[jaa36]

AG: Jerry, welcome to a very special episode of The Wheelhouse. Good to have you back. How excited are you?

JD: Aaron, I'm VERY excited. Nothing quite like Opening Day to get the juices flowing. It's a good time, and it's a good time to be a Mariners fan.

AG: You bet, Jerry. For our listeners, I'm Aaron Goldsmith. Welcome to The Wheelhouse. Well, Jerry, let's dive right in. Opening Day is just three days away, and the rumors are true, King Felix is going to be on the hill.

JD: King Felix. What an effort he's put in this offseason. The last few years have really been a grind for him, with all of the injuries, and I can't say enough about how happy I've been with his work ethic this offseason. From day one he has been working harder that I have ever seen him work before..

AG: Are we talking Nellie Cruz level…

JD: (laughs) Well.. let's not go that far. But if Nellie is 1, Felix has been 1A, how's that. He's been in the gym. He's been throwing regularly. I don't think I can remember a time that I've seen Felix throwing in February, but it happened this year. He had the shot he took off his arm a few weeks ago..

AG: A scary moment for everyone.

JD: But he really bounced back from that as quickly as we could reasonably have hoped. Now if you had left it up to him, he would have been back out there for the next start, it was really us keeping an extra amount of caution with him given what he's been through the last few years.

AG: Chomping at the bit, as they say.

JD: Right. But we're all systems go, ready to launch on Thursday.

AG: This will be his eleventh opening day start for the Mariners- that's really something if you think about it.

JD: I don't think people realize quite how many miles are on his arm. He's just 31 years old, but he has thrown a ton of innings.

AG: Eight straight years with over 200 innings. Obviously it's been a few less the last few years…

JD: And I'll be the first to say, it would be foolish for us to expect him to throw 200 innings this year. We'll be thrilled if we get 25 starts, 150 innings from Felix. But it sure is great to see him heading out there for opening day. The fastball is moving better than it has in years, the curveball is biting.. he's ready.

AG: The King's Court should be out there in droves.

JD: (Laughs) I will look forward to the sea of yellow in the crowd. And I will hope to see them regularly this season.

AG: You start with the Indians this year. Not an easy draw to start the season.

JD: No, Cleveland's a good club. They really have done a lot of things that we aspire to, as far as getting a good young core together in Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez. And more than anything, putting together a pitching staff that really controls the zone well, starting with Corey Kluber.

AG: Right. Kluber and Felix had been neck and neck for the Cy Young Award back in 2014, with Kluber barely pulling it out, so good to see the two of them facing off again. Tell us a little bit about the opening day lineup to start the season.

JD: We've been fortunate that we'll pretty much have our regular lineup to start the season. A bunch of our guys have been dinged up this season. Nellie and Robbie have both had hamstrings that we've been careful with. Ryon Healy of course had the hand surgery, but it looks like he will be ready to go for Thursday. The only guy we'll be missing is Ben Gamel with the oblique straing.

AG: And his injury, of course, led to the most exciting event of the offseason- signing Ichiro.

JD: You bet. And Ichiro- I can't even say what a thrill it's been to get him out here with our guys. I think it's going to be really exciting for our fans to see Ichiro and Felix out there on opening day. At least, it'll be really exciting for me, a true highlight as a general manager.

AG: The other exciting development this offseason has been new Mariner and new center fielder Dee Gordon. Tell us a little bit of what we should expect from him.

JD: You know, Dee has really taken to the change. A lot of people have wondered how he would fare with the new position. But when you watch him out there- it really makes you think that maybe he was in the wrong position until now. And it's hard to say that when he's a guy who's already won a Gold Glove at second base.

AG: By all accounts, he has looked fantastic out there, and I'm looking forward to seeing him and Jean Segura flying around the basepaths this season.

JD: Right. We've got a lot of speed at the top of the lineup with the two of them, and you really couldn't ask for a better 3-4-5 combination than Robbie Cano, Nellie Cruz, and Kyle Seager, even as Robbie and Nellie are starting to get up there in years.

AG: One of the big changes in the coaching staff this season has been the addition of Dr. Lorena Martin as the Director of High Performance with the Mariners. This is a role that really hasn't existed before.

JD: It's a new role, and Dr. Martin has really been terrific thus far and given us a lot more ideas about how we can get more out of our guys. This is a really wide-ranging position, and she will be- she has been- helping us optimize sleep, rest and recovery, make sure we're training smarter, not harder. It's really exciting for us, and I'm hoping that it will mean our guys spend a lot less time on the DL this year than they did last year.

AG: I don't think anybody wants to go through what happened last year. Did you know- and of course you would know- that the Mariners went through 40 pitchers last year?

JD: I did know that, Aaron, and thank you for the reminder.

AG: (laughs) The other guy we should touch on is the Big Maple, James Paxton. He's really coming off a year in which he came into his own on the mound in a way we haven't seen before.

JD: Yeah, and for him, we know he has the stuff, and it's just a question of whether he can stay out there on the mound. There aren't a lot of guys out there that can give you 97 miles an hour from the left side every fifth day.

AG: All right, Jerry. This is our first opening day on the podcast, and I'm wondering, any memorable Opening Day stories from your playing days?

JD: Oh- I could think of a few. It's just an exciting day for everyone- the one that comes to mind is probably 1994, my first one in the majors, with the Cleveland Indians, in fact.

AG: That was a really good team as I recall, the one that was in first place when the strike happened…

JD: Right. And I can tell you, I was not a big part of that success… (both laugh) But anyway, I was pretty fired up, and of course they have all the players come out to be introduced because it's opening day, and I will give you one guess which player did NOT show up when they called him name.

AG: 1994 Indians- it has got to be Manny Ramirez.

JD: You got it. Manny Ramirez. Great hitter. And everything they say about him is true. I think that time he had somehow gotten his shoes tied together and couldn't untie them… Eventually a minute or so after they called him he came out with a big smile on his face…

AG: Sounds about right. Well, Jerry, what does a general manager eat for Opening Day?

JD: If you're me, you kind of just pace around like a nervous wreck, so you don't eat very much…

AG: Jerry! Come on. You've got to eat something, keep up your strength…

JD: All right, Aaron, you know me too well. (laughs) I think for opening day, I'll keep it local and get a bacon and egg burger from the Hit It Here Café.

AG: One of my favorites as well. Well, Jerry, anything else to say before we finish up the last episode before Opening Day?

JD: Yeah, I'm just thrilled that we've got our guys in the position that we're in this year. We've made a lot of moves in the last few years…

AG: You got that right.

JD: And now I think we're finally in a position where all those moves are going to start to pay off. It's been a long road for Mariners fans…

AG: 17 years since the last time they were in the postseason.

JD: And you can never say for sure in baseball, but I really feel like this is a team built to contend. It may not happen.. but I hope it happens and I think we've set ourselves up for it to happen.

AG: All right, Jerry. Thanks as always for your time, good luck on opening day..

JD: Thanks Aaron.

AG: And we'll see you on the next edition of The Wheelhouse.