# Bill Krueger on M's Falling to the A's, Dan Wilson, Bryan Woo

An episode of [Softy & Dick Interviews](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1245866571), 8 Sep 2026, 22 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/98a2599f-cd9b-4f2a-9be4-b22c00e585f2/907d6469-cef5-4bda-9f13-b2f100f49399/ebeea6e5-2ed6-48ce-baf0-b4bf0013390c/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=26b16ce4-8fab-44ea-88d4-b2f100f493bc

Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain talk to Bill Krueger about the Mariners dropping 3 out of 4 to the A's, whether the Mariners have given up, why Dan Wilson isn't more critical of his players, why Julio has struggled so much this season and Bryan Woo's recent success. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: This is Duke of Duke Seafood, letting you know that
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[0:18] Speaker 2: Now, from the Star Reynolds Sports Desk, your 93.3 KJRFM
[0:23] Speaker 2: Sports Headlines.
[0:24] Speaker 3: All right, boys and girls, happy Monday, Labor Day Monday,
[0:26] Speaker 3: right here on 93.3 KJRFM Headlines. Of course, brought to
[0:30] Speaker 3: you by our friends at Frostbrood Coors Light, as cold
[0:33] Speaker 3: as the rocket.
[0:34] Speaker 4: Extremely difficult. Boy, they were so close. So close.
[0:38] Speaker 3: Well, that team, the Niners, is going to be in,
[0:40] Speaker 3: is that game in Sydney, by the way?
[0:42] Speaker 4: No, Melbourne.
[0:43] Speaker 3: Melbourne, Australia, on Thursday night. We'll carry that game live
[0:48] Speaker 3: for you. Seahawks and Patriots go on Wednesday. You can
[0:52] Speaker 3: watch the game here at the Emerald Queen Casino, by
[0:54] Speaker 3: the way. The kickoff at 520. We'll be at Jimmy's
[0:57] Speaker 3: on first on Wednesday. Kevin Harlan makes his debut as
[1:00] Speaker 3: well on Wednesday's show.
[1:03] Speaker 5: Go ahead.
[1:03] Speaker 4: All right. Huskies have lost their top two running backs,
[1:07] Speaker 4: Quade Carr and Jaden Lamar. Both wanted to go surgery.
[1:10] Speaker 4: Lamar for an elbow. Carr with a hand injury. No
[1:12] Speaker 4: word on how long they will be out.
[1:15] Speaker 3: Mariners have lost three out of four to the A's.
[1:17] Speaker 3: Thank God they're done with them, although we see them
[1:19] Speaker 3: again this weekend in Sacramento. Six games back in the
[1:21] Speaker 3: wild card. Six games back in the West. 67-77 with
[1:25] Speaker 3: 18 games left to go before the Rangers series starts tomorrow.
[1:28] Speaker 4: Injury news in the NFL. Cowboys will be without their
[1:31] Speaker 4: all-pro left guard, Tyler Smith, for over a month. He
[1:34] Speaker 4: will undergo thumb surgery tomorrow. Colts are getting their wide
[1:37] Speaker 4: receiver back, Alex Pierce, who got paid a lot of
[1:39] Speaker 4: money in the offseason. He is supposed to play in
[1:42] Speaker 4: week one. He's been recovering. from an off-season ankle surgery.
[1:45] Speaker 3: I'd like to give you a score on the SMU-Florida
[1:47] Speaker 3: State game, but the game hasn't started yet because the
[1:49] Speaker 3: lights at Doak Campbell Stadium are not working. There's a
[1:52] Speaker 3: power outage in Tallahassee. Our next update, in case you're curious,
[1:56] Speaker 3: by the way, will come from them at 5.20 p.m.
[1:59] Speaker 3: All right, let's get to Bill Kruger right now.
[2:02] Speaker 2: It's time for our weekly conversation with Bill Kruger, brought
[2:05] Speaker 2: to you by the brand-new Occidental Hall next to Lumen
[2:08] Speaker 2: Field on Occidental, Seattle's newest hotspot for sports fans, with
[2:13] Speaker 2: massive HD screens and a menu packed with Seattle's best
[2:16] Speaker 2: smash burger, wings, and the best local craft beers in town.
[2:20] Speaker 2: Now with Bill Kruger, here's Softie and Dick.
