So he might be trying to figure things out. And you guys are going to miss Sandy, I think. But Meyer, like last year, he might have just been trying to figure some things out. And he was ramping up. Now I think Meyer feels like himself. And he went into this offseason feeling good and feeling like Max Meyer. So I don't know if it was an injury thing or just like a learning how to run again thing. And now that he's learned how to run, he was able to work with a new pitching coach

[00:59:07] and add a depthier breaking pitch on top of that tight turning 91-92 and kind of refine a sinker and improve a changeup. And borderline perfected at this point. It looked perfect on Monday night. So I think you have a guy that A, is healthy and back to 100%. And B, had the chance to refine his arsenal and just improve as a pitcher.

[00:59:34] So I'm going to speak for, I think, a good chunk of Mariner fans who might be curious about this series. They're going to go to this series. They might open up baseball reference. And they're going to take a look at the Miami Marlins before they go. And I'll just, I will wrap myself out for what I observed looking at today. You pull up the baseball reference page and you just don't recognize a whole lot of names in the lineup. Could you give us like three guys in that lineup to look out for? Yeah. So it's the youngest roster in Major League Baseball. That's probably why.

[01:00:04] Looks like it. They have three guys over 30 years old. And I think they're all 30. Like they don't have a 31-year-old. Rob Brantley was playing for a little bit. Rob Brantley's first stint with the Marlins since 2013. A lot has changed since 2013. But Brantley hit the IL and Augustine Ramirez came up. First one that I'll ID for you is Augustine Ramirez, who is a catcher that was acquired in the Jazz Chisholm trade last year. Augustine is one of the best catching prospects in all of Minor League Baseball.

[01:00:34] Defense has been a work in progress. But offensively, this guy hit 25 homers. He's still 22 bases. He is built like a tank. And he hits the ball as hard as anybody in Minor League Baseball. And he's patient, too. So offensively, you might see a young rookie catcher in the first week of his Major League career really start to find his footing. Xavier Edwards is one of the more underrated, maybe the most underrated leadoff guys in Major League Baseball.

[01:01:04] X last year in 70 games hit over 320. He got on base at about a 400 clip. And he stole 31 bases and 35 attempts. This guy is not a rise level, but he's always putting bat on ball. He's really fast. And he makes good swing decisions. Like the plate discipline is good. And he'll walk a little bit when a lot of those bat-to-ball oriented guys do not walk. And then the third one that I'll give you, I think, is Otto Lopez.

[01:01:35] Otto is facing an uphill battle. Well, Bryce Terang won the Platinum Glove, the second baseman for the Brewers. I think Otto could be Bryce Terang-level defender at second base. Like Otto Lopez is an amazing defensive second baseman. And he can really drive the ball the other way. His season so far has kind of been a suspension bridge. Like he started really hot at the beginning of the year. And then he tapered off a little bit when it got cold.

[01:02:04] You know, he went through a cold stretch. So the numbers don't look great. But now he's building back up and he's starting to drive the ball like 102 the other way, 101 down the line. And I think Otto is putting himself in a position to really break out over the next week or so. So those are the three guys, I think. Augustin Ramirez, Xavier Edwards, and Otto Lopez. So Lopez, I mean, all the reports on his defense are great. But you're talking like, so he's, the Terang comp, obviously, like, you know what you're talking about.

[01:02:34] But when you talk about Terang, that is baseball's best defensive second baseman. So you're talking about, like, in that category, in the Nico Horner category, like, that level. I think Otto Lopez is on par with Nico Horner, Bryce Terang, Andres Jimenez. I think Otto Lopez is that good at second base. I think Marlin's fans have things to look for in the Marlins. I'll say that much. I wanted to run through this exercise with you.

[01:02:57] Like, you've given people plenty of names to look at now and plenty of people to circle and are going to be informed going into this weekend. But I'll tighten the lens even a little bit. I'll go through this exercise. If you had to, in this hypothetical scenario, pick one Marlin that was going to be an all-star this year, and the guy's name is not Sandy Alcantara. Again, maybe the Marlins get more, but I'm just throwing out this hypothetical that it's one. Like, who's the one guy you would pinpoint and say, yeah, watch this guy?

[01:03:25] Your jaw is going to be on the floor when you watch Max Meyer pitch. Like, I'm telling you, Max Meyer has been a joy every single turn that he's had through the rotation at this point. Max is probably the answer, but I think Xavier Edwards is also up there. Because if we're at the all-star break, and he's hitting .305, and he has 25 stolen bases, like, do not be surprised. So I think Xavier Edwards is the answer offensively, but you're seeing one of the most underrated arms in Major League Baseball in Max Meyer on Sunday.

[01:03:56] All right. Last thing for me, Jack. You got to come to Seattle and to T-Mobile Park for the 2023 all-star game. We were all there hanging out. It was a blast. Yeah. But you got to sort of, you know, you got to explore a little bit. So you have it on your mind when you come back this time. What's first on the agenda when you guys get in? What are you doing? Anchorhead Coffee. I'm going to go get the best cold brew I think I've ever had. And I know that's like a little chain, but, I mean, dude, like, that cold brew was amazing. So I'm going to do that.

[01:04:26] Honestly, I don't know. Like, I don't need to do the Pike Place thing. I like that little residential neighborhood by, like, Climate Pledge. You know what I'm talking about? I might lower Queen Anne. Yeah. I might go on a little walk around there. What should I be doing? Well, yeah. Hopefully it's sunny. Then you can go to, like, if you have transport, you can go to a park. Go on a nice little walk. Even if you just keep walking up Queen Anne and do, like, a circle. You can do the Taylor Saucedo walk. Have you heard this story? Have you heard this story? No.

[01:04:55] You might have seen it on our page. So Taylor Saucedo one time went to a Kraken game. And he was there with a couple other Mariners. They left the game. His phone died as he was calling an Uber. So he decided that he was going to walk back instead to his hotel because he had just been called up at this point. And he proceeds to do, like, a lap around Queen Anne before finally coming back down and finding his hotel. He said the North Star brought him home. Hang on. You could do that.

[01:05:24] You're leaving out a key piece of the story. He came back and found his hotel four hours later. It was not a short excursion. No. And by the way, this is a guy that is Seattle through and through. Born and raised, like, knows the city. Got lost in his own city. Didn't know where he was going. Couldn't find a place to get an iPhone charger. And four hours later, eventually somehow figured it out. Good for him getting his steps in. That had to be a heck of a day on the Apple Watch or whatever it was. Yeah.

[01:05:54] Although I'm going to guess he didn't have his Apple Watch because if he did, he might have found his way back home. Mine has no Wi-Fi connectivity. Mine's just a watch when my phone dies. Okay. Yeah, I'm trying to think if there's anything right off the top of our bucket list to do. Yeah, I mean, again, if you've seen Pike Place, that's already off the list. And you've got your coffee spot. Dude, just go enjoy the scenery. Yeah. I think that's the best thing to do. Just listen to waves come in for a little bit. Perfect. That's good. That's a good day.

[01:06:24] Love it. Jack, great as always. We're thrilled for you that you're in the role. Love talking ball with you. And we're looking forward to seeing you this weekend. I look forward to seeing you guys this weekend. Thank you so much for having me. And I look forward to coming on when you guys are coming to Miami in 2026. It's going to be great. Sign us up. Always love talking to Jack. Hopefully you guys learned a few things in that interview. And hopefully you guys enjoyed it. Look, I think the Mariners will be favored in this series.

[01:06:52] But as you just heard from Jack, it's not going to be a pushover series. Marlins can pitch. And they have some exciting young players. So hopefully you guys have some information now. And additional information going into the series. And hopefully you guys are out at the ballpark this weekend. Because we'd love to see you there. So again, always love talking to Jack. It was a great conversation. That just about wraps up this edition of the Marine Layer Podcast. You guys know the drill. If you want to find all of our stuff, it's all over at our website. You want to watch. You want to listen. It's all over there. Go download. Go subscribe.

[01:07:22] Go leave a five-star review. All that good stuff. Please consider signing up for our Patreon. We would love to have you get involved. We've had a blast rolling it out so far. Go get your merch. That's all over on our website as well. Again, all you need, everything you need to keep on top of our stuff is over at marinelyarpod.com. You can also find us all across social media at Marine Layer Pod. That's TJ. I'm Lyle. As always, we thank you guys for tuning in. We'll talk to you soon.