Is this the first time an episode of Locked On Mariners has been titled with a direct question? I don't remember... Anyways, one of the bright spots in yesterday's loss in Detroit was shortstop J.P. Crawford. He's been coming on strong lately, and D.C. dives into his numbers to illustrate how much better his offense has been lately. Taylor Trammell has also been doing much better since his recall, and D.C. looks into his stats as well. As for the game, it was frustrating for multiple reasons.

The title says it all. Jonathan Miller is back to talk about umpiring again. He and D.C. talk about pitch framing a little bit, the differences between minor league and Major League umpiring, and also a little bit about how umpires are trained. Prior to that discussion, however, there were some notable roster moves made by the Mariners. Chiefly, Jarred Kelenic's demotion to AAA Tacoma. However Shed Long Jr. is back, and the Mariners also called up a minor league veteran who will be making his Major League debut once he gets into a ballgame, outfielder Dillon Thomas.

The Mariners lost two of three over the weekend to the Los Angeles/Anaheim/California Angels to split the four-game series. Southern California's Jason Hernandez, who covers a different Anaheim team for the Locked On Podcast Network, joins D.C. to talk about the final three games of the series. Jake Fraley put together a good piece of hitting and was rewarded with a grand slam, and J.P. Crawford proved he's more than a slap hitter. Both teams had bullpen problems, which cost the Mariners on Saturday, and was getting close to costing them on Sunday. There's good news about Yusei Kikuchi, too. Also, Jason drags out the Hall Pass just about as long as at can go.

Justus prevailed in Anaheim last night, as the Mariners won 6-2. D.C. talks about the game, including Justus Sheffield's semi-rocky evening, the M's offense getting it done in the middle innings, and Jake Fraley drawing lots of walks. Again. D.C. then dives into Ace's numbers a bit, and the difference between his on base percentage and batting average is almost laughable. He compares Ace's stats to a player from around 30 years ago who was known for drawing lots of walks. In the second and third segments, Jonathan Miller is back; he and D.C. talk about umpiring once again, including talking about the biggest misconception there is about how games are umpired.

Chris Flexen was one poor inning away from tossing another very good game. But even with that bad inning, the Mariners couldn't scratch any runs across, so it made little difference in terms of a W or an L. D.C. talks about the game, and then dives into the offensive numbers of several Mariners hitters. Some are starting to come around, some aren't, and a couple have been pretty consistent all season. He then complains some recent defensive alignments, which had an excellent second baseman playing left field, and a mediocre corner infielder at second base.

In the first regular afternoon episode of this show, D.C. goes over the previous two Mariner games -- one a fun win, the other an embarrassing loss. He's then joined by Jonathan Miller and Clive Braithwaite IV for two Mailbag segments. Questions include a question about the physicality of umpires, the future of the minor league system, and a comment on one fan's preference to see the Everett AquaSox instead of the Mariners while in town.

The Mariners' first sweep of the season was of the four-game variety. D.C. talks about all four games on Catch-Up Monday. Sunday's game particularly pleased him, and Ty France looks like he's back to himself, as well.

Failing to come up with anything interesting to say about yesterday's loss to Oakland, D.C. spends the entirety of B block diving in to the Mariners' offensive numbers to try to see exactly what the heck is going on. It's mostly the same group of hitters as we saw last year, yet they're not doing nearly as well. He comes up with a couple answers, but it still doesn't explain everything.

No, D.C. couldn't come up with an adequate title for today's show. But on this particular episode, we feature the remainder of the conversation he had with Jason Burke of Locked On A's about the Mariners and Athletic. This portion of the conversation focuses on the Mariners. Jason likes the Mariners, and was excited to learn that they were slumping horribly prior to the first game of the series. (Which the Mariners won.)

Having been swept in the last two series, the Mariners headed to Oakland, where they have perennially had problems. Such was not the case last night. Guest host Taylor Blake Ward takes you through the M"s 4-2 victory, and then discusses the Seattle Mariners from a national perspective. There's a shortstop currently playing in the M's minor league system for the Modesto Nuts with whom Taylor is very impressed, and that would be Noelvi Marte. Taylor gives his impressions in Mr. Marte, and talks about what kind of player he could potentially develop into. Finally, more of D.C.'s conversation with Locked On A's host Jason Burke; they discuss the Athletics' offense and defense.

Not only are the Mariners playing poorly, but their problems with the injured list continue. D.C. talks about the three-game series in San Diego against the Padres. It was an uninteresting series for the most part, aside from Mariner sluggers Justus Sheffield and Justin Dunn getting it done on offense. Yes, that's right, the pitchers can hit, but the hitters can't. D.C. is not thrilled with the state of the team, to say the least, although there was some bad luck involved in Sunday's game, including one play that led to an inning spiraling out of control. Jason Burke of Locked On A's talked to D.C. about the upcoming series in Oakland, and today, we present the first part of that conversation.