[2:24] Speaker 3: All right, we're back at the Emerald Queen Casino. Don't forget,
[2:26] Speaker 3: Wednesday night, kickoff night watch party. Seahawks Patriots 520 kickoff
[2:31] Speaker 3: right here at the EQC Tacoma. Swing on by, showroom, sportsbook,
[2:35] Speaker 3: everything ready for you, by the way. Occidental Hall will
[2:38] Speaker 3: also have the game. It's a great spot to watch
[2:41] Speaker 3: or even get there before the game. You're going to
[2:43] Speaker 3: the game on Wednesday night. Check out the Ox Hall
[2:46] Speaker 3: right across the street from Lumen Field. Here he is,
[2:48] Speaker 3: our friend Bill Kruger, joining us right now on the
[2:51] Speaker 3: radio program. Bill, what's happening, pal?
[2:54] Speaker 5: I don't know, just kind of an easy, breezy weekend.
[2:59] Speaker 5: A lot to do things, but I picked up, I
[3:03] Speaker 5: tried to keep my interest peaked for Mariner baseball, but
[3:08] Speaker 5: it didn't really pique my interest. How's that?
[3:10] Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, you lose three out of
[3:12] Speaker 3: four to one of the worst teams in the game,
[3:15] Speaker 3: get dominated offensively for the most part by a horrible
[3:18] Speaker 3: pitching staff. I mean, how do you explain what we
[3:21] Speaker 3: saw that four-game series against the A's, man?
[3:27] Speaker 5: Well, I mean, baseball is funny. Guys, you can't always
[3:33] Speaker 5: put your finger on a matchup with major league games.
[3:37] Speaker 5: It's not just as black and white as maybe when
[3:39] Speaker 5: you have a mismatch in the NBA or the NFL.
[3:41] Speaker 5: I don't know. But, yeah, I mean, I thought they
[3:44] Speaker 5: had a loose A's team that they didn't approach very
[3:48] Speaker 5: well from a pitching standpoint. and really had trouble shutting
[3:52] Speaker 5: their offense down. They were really looking out over the plate,
[3:57] Speaker 5: and we didn't pitch inside at all, really, the whole series.
[4:00] Speaker 5: And then Wu really had his way with them on
[4:03] Speaker 5: the final date. But, yeah, it was surprising to see Gilbert.
[4:07] Speaker 5: I don't think I've ever seen him pitch like that
[4:09] Speaker 5: in a game, get 10 strikeouts and not last a
[4:11] Speaker 5: fifth and give up seven runs. I think you kind
[4:15] Speaker 5: of give Anderson a hall pass because he's young. And
[4:18] Speaker 5: they just babysat him the whole season. You know, he's
[4:21] Speaker 5: ramping up to be, you know, this guy, but he's
[4:24] Speaker 5: not ready to pitch in the big leagues because they
[4:27] Speaker 5: got him to a certain plateau and they just kind
[4:29] Speaker 5: of eased off the gas and didn't get him ready
[4:31] Speaker 5: to pitch in the big leagues. You know, 80 pitches
[4:33] Speaker 5: in the minor leagues is like, that's like, you know,
[4:35] Speaker 5: you're not ready to pitch five innings in the big leagues.
[4:38] Speaker 5: And we're short in the bullpen. You know, what else
[4:40] Speaker 5: can you say? I think when the news came out
[4:42] Speaker 5: about Brash on the third day, it felt like that
[4:45] Speaker 5: was just popped the balloon. You know, they really, I
[4:49] Speaker 5: think that took a lot out of the team to
[4:50] Speaker 5: know that he's not coming back for the rest of
[4:52] Speaker 5: the season because they were really banking on him. And
[4:56] Speaker 5: then the confounding play of Julio Rodriguez. I think nobody
[5:01] Speaker 5: can quite figure out what's happened to him. You know,
[5:04] Speaker 5: he's usually a great second half player. It just didn't happen.
[5:07] Speaker 5: He had a little hammy, he had a little back.
[5:09] Speaker 5: Of course, he had the concussion and he never got
[5:11] Speaker 5: it going again. He had another really quiet series against
[5:14] Speaker 5: the A's, chasing everything and not swinging at good pitches
[5:17] Speaker 5: and behind and ahead and just all the things you
[5:20] Speaker 5: are when you're slumping at the plate. He's just been
[5:23] Speaker 5: an off year for him. He just hasn't really been
[5:26] Speaker 5: the guy they really need him to be above and
[5:28] Speaker 5: beyond how Raleigh was for the rest of the season.
