[jaa36]

AG: Welcome back, everybody, to this week's edition of The Wheelhouse. With us as always is Jerry Dipoto.

JD: Thanks Aaron.

AG: Jerry, the Mariners played a LOT of baseball for six games worth this week. How's your heart?

JD: (laughs) I think it missed a beat or two over the course of the week. Yeah, it's been a run of tightly-contested, incredibly stressful games, and unsurprisingly, we came out of it with three wins and three losses.

AG: That's sort of what you get with these intra-division games sometimes, isn't it?

JD: Yeah, it is. With the A's and the Angels, we just see them so often, and we always end up playing these kind of scrappy, hold-on-to-your-hat kind of games.

AG: No one won the Player of the Week this week- I guess a Mariner can't win it every week- but Ryon Healy became the most popular guy in town with two walk-off hits this week.

JD: You bet. It was great to see him hit that single in the tenth on Thursday, kinda bailing out Felix from a rough start, and even better to see him hit that shot down the line to win the game in in the ninth inning yesterday. And you're right, there isn't a more popular guy in Seattle, and particularly among the pitchers, who were not looking forward to a fourth consecutive extra-inning game.

AG: The rumor is that Erasmo Ramirez, erstwhile fourth starter, and next in line to pitch in the tenth, bought him a case of beer.

JD: (laughs) No comment on that. As you know, Ryon played his college ball at the University of Oregon, and I have heard him speak fondly about some select Oregon beers.

AG: Well, Jerry, I may have spoke too swiftly when I talked about how stable the roster had been last week. This week we saw Juan Nicasio hit the DL, and quite a bit of turnover in the bullpen. First of all, what's going on with Juan?

JD: Juan has a little bit of tendinitis in his forearm- just felt something wasn't right when he went out there on Tuesday, and we thought it best to shut him down for a couple of weeks. He'll miss the upcoming road trip but we think he should be back sometime in the following homestand. He's a big part of our bullpen, so we're certainly looking forward to having him back.

AG: And a number of pitchers headed up and down on the triple-A shuttle this week. One of them, Shawn Armstrong, pitched in three consecutive games and then was designated for assignment. Tell us a little bit about what happened there.

JD: Really just a victim of the numbers game and the situation this week. We remain really high on Shawn, who's got a good fastball and a really good curveball, and hopefully he'll sneak through waivers and we can keep him.

AG: What have you seen out of Nick Rumbelow and Chasen Bradford in their debuts with the club?

JD: Very pleased with both of them. They kinda saved our bacon in the last two games there, coming in with the rest of our bullpen absolutely gassed, and between the two of them gave up nary a run in six innings. Couldn't have asked for more out of them. Our bullpen depth is really a strength of our team, and it's fantastic to be able to plug those guys in and just keep right on truckin'.

AG: Jerry, with the three extra-inning games, it made me wonder, what was the longest game you were ever a part of?

JD: I remember it vividly. Twenty-two innings.

AG: Twenty-two!

JD: My rookie year in Cleveland, this would have been 1993. Against the Minnesota Twins. And you will never guess whose fault it was that we had to play 22 innings.

AG: Jerry, what happened?

JD: I blew the save. I blew the save in the ninth inning. And then they- not me, I was done- they went out there and played 13 more innings, until finally a guy named Pedro Munoz hit a home run in the bottom of the 22nd inning to put us out of our misery.

AG: That doesn't sound like much fun. I don't suppose that endeared you to your teammates in your rookie season.

JD: Let's just say that for a few weeks I was not Albert Belle's favorite teammate.

AG: One guy that somehow we haven't talked about on the podcast at all has been Mike Zunino, who really came into this season after an outstanding year last year. Mike has come a long way in his approach at the plate, finding a way to keep himself alive so that he can find a pitch to drive, but is he regressing this year?

JD: The power hasn't been there yet, but it'll come. Mike is a guy who really thinks a lot, and some of the work that we've done with them is actually to keep him from thinking too much. So that's where we're at with him. You've seen him hit home runs in bunches before, and that's around the corner any day now.

AG: Let's take a question from the audience... This question comes from Tieran, who writes, "Is there any way we could occasionally get whole team stat updates?"

JD: Weird question. Isn't that what the internet is for?

AG: Come on, Jerry, let's give the people what they want! We'll put a link on the website to the Mariners team stats. Good thinking, Tieran.

JD: Right. Tieran, don't let my flippant reaction dissuade you from attending a few Mariners games this year.

AG: (laughs) Good catch, Jerry. Well, heading north of the border to Toronto next, and then three games in Detroit thereafter. Any plans for your time in Canada?

JD: I would be remiss if I didn't have some poutine, wouldn't I?

AG: That is true. I've got a place for you... are you ready, Jerry?

JD: Hit me.

AG: Little stand- not too far away from the Rogers Centre- called Nom Nom Nom Poutine.

JD: I've been to Nom Nom Nom Poutine more times than I'd like to admit. But for you, Aaron, I will happily go again.

AG: It warms my heart to hear that, Jerry. All right, Jerry, we'll wrap things up here. Thanks as always for your time, and good luck on the road trip.

JD: Thanks Aaron.