[jaa36]

AG: Welcome everybody to this third episode of The Wheelhouse, 2018 season edition. Jerry, thanks as always for being here.

JD: Thank you, Aaron.

AG: So I'm curious, Jerry... With everything that's happened in these first few weeks of the season, how does a guy like you keep his wits through 162 games?

JD: You said it, Aaron. It feels like... July? August already? I almost want to measure the season in dog years rather than normal human years...

AG: A lot of really memorable games early on in the season. And, it's nice to come out of the week with more wins than losses.

JD: Absolutely. That Tuesday game against the Giants was a really gut-wrenched, so it was terrific to come out and play we did in the next few after that.

AG: That game that you mentioned was, you might say, an all-time classic, or it would have been if the Mariners had won.

JD: Yeah, exactly right. That's just one of those games where if an alien showed up from the planet Galacticon, that you could show him (or her) that game and say Alien, this is baseball.

AG: It had a little bit of everything. Once again, Felix didn't have his best stuff, and Scott Servais made the somewhat unconventional decision to pinch-hit for him in the top of the fifth inning.

JD: It is unconventional, and it's also you are going to see us doing more often this year, getting our starters out of the game earlier before the damage is done. The data is really clear on this point, that the third and fourth time through the batting order, a starting pitcher is significantly less effective. And we have a group of guys that we really feel we can count on not just in the late innings, but in the middle innings as well to keep runs off the board.

AG: Last season you called them the Wolf Pack.

JD: (laughs) The Wolf Pack, yes. The wolves are hungry this year, and we want them to go out there and hunt.

AG: And hunt they did. It's really a sign of the times that you can bring reliever after reliever out there coming at you with the near-100-mph heat of Edwin Diaz, Dan Altavilla and James Pazos, the deception of Nick Vincent and Juan Nicasio...

JD: Right. We saw some really good things out of Juan and Eddie, and Casey Lawrence gave us two good innings.

AG: And in the ninth inning, how about Kyle Seager absolutely silencing the crowd with that game-tying double?

JD: It was thrilling. And honestly, you feel a little bit bad to do that to another team on their Opening Day. Well, that's not true. I actually didn't feel bad at all.

AG: And of course, the game wasn't over yet. Diaz worked his way in an out of a jam in the 11th. And then in the 13th, Pazos looked like he was dealing again...

JD: And he was. Just a tough call on a 3-2 pitch that put McCutchen on base, and from there I think he was just starting to run out of gas, left a fastball a little too middle-middle than what he wanted, and Longoria is just too good of a hitter to miss that one. He's done it to us for years in Tampa Bay and I was really happy to have him out of our league, only to have him show up again in game number four of the season.

AG: So a tough loss for the Mariners in that one. And the next game, really an excellent performance from Marco Gonzales for the first Mariner win of the season.

JD: It really was. As you know, we're really high on Marco. He's a local guy, having pitched at Gonzaga, and he's now over a year out from Tommy John surgery. He's already got a great change-up and curve ball, and this year he's bringing back a cutter that he really hasn't used since the surgery.

AG: Seven strikeouts against no walks really says everything you need to know about his outing.

JD: He is a guy you can really count on to locate the ball where you want to. Last year, he was prone to the home run ball, as were a number of our guys, but he's really been thinking a lot about his approach mentally, and we think that physically and mentally he is primed for a huge season.

AG: Now, after coming out of the gate 1-5, you must have been thrilled to see the offense unload in the 15-0 win on Saturday.

JD: As you know, Aaron, it is not often in the last few years that I have been able to just lean back, smile, and relax for the last six innings of a ball game, but this was one of those opportunities.

AG: Six runs in the second, five runs in the third, powered by five Mariner home runs in the game.

JD: You bet. 21 hits for our guys in the game. Poor Adalberto Mejia unfortunately had to take a drubbing in that one, giving up all 11 of those runs.

AG: I'm sure you never had to go through anything like that, Jerry.

JD: In Coors Field? (laughs) Sometimes you would draw the short straw and have to throw the last two or three innings and just try to keep the earned runs in single digits.

AG: Kyle Seager continued his hot start with his fourth home run in that one.

JD: You bet. Great to see a smile on his face. I caught a glimpse of him practicing, quote, flipping his hair in the dugout with Robbie Cano after that one.

AG: One of the better Mariners commercials of the season. Then just yesterday we saw Felix put together a good start and James Pazos and Eddie Diaz lock it down in the last three innings.

JD: Yeah, really positive to see that end-of-game bullpen chain come together. And Nellie hit one that I think might have hit Century Link Field if it weren't for the upper deck.

AG: You're not kidding. Exit velocity on that one was 117 miles per hour, Nellie generally among the leaders in that category.

JD: Sure. When he's hot, there's no one better in the league.

AG: Next up, Jerry, a stop back home to Kansas City, right?

JD: Right. We've lived a lot of places over the years, but Kansas City is really home, so it'll be nice to be able to sleep in my own bed for a few nights in a row.

AG: And I've gotta know. You and I have talked about this before, but I want it on record. Where does Jerry Dipoto go to eat in Kansas City?

JD: It's an impossible choice. Absolutely impossible to try to go to all the places I want to. First stop for me, a barbecue place called B.B.'s.

AG: Straight from the horse's mouth. Well, let's do a question from the audience in our last couple minutes. This week we have a question from a fellow Aaron, who lives not too far away, in Auburn. Aaron asks, how do you see playing time shaping up between Ryon Healy and Daniel Vogelbach?

JD: Good question. Ultimately that's up to Scott, I just want to give him the best pieces I can so he can make the right moves. Daniel, as you know, has tremendous plate discipline, and is built like a tank. Really, like a tank that could run you over and flatten you.

AG: In a nice, self-effacing way, of course.

JD: (laughs) of course. He would smile at you as he flattens you. This year he's really taken that next step of swinging at pitches that he can drive earlier in the count. In triple A it can work fine to let a pitch or two go by and work a walk, but in the major leagues, you are probably only going to get one chance to hit a pitch, and Daniel's doing a great job recognizing that pitch earlier in the count so he can drive it. Now that said, we have a lot of confidence in Ryon as well, and we gave up a really good reliever in Emilio Pagan to get him, so he also will get every opportunity to succeed.

AG: It's a good problem to have, really, two guys you have a lot of confidence in.

JD: Absolutely. It gives Scott a good opportunity to play the match-ups and to put both of them in a position to succeed.

AG: Well, Jerry, as always, it's been a pleasure talking with you. We'll wrap things up here.

JD: Sounds good, Aaron. Thanks for having me on.

AG: No, Jerry. Thank YOU. And thanks to all of our listeners. Tune in next week, to the next episode of The Wheelhouse.