There was quite a bit of roster shuffling yesterday in Mariner-land. D.C. talks about the comings and goings before opening up the fan mailbag with Clive Braithwaite IV and Jonathan Miller. D.C. & Jon talk about the Mariner offense following two no-hitters (though the email was sent to the show after the first one), and also discuss which players in the M's organization they'd protect in a potential expansion draft. Also, D.C. re-starts a project he talked about last Fall.

Which is worse: Getting no-hit, or having men on base in multiple innings yet only taking advantage in one of them? D.C. talks about last night's frustrating game; this is the most frustrated he's been on the air in a while. Logan Gilbert's second big league start wasn't good, either, but he did have a good first inning. D.C. talks about that as well.

Yes, gang, the Mariners have been no-hit twice now, this season. D.C. talks about last night's game -- a gem turned in by Spencer Turnbull. Justin Dunn looked good for much of the game, but a couple things here and there spoiled his outing. As did the bullpen, who gave up three runs, and catcher Luis Torrens', whose poor defensive play may have led to another Tiger run. D.C. crunches some numbers to find out how worse than the average Major League catcher Torrens has been this year in regards to pitch handling.

Yes, that's unfortunately the best pun I could come up with. But Casey Mize spun 7,2 great innings against the Mariners last night. D.C. talks about his performance, and why he thinks his already good fastball looks may look faster than it really is. Yusei Kikuchi started slowly, but wound up pitching well for most of the game, but the story of the day was too much Mr. Mize. There's an updated to Marco Gonzales' rehab, and D.C. has some kind words to say about now-former Mariner Braden Bishop.

The Mariners took the final three games of the four-game series over the weekend against the Cleveland Indians. Dylan Moore looks to have found his stroke and his timing, and his numbers have much improved over the previous few weeks. D.C. talks about Moore's improvement, and the improved offense at large. In addition, the bullpen had a much better series following a really bad road trip. D.C. dives into some pitching numbers, along with some offensive numbers.

Both Jarred Kelenic and Logan Gilbert made their Major League debuts last night. How'd they do? If you want to know, listen to Locked On Indians. Just kidding. D.C. talks about both players' performances in depth in the second and third segments, and goes over the bulk of the game in the first segment. He talks a little about Luis Torrens' defense behind the plate, which he's not a fan of. On the bright side, the bullpen did well for the first time in several days.

Yes, there was a Mariner game last night, but that's not the main topic of discussion on today's episode. Not only was the game awful, but there is much more important Mariner news: Two highly-touted prospects will be making their Major League debuts tonight! Both Jarred Kelenic and Logan Gilbert will play their first big league game. D.C. talks about the two young men, dives into their minor league numbers a bit, and also talks about possible roster moves which will be necessary to not only call the two up to the big leagues, but also add them to the 40-man roster.

Yusei Kikuchi turned in another great performance prior to tiring out in the 7th inning. Unfortunately, the bullpen couldn't hold the lead the M's had built, and Rafael Montero wound up with his 5th blown save already. D.C. talks about last night's game, Kikichi-san's performance, as well as the two relievers', and also explains why he didn't think the Mariner offense was very good despite scoring four runs. The M's have a new minor league catcher, and there are injury updates aplenty. D.C. also talks about the latest no-hitter, which was spun by former Mariner Wade Miley, and also talks about Jarred Kelenic reportedly getting the call up to the big leagues later this week. Also, there's a very interesting question in the Trivia Corner regarding former slugging first baseman Fred McGriff and the number of stadiums in which he played.

While the Mariners were busy stinking up the new Ballpark in Arlington (or whatever it's actually called), Team USA was winning a bronze medal at the World Women's Curling Championship. But since this is Locked On Mariners and not Locked On USA Curling, D.C. talks about the three-game series against the Rangers in the first two segments. The first game was a win, and the offense showed signs of breaking out of its slump, but the next two games were sloppy. And Sunday's was a disaster. But D.C. talks about the good news in C block, and recaps the weekend of curling in Calgary to close out the show.

Taylor Blake Ward is back on the program, and today he talks about a number of the Seattle Mariners' prospects who are in the minor leagues. Jarred Kelenic, Julio Rodriguez, and young hurlers Logan Gilbert, George Kirby & Emerson Hancock are among those discussed. In addition, the he and D.C. talk a little bit about Albert Pujols at the end of the show and share their memories of Mr. Pujols from when they were growing up. Finally, Mr. Ward brings up another player from the 90s with a Mariners connection