Good, Bad, and Ugly: Rowdy Tellez Grand Salami, Bryan Woo Battling Highlight Weekend Split vs. Blue Jays
It could have been a lot better. It could have been a lot worse.
That’s been a pretty apt description of the Mariners for the past few weeks, and it was certainly true over the first two games against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Seattle fell to Toronto 3-1 in the opener Friday, but was able to get an 8-4 win to even the series in 12 innings Saturday.
Let’s look at the good, bad, and ugly from the first two games against Seattle’s hated neighbors up north.
Bad: Offense on Friday
The Mariners have had a nasty habit of following quality offensive games with clunkers in the past, and that remained a trend after scoring 11 runs against the Reds on Thursday and getting just a solo homer from Rowdy Tellez (more on him in a second) a day later. The Mariners had just two runners reach scoring position in that contest - both batters came up empty in their attempts - and the club picked up just two extra-base hits in the process.
Ugly: Baserunning on Friday
The offense was bad, and it unfortunately amplified what was easily the worst baserunning game of the season for the Mariners. There’s an acronym among baseball geeks - geeks being a loving term in this case - called TOOTBLAN. It stands for Thrown Out On The Bases Like A Nincompoop. The Mariners had several of those in the loss Friday, as they were far too aggressive in trying to get the extra base; either because of a poor decision to send by the base coaches or just attempting to do too much.
The Mariners are not a good enough team to give away outs. There was far too much of that during Friday’s loss.
Good: Offense on Saturday
It took a dozen innings, but this was a much better offensive effort in both process and result. Against a solid hurler in Jose Berrios and an underrated Toronto bullpen, the M’s picked up 10 hits, drew eight walks,and made Blue Jays pitchers throw 200 pitches in the victory. Cal Raleigh was responsible for three of those free passes, with Luke Raley drawing a pair himself. They also went 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position - a respectable if not overwhelming on the surface number - including the go-ahead RBI single from the ever-so-clutch Randy Arozarena in the 12th.
Friday was not an example of it, but the Mariners’ offense has looked far more promising over the past week-plus.
Good: Bryan Woo Battles
It was not Bryan Woo at his best during Friday’s start, but what could have been an ugly outing turned into a pretty solid one. He was able to give Seattle seven innings of three-run baseball with a pair of walks and seven strikeouts. That’s not an overtly impressive line, but considering how much Woo struggled to miss bats or even hit his spots in the first few frames, you would sign up for it and then some.
Just as importantly, if not more so, Woo was able to save the Seattle bullpen. Casey Lawrence was the only reliever who was used during Friday’s loss, and considering how many bullpen arms they had to use during the win Saturday, that ended up being huge. Good on you, Woo.
Shaky: Logan Gilbert’s Efficiency
Gilbert was able to strike out nine during a no-decision against Toronto, but it was another outing that ended shorter than the Mariners, fans of the Mariners and the ace would like. He needed 102 pitches to get those 14 outs, and this makes four straight outings that the right-hander hasn’t been able to get six innings. Considering that he’s now considered the unquestioned ace of the staff - and for good reason - as well as the questions Seattle has in the late innings with its bullpen sans Andres Munoz, the Mariners need Gilbert to work deeper into contests. The results are great, but they need more of them.
Good: Ben Williamson’s First Homer
We talked about how much it means for a player to get his first hit, which Williamson did against Cincinnati in his first MLB plate appearance.
It didn’t take much longer for him to connect on his first round tripper.
Not all first homers are equal either. This was a big one; tying the game at 3-3 in the seventh inning. It was also scorched, and Williamson showed he’s not used to this by sprinting around the bases like it was hit in Williamsport.
Williamson has more than held his own with the bat and been fantastic with the glove. This very well could be the future of the third base position.
Good: Rowdy Tellez Redemption
If we’re being honest, had the Mariners not won this game, Rowdy Tellez was going to get put into the ugly section. Tellez was having an awful day at the plate, and hit into a double play with the bases loaded in a key situation. His next at-bat also came with nowhere to put Tellez, and he had a fantastic at-bat before absolutely ambushing a fastball from Matt Barnes over the right-field bleachers to turn a 4-3 lead into an 8-3 cushion.
Tellez has now homered in back-to-back games, and while there are still some plate appearances that make you want to wish they had been more aggressive going after Pete Alonso, there have been some glimpses. The burly veteran has to be on a thin leash, but there’s been enough over the past week to suggest he just might be more helper than hurter in 2025. I’m not betting on it, but I’m more cautiously ‘optimistic’ than I was before.