[5:30] Speaker 5: But if you're going to ask me to encapsulate what's
[5:33] Speaker 5: happened this year, I think it's a couple of things.
[5:36] Speaker 5: I think they were never deep enough in the bullpen
[5:40] Speaker 5: that they needed to be. And when they knew that
[5:42] Speaker 5: Brash got hurt, they needed Abel to replace him. They
[5:45] Speaker 5: monkeyed around with an elite pitching staff. They ended up
[5:49] Speaker 5: struggling in the second half, and you wonder, did the
[5:51] Speaker 5: monkey have anything to do with it? And the fact
[5:54] Speaker 5: that they played one guy short the whole season. Who
[5:56] Speaker 5: in the world does that when bullpen baseball is baseball?
[6:01] Speaker 5: Three innings a night is a given, and maybe four.
[6:05] Speaker 5: That's how baseball is played. The Mariners can't flip a
[6:08] Speaker 5: switch and say, okay, lead starting pitching. You're pitching 90
[6:13] Speaker 5: pitches in the big leagues, but now we need you
[6:15] Speaker 5: to throw 105. They can't do it. So I really
[6:19] Speaker 5: look at a lot of things, and then there's an
[6:21] Speaker 5: empty hole at third base. Complete empty, and we really
[6:24] Speaker 5: struggle defensively on that side of the field. really a
[6:27] Speaker 5: good portion of the second half. Couldn't find anybody to
[6:30] Speaker 5: play third. So there's a lot of things to point at,
[6:32] Speaker 5: but the A's really put it to them, and they're
[6:36] Speaker 5: up against the wall. I mean, there's 18 left. They've
[6:39] Speaker 5: got to play. I think they have to play pretty
[6:42] Speaker 5: close to like 15-3 and hope the Astros play 500 balls.
[6:46] Speaker 5: That's about where they are.
[6:48] Speaker 4: Bill, I think the worst condemnation that somebody can have
[6:52] Speaker 4: for a team is that they're not showing requisite effort.
[6:56] Speaker 4: And we saw another example of that this weekend. We've
[7:00] Speaker 4: seen it too often this year. The Naylor play, ground ball,
[7:04] Speaker 4: double play, basically faster than a walk getting out of
[7:08] Speaker 4: the box. And then he realizes, oh, this might be close.
[7:10] Speaker 4: And he gets thrown out at first base. And Dan's
[7:12] Speaker 4: response is, I didn't see the play. So your comment
[7:16] Speaker 4: on that play, the effort level of this team, and
[7:19] Speaker 4: also Dan saying, well, I can't comment on it because
[7:22] Speaker 4: I didn't see the play.
[7:26] Speaker 5: Well, I mean, I can tell you that guys not
[7:29] Speaker 5: going as hard as they can on ground balls is
[7:31] Speaker 5: nothing new in the big leagues. I just think that
[7:34] Speaker 5: when you put the microscope on a team that's struggling,
[7:36] Speaker 5: you find any moment to take umbrage with them about
[7:40] Speaker 5: lackadaisical play. I mean, this team has been not a great,
[7:43] Speaker 5: not a smart base-running team. This has not been a
[7:46] Speaker 5: well-oiled baseball team even last year. This isn't a team
[7:50] Speaker 5: that's mistake-free, that doesn't make a lot of base-running errors.
[7:54] Speaker 5: They've made base-running errors previously. for the past I don't
[7:56] Speaker 5: know how many years right so I'm not going to
[7:59] Speaker 5: say that's it right there you know lack of focus
[8:02] Speaker 5: not playing hard well I think they're yeah I think
[8:06] Speaker 5: that you can find those moments and you should point
[8:09] Speaker 5: at them and big league players should should step up
[8:11] Speaker 5: and never let that happen again because you run four
[8:14] Speaker 5: balls out at the most hard every game you should
[8:17] Speaker 5: run every ball out hard I mean, I can tell
[8:20] Speaker 5: you stories about how it used to be, but nobody
[8:22] Speaker 5: wants to hear about how it used to be. In
[8:24] Speaker 5: today's game, you should take responsibility to go hard every play.
[8:31] Speaker 5: Who's to say what's behind it all? Is it injuries?
[8:34] Speaker 5: Is it playing one guy short the whole season in
[8:37] Speaker 5: the bullpen and the team scratches its head? It's guys
[8:40] Speaker 5: not coming back from injury. It's the club making no
[8:44] Speaker 5: moves at the deadline. The only thing they cared about
[8:47] Speaker 5: at the deadline was getting someone to take Castillo's contract.
[8:50] Speaker 5: That was their whole strategy.
[8:52] Speaker 4: Mm-hmm.
[8:52] Speaker 5: That was their whole strategy. That can't be your strategy
[8:54] Speaker 5: at the deadline when you're trying to play to win.
[8:56] Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
[8:58] Speaker 5: I didn't see anything else. Taylor Ward, if you scouted him,
[9:01] Speaker 5: he didn't look like he's the same player at all
[9:03] Speaker 5: to me.
[9:04] Speaker 4: Right.
[9:04] Speaker 5: He didn't look good defensively. He didn't throw the ball good.
[9:07] Speaker 5: Didn't hit. Didn't hit with power. I mean, they didn't
[9:12] Speaker 5: help themselves. Dominguez is scattery, and he was part of
[9:14] Speaker 5: the get rid of Castillo, and they got their victory.
[9:18] Speaker 5: Their victory was to get Castillo's contract paid. Well, that
[9:21] Speaker 5: can't be your strategy when you're trying to go to
[9:24] Speaker 5: the playoffs, right? You've got to help yourself for real.
[9:27] Speaker 5: Last year they stumbled into Suarez and Naylor. They stumbled
[9:30] Speaker 5: into them. Arizona had a moment where they fell out
[9:32] Speaker 5: of contention, and nobody was really looking for those two
[9:35] Speaker 5: corner positions. The Mariners scooped them up, and it made
[9:37] Speaker 5: a big difference. You had to try a little harder
[9:40] Speaker 5: this year, I think, to find help in the bullpen
[9:42] Speaker 5: in a big way, and a right-handed bat that was
[9:44] Speaker 5: for real.
[9:46] Speaker 3: Yeah, I just, Bill Kruger with us. I mean, there's
[9:49] Speaker 3: a deeper culture conversation, and I've been talking about that
[9:53] Speaker 3: for a while with this baseball team that's bothering me
[9:56] Speaker 3: that I think is maybe even more appropriate when this happens.
[10:00] Speaker 5: Over that we can.
[10:02] Speaker 3: Get to but you know it's like the Julio thing
[10:04] Speaker 3: and I feel like I feel like you've been part
[10:07] Speaker 3: analyst this year and part therapist with us on the
[10:10] Speaker 3: air because we're talking about baseball related things technique approach
[10:17] Speaker 3: whatever strategy And then we're talking about, all right, what
[10:21] Speaker 3: about what's happening inside that clubhouse, right, and the day-to-day
[10:25] Speaker 3: operations of a baseball team? You know, why, for example,
[10:29] Speaker 3: did the Mariners allow Julio Rodriguez to go out there
[10:33] Speaker 3: when they were in a funk as a team and
[10:35] Speaker 3: had just lost another game to Tampa Bay and have
[10:38] Speaker 3: him play fake DJ in center field after a loss
[10:42] Speaker 3: in front of 30,000 people? I mean, just things like
[10:45] Speaker 3: that that they just keep doing over and over and
[10:48] Speaker 3: over again and that just make no sense whatsoever. Nobody
[10:52] Speaker 3: held accountable publicly. Nobody reprimanded. Nobody pulled out of a game.
[10:57] Speaker 3: Nobody benched by anybody. It just kind of feels to me, Bill,
[11:02] Speaker 3: like there's no leadership, that the culture all of a
[11:06] Speaker 3: sudden that we thought was so good a year ago
[11:09] Speaker 3: is now rotten to the core this year. And if
[11:11] Speaker 3: I'm being unfair, then jump in and tell me. But
[11:14] Speaker 3: that's what I've observed.
[11:18] Speaker 5: Well, we're not getting– Dan is very matter-of-fact, and he
[11:21] Speaker 5: doesn't want to put anybody out in front. He's just
[11:24] Speaker 5: not going to do that. That's not the type of
[11:27] Speaker 5: guy he is. I think that probably when things start
[11:31] Speaker 5: to go haywire a little bit, I think you have
[11:34] Speaker 5: to step up and be a little more forthright. I
[11:36] Speaker 5: think that I would say that about Dan. He needs
[11:38] Speaker 5: to be a little bit more forthright. He needs to
[11:41] Speaker 5: show a little bit more, I guess the word would
[11:43] Speaker 5: be charisma, where you're a little more fiery about when
[11:47] Speaker 5: things aren't going right because there's so much to do
[11:51] Speaker 5: with the media. There's a lot of media every day
[11:53] Speaker 5: for the manager. And then when you have, I mean,
[11:58] Speaker 5: part of the problem behind this whole game that goes
[12:01] Speaker 5: sideways and ended up Julio throwing one in the stands,
[12:04] Speaker 5: it starts with the whole thing about throwing them in
[12:06] Speaker 5: the stands.
[12:08] Speaker 4: Yeah.
[12:08] Speaker 5: I mean, I'm not going to pick on a Rosarito
[12:10] Speaker 5: because he had a hell of a year and he
[12:11] Speaker 5: plays hard, but his whole time is spent throwing the
[12:14] Speaker 5: ball in the stands. So maybe we shouldn't throw the
[12:17] Speaker 5: ball in the stands because we're paying more attention to
[12:19] Speaker 5: throwing the ball in the stands than getting yourself ready
[12:21] Speaker 5: for the next pitch, right? So, yeah, I think that
[12:24] Speaker 5: you need to bring that up and say that's never
[12:26] Speaker 5: going to happen again, right? Dan needs to tell us,
[12:31] Speaker 5: the listening audience, that, right? Because we don't know what
[12:34] Speaker 5: exactly is being said today. behind closed doors we don't
[12:37] Speaker 5: know if he's had conversations with Julio privately I don't
[12:41] Speaker 5: know but these are veteran players and Julio has had
[12:47] Speaker 5: a distracted second half let's just leave it at that
[12:49] Speaker 5: balls in the stands you know base running goofs you
[12:54] Speaker 5: know it's just you know not playing the ball right
[12:58] Speaker 5: in Fenway Park the cost of the game there's a
[13:01] Speaker 5: lot of accountability across the team the team loves marketing
[13:04] Speaker 5: so everything's about marketing right Marketing is a big deal
[13:07] Speaker 5: for the Mariners, right? That's a big deal for them, right?
[13:12] Speaker 5: I'll just leave it at that. And, you know, the
[13:14] Speaker 5: monkeying with the pitching staff, the lack of will to
[13:17] Speaker 5: help themselves out when they know that players are hurt
[13:19] Speaker 5: and not coming back, and then just the absolute goofiness
[13:23] Speaker 5: around the starting pitching that I still don't understand to
[13:27] Speaker 5: this day. But I think Dan... needs to be a
[13:30] Speaker 5: little bit more forthright. I think the club demanded that.
[13:34] Speaker 5: They needed to have someone step up and say that's
[13:36] Speaker 5: enough or we're never going to play like that again.
[13:39] Speaker 5: We're going to nip that in the bud. Whatever it
[13:41] Speaker 5: could be, there has to be some of that as
[13:44] Speaker 5: part of your mantra as a manager, I think.
[13:47] Speaker 4: You mentioned the marketing. One of their biggest marketing elements
[13:50] Speaker 4: this year was the 50-year anniversary team. They've got seven
[13:55] Speaker 4: guys that are on the team right now out of 50.
[13:59] Speaker 4: and they had eight when it comes to Luis Castillo,
[14:01] Speaker 4: and they got rid of him. What does that say
[14:04] Speaker 4: about what they feel about this team, and do you
[14:07] Speaker 4: think it had any distraction, or was there anything that
[14:12] Speaker 4: really hurt this team because of that list?
[14:20] Speaker 5: I think for players that maybe you could step back
[14:23] Speaker 5: away from the list and Think about the long history
[14:26] Speaker 5: of Mariner baseball, and maybe you could say, well, there
[14:31] Speaker 5: have been guys that maybe have proved it for a
[14:33] Speaker 5: longer stretch, but we just don't remember them, or they
[14:35] Speaker 5: weren't on winning teams. I don't know. I mean, I
[14:38] Speaker 5: don't think it really affects today's game. I think today's
[14:41] Speaker 5: game is affected by, you know, the things that I
[14:44] Speaker 5: brought up. Playing short in the bullpen. Can't sort out
[14:48] Speaker 5: the starting pitching. Can't solve third base. Can't solve right-hand hitting.
[14:53] Speaker 5: Those kinds of things. and your core players, the guys
[14:56] Speaker 5: in the middle, having really terrible years, right? I mean,
[15:00] Speaker 5: as a collective, the three guys in the middle. And
[15:05] Speaker 5: it adds up to a team that's just not going
[15:07] Speaker 5: to perform as well. And then you have a manager
[15:11] Speaker 5: that's not someone that's a business-like manager that lets players
[15:17] Speaker 5: play and expects them to come to play and play
[15:20] Speaker 5: hard and refuse to take and put guys on the spot.
[15:26] Speaker 3: Bill, you mentioned Julio Rodriguez earlier. I was just running
[15:29] Speaker 3: some numbers here. Second half last year, Julio had a
[15:33] Speaker 3: 900 OPS. This year, he's at 596. This is post-All-Star.
[15:39] Speaker 3: Last year, 18 homers, 45 ribbies. This year, 621. And
[15:43] Speaker 3: then I noticed his road numbers. This year, he's... hitting.
[15:47] Speaker 3: 227 with a. 632 OPS on the road. Last year,
[15:52] Speaker 3: he hit. 296 with a. 912 OPS on the road.
[15:57] Speaker 3: I mean, just a totally different player on the road
[16:00] Speaker 3: in the second half than he was a year ago.
[16:02] Speaker 3: What are you seeing in his approach, his swing, any
[16:06] Speaker 3: of that, that maybe explains what's going on here?
[16:12] Speaker 5: Well, I just think that You know, I mean, here's
[16:15] Speaker 5: a guy that never challenges ABS because I don't think
[16:20] Speaker 5: he really knows the strike zone. He lives in this
[16:23] Speaker 5: free place of having immense ability and just going up
[16:28] Speaker 5: and reacting to pitches. Because I watch him swing at
[16:32] Speaker 5: balls he should never swing at. And then he'll take
[16:34] Speaker 5: a ball right out that's a hair's edge off the
[16:36] Speaker 5: plate for a ball. And you're saying, well, how can
[16:39] Speaker 5: you swing at a ball that's three feet outside and
[16:41] Speaker 5: take a similar pitch that lands just an inch off
[16:44] Speaker 5: the plate or a fraction of an inch and take
[16:46] Speaker 5: it for a ball? He doesn't have a really great
[16:48] Speaker 5: plan at the plate. He doesn't really understand where he
[16:51] Speaker 5: likes the ball. And to me, he guesses a lot.
[16:57] Speaker 5: That's all I can see when I watch him. He
[16:59] Speaker 5: guesses a lot and he chases a lot. And you
[17:02] Speaker 5: know something, you're going to have to start, if you're
[17:04] Speaker 5: going to hit for a higher average and have more success,
[17:07] Speaker 5: you got to start being a little bit more disciplined
[17:10] Speaker 5: and have a plan at the plate about what kind
[17:13] Speaker 5: of hitter you are, where you like the ball and
[17:15] Speaker 5: what guys are trying to do to you. So, and that, that,
[17:20] Speaker 5: that has to start developing over time. We're in the
[17:23] Speaker 5: fifth year of him and, Have we really seen him
[17:26] Speaker 5: do that? He gets hot and stretches, but we really
[17:29] Speaker 5: haven't seen that over his career. He's always been a
[17:32] Speaker 5: little bit of a chase guy and really not showing
[17:35] Speaker 5: you that he has a real good plan at the plate.
[17:39] Speaker 5: That's putting the work in and discipline yourself and really
[17:43] Speaker 5: start to understand what it is you want to do
[17:44] Speaker 5: at the plate and what makes you successful. If I
[17:48] Speaker 5: was pitching to him, I certainly would be very aware
[17:51] Speaker 5: of the fact that he chases That's for sure.
[17:56] Speaker 4: Well, Bill, I'd love to end this conversation on a
[17:58] Speaker 4: positive note, so that's what I'm going to do. I'm
[18:01] Speaker 4: going to have you talk about it. Guy Softy always
[18:03] Speaker 4: talks about getting rid of the one hairball performance, right?
[18:06] Speaker 4: So we're going to get rid of Brian Wu's hairball
[18:08] Speaker 4: performance where he gave up six earned runs in four
[18:10] Speaker 4: innings against Philadelphia, and we're going to look at the
[18:13] Speaker 4: rest of his outings since the beginning of August. He's
[18:17] Speaker 4: got a half an ERA, Bill. One half an ERA.
[18:21] Speaker 4: I mean, he has been... as good a pitcher as
[18:24] Speaker 4: anybody in Major League Baseball since the beginning of August.
[18:27] Speaker 4: Tell me what you're seeing.
[18:30] Speaker 5: Well, I think that he's been a little bit more,
[18:33] Speaker 5: when you look at his two fastballs, he's starting to
[18:36] Speaker 5: understand better that the two-seam sinking-style fastball is the better
[18:42] Speaker 5: of the two. And the four-seam fastball has to be
[18:45] Speaker 5: a little bit more of a chase fastball. And he's
[18:48] Speaker 5: been more willing to use his breaking stuff and use
[18:51] Speaker 5: it earlier in the count. He's paid closer attention to
[18:57] Speaker 5: controlling his fastball. I think what happened was he got
[19:02] Speaker 5: so good at the invisible fastball that he thought he
[19:06] Speaker 5: could just let it go and nobody could touch it
[19:09] Speaker 5: because he did it for a whole season. Really, up
[19:12] Speaker 5: until this year, nobody could handle his fastball. I think
[19:15] Speaker 5: what happened was he got a little behind the count
[19:18] Speaker 5: and he started to get balls that were living not
[19:21] Speaker 5: at the top and not at the bottom, a lot
[19:22] Speaker 5: of them right right in the middle of the strike zone, right?
[19:25] Speaker 5: In fastball counts. And guys are starting to see him
[19:27] Speaker 5: a little bit more, right? So they're getting a better
[19:31] Speaker 5: understanding of where the ball's coming out. I thought his
[19:34] Speaker 5: ball was a little straighter. It didn't quite have as
[19:36] Speaker 5: much life. It's the small things, but I thought he
[19:40] Speaker 5: did a better job of starting to understand, you know,
[19:44] Speaker 5: that use the two seam and pitch pitch more down
[19:47] Speaker 5: or pitch in and out with that and when you
[19:49] Speaker 5: throw your four seamer you got to make sure it's
[19:51] Speaker 5: a it's it's it's at the top line not throw
[19:54] Speaker 5: it too much in the early part of the count
[19:57] Speaker 5: and i thought yesterday through his change up more um
[20:00] Speaker 5: breaking stuff and change up more incorporated earlier in the
[20:02] Speaker 5: count um But, you know, he's still got some work
[20:06] Speaker 5: to do. When teams really stack the deck with left-hand hitters,
[20:09] Speaker 5: he's got some work to do because he's going to
[20:12] Speaker 5: have to be better with a breaking ball that works
[20:16] Speaker 5: against lefties, stay out of that down-and-in spot where he
[20:19] Speaker 5: got killed. just he let the game kind of get
[20:22] Speaker 5: away from him. He still struggles a little bit. The
[20:25] Speaker 5: game starts really speeding up on him, and he doesn't
[20:27] Speaker 5: really know how to kind of understand how to make
[20:30] Speaker 5: a pitch to get yourself out of an inning. You
[20:32] Speaker 5: really have to understand how to calmly attack a spot
[20:36] Speaker 5: with your fastball to get the guy's weakness and get
[20:40] Speaker 5: out of the inning, right? So he's got a little
[20:42] Speaker 5: bit of work to do there. But it was great
[20:44] Speaker 5: to see him rebound. He's a great athlete. He's a
[20:47] Speaker 5: hell of a pitcher. And it's great to see him
[20:49] Speaker 5: go out and succeed over this last month and really
[20:52] Speaker 5: show the type of pitcher that he is. So I'm
[20:55] Speaker 5: thrilled to see him improve. And, you know, that's what–
[20:59] Speaker 5: it's a long career. That's all I can say. You've
[21:01] Speaker 5: got to keep adjusting.
[21:03] Speaker 4: No doubt.
[21:04] Speaker 3: All right, Bill, you're the man. Great stuff. And who knows,
[21:07] Speaker 3: maybe they'll go on some miracle run. Maybe the Astros
[21:10] Speaker 3: go on some miracle fall. And by this time in
[21:13] Speaker 3: a week, who knows, we're talking about something different, buddy.
[21:16] Speaker 3: Great stuff, and we'll talk soon, all right?
[21:19] Speaker 4: Yeah.
[21:19] Speaker 3: All righty.
[21:20] Speaker 5: Thanks, guys. Good stuff, man.
[21:21] Speaker 3: All right, Bill Kruger with us. We're going to break,
[21:22] Speaker 3: come back and hear a little bit from Mike McDonald
[21:25] Speaker 3: before their season opener on Wednesday right here on a
[21:28] Speaker 3: Labor Day Monday on 93.3 KJRFM.

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