DAY 3 of Mariners Spring Training Coverage marked the first ever show-long international celebration of a day the globe once foolishly referred to as merely the first Wednesday of Spring Training, but from this day hence will come to celebrate as "Pitchers Day".
What started as nothing more than a fantastic notion from a wet-behind-the-ears, pie-in-the-sky 35-year radio veteran to possibly interview every member of the best starting rotation in baseball during the course of one singular Spring Training show soon developed into the pursuit of a "man-landed-on-the-moon-like" triumph right before our very ears.
We nearly pulled it off.
And trust me when I tell you, no one in the world believed we could nearly pull it off. It's the doubt that nearly fuels us.
Not only did Logan Gilbert, Bryce Miller, Bryan Woo, Luis Castillo & Award-Winning Pitching Coach Pete Woodworth appear on our Day 3 radio program at Chuck & Buck, we learned so much from them...
- Bryce Miller has another new pitch. The cutter. Last year's new split-finger fastball helped Miller create his breakthrough 2024 season, which ended with a serious kick toward a 2.94 season ERA (good for 5th best in the American League).
- Bryan Woo spent the offseason refining his intentionally limited repertoire of pitches. He's physically stronger for 2025, clearly more experienced and undoubtedly at ease with the realization that he belongs, not just in the big leagues, but, in the conversation as a top hurler in the Junior Circuit.
- Luis Castillo taught us how to say "Happy Pitchers Day" in Spanish.
- Pete Woodworth provided more ammunition to the surprising notion that the honor of "Talk of Camp 2025" belongs, thus far, to lefty RP Gabe Speier.
- And All-Star Logan Gilbert has also been tinkering with his pitch mix, but there's something else the lanky Floridian mentioned that is the headline story in today's recap.
"There has been a much greater emphasis this camp on doing a better job of holding runners," said Gilbert in response to what I feared might be an easily dismissed question. Gilbert elaborated that it's one of the little things this collective of star quality starting pitchers is working on to take their highly valuable product to an even greater level. And it makes sense.
Bigger bases, fewer pick off throws, a pitch clock, MLB's rules governing base stealing have aggressively changed to favor the thief, and teams are taking advantage.
The Mariners certainly aren't any different. Outfielder Victor Robles stole 30 bases in 31 attempts in just 77 games with the M's. In 2025, he has a goal of 40 stolen bases... FOR THE FIRST HALF of the season!! I mean, the American League leader (former Mariners Jose Caballero) swiped just 44 bags all of last year. Dylan Moore nabbed 32 bases (7th best in the AL) without being a full-time starter, which he intends very much to be this year.
In addition, the Mariners might have the fastest firstbaseman in baseball, a converted second baseman playing third with a long-overdue healthy knee, and an outfield of Robles, Julio Rodriguez and Randy Arozarena playing a full-season together for the first time. Arozarena hasn't stolen fewer than 20 bases in any season since he became a full-time player for Tampa Bay in 2021. And, of course, the 24-year old Rodriguez is just one-year removed from a 30-30 campaign.
Compare this year's Mariners to the slow-footed army of 2024, which featured Ty France, Josh Rojas, Mitch Haniger & Dom Canzone in the Opening Day lineup, and one thing seems abundantly clear...
THE 2025 MARINERS ARE GOING TO STEAL A S**T TON OF BASES!
So, if the M's are more determined than ever to take advantage of baseball's simplification of base stealing, does it not make sense that they would also like to be much better at taking stolen bases away? They have a Platinum-Award winning Catcher, but Cal can't do it alone.
If Gilbert and the boys can improve holding runners, staggering release times, quickening their delivers from the stretch without negatively impacted the quality of their pitches, those changes alone might make up the tiny difference of making the playoffs and not making the playoffs the team has unfortunately suffered in back-to-back seasons.