Starting the road trip off right
It’s hard work sailing a ship. Impossible for an individual, and just barely manageable for a trained crew. The winds and waves are to chaotic to predict, and no two situations are the same. For the ship to reach its destination safely requires everyone to work together like a well-oiled machine. Which is what the Seattle Mariners did tonight in their 13-1 obliteration of the Texas Rangers.
With a run total like that I have to fight my impulse to simply reproduce the box score here so that we can all stare at it and say “woag.” So instead I’ll highlight one key moment from every Mariner tonight as everyone made their presence felt in this one. Teamwork makes the dreamwork after all. We’ll go in reverse order of impact to keep you waiting for the biggest moments.
Leo Rivas – .000 WPA
With the game basically over, Dan Wilson brought Leo Rivas and Samad Taylor in as defensive substitutions in the 7th. Leo only got a single at bat and grounded into a double play off a position player. But we’re showing highlights today so here’s him fielding a ground ball to throw Jonah Heim out. It’s fundamentals, but it’s a nice enough play so whatever.
Samad Taylor – .000 WPA
Unlike his fellow defensive substitution, Samad had two at bats. But also had zero hits in garbage time. But don’t worry about that, watch him catch this 107.5 mph line drive off Joc Pederson.
Troy Taylor – .000 WPA
Troy came in to pitch the ninth inning and did well enough. He did allow the one run for the Rangers today on a solo shot by Josh Smith. But maybe that was a good thing, as a 13-run win might be bad luck. Better make it a 12-run win.
Julio Rodriguez – .000 WPA
Julio went 2 for 4 today, his first hit being a beautiful line drive in the 5th that loaded the bases ahead of Cal Raleigh. His second hit had basically the same exit velocity, but better launch angle. See the result for yourself. It came after the Mariners were already up 8-0, so it had no impact on WPA. But it made me happy, which is good enough for me.
Trent Thornton – .001 WPA
If there’s a lesson to be learned in this recap it’s that WPA is a funny stat. You can hit a baseball 431 feet for a two run blast and it will have literally zero effect. But Thorny’s 1.2 innings of no-hit ball contributed just that little bit more. He didn’t get any Rangers to strike out, but check out this perfectly placed cutter.
Mitch Garver – .001 WPA
Garver came in after Rangers starter Jack Leiter was replaced by a left-handed reliever. They are still not letting Jorge Polanco hit against lefties, so Garver replaced him in the DH spot. He went 1-2 with a walk, although his hit was off a position player. This clip cuts off too soon, but you can see for a fraction of second how bad Garver feels about this hit.
Randy Arozarena – .003 WPA
Randy’s big hit of the night was the one that chased Leiter from the game. With the M’s up 5-0, he hit this little blooper to right that he turns into a double. I personally feel like chasing the starting pitcher from the game is worth more than 0.3% of a win, but I’m not a numbers cruncher.
Rowdy Tellez- .025 WPA
Rowdy had the most hits of any Mariner tonight, collecting 3 in his 5 at bats. I’ve elected to show this little looper which scored Randy after his double and really shows just how much good luck the M’s were getting tonight.
J.P. Crawford – -.036 WPA
Our first negative WPA Mariner, J.P. is getting penalized for his flyout with a runner on in the fifth. But don’t let WPA trick you into thinking he had a bad game. In fact, he led off the game with an infield single after falling into an 0-2 hole. He also had a 2-run double in the 9th that scored the 12th and 13th runs, but that was off a 42 mph curve-due-to-gravity, so instead lets see the hit off a real pitcher.
Rhylan Thomas – .043 WPA
The 25-year-old made his Major League debut today, and had a pretty good time at the park. He picked up 2 RBI on a pair of groundouts, and even collected his first career hit. That hit proved to be the spark for the Mariners’ big inning tonight, and it was also pretty funny to watch. The Mariners batted around in that inning, so he collected his first hit and first RBI in the same inning, but not the same plate appearance. As far as stathead wizard Alex Mayer can tell, that’s the first time that’s happened since 1969, which is as far back as his data goes.
Ben Williamson – -.047 WPA
Up next is Ben Williamson, who picked up a pair of hits, including an RBI double that he smoked off the right field wall in the 5th. But that wasn’t his best moment in the game. No, his best moment was when he made this leaping catch to end the first inning and keep the Rangers hitless.
Miles Mastrobuoni – -.049 WPA
Our final negative WPA Mariner, Mastrobuoni picked up two hits but didn’t knock in any runs. WPA isn’t really rewarding him for his 5th inning single, and is punishing him pretty hard for his 2nd inning lineout. But that’s how it works in low leverage. We can appreciate his hit, though.
Jorge Polanco- .055 WPA
Jorge had an abbreviated game today, since he was replaced by Mitch Garver when Leiter was replaced by the left-handed Latz. But even still, he picked up a hit and a walk in his three plate appearances, forcing Leiter to throw him 18 pitches across those PAs. Maybe that pitch count exploitation is what led to the big inning.
Bryan Woo – .226 WPA
Finally, we get to the Big Two. The two Mariners who had the most impact on this game. Bryan Woo was excellent in his start, going 6.1 innings and striking out 8 Rangers. He allowed just a solitary hit, a two out single in the bottom of the fifth. He had carried a perfect game until that point, retiring the first 14 Rangers who stood in against him. His command was immaculate and his slider was devastating. If it weren’t for a 10 pitch at bat in the 7th that brought his pitch count up to 87, he likely would have finished that inning as well. Not a bad day for Parmesan Cheese.
Cal Raleigh – 278 WPA
“Jake! Jake! How did the Mariners get those 5 runs I keep seeing on the score bug? You haven’t told us yet!”
I’m just kidding, you knew the answer. In addition to calling balls and strikes for Woo’s gem of a start, Cal Raleigh hit his MLB-leading 11th and 12th home runs today. They would have been enough to win even if they were both solo shots. One of them was a solo blast that he sent 432 away from home plate — the farthest home run hit in MLB today. But the second blast was a picture-perfect grand slam with a follow through reminiscent of his postseason clinching homer in 2022. I’ll just be watching this on repeat for a while.
Every Mariner had something to smile about today. A nice play, a clean inning, or the big hit. It’s the kind of teamwork the M’s need going forwards as they content with a roster strained by injuries. But if they can keep hauling together as they did tonight, we’ll see the good ship Mariner rolling on the waves all summer long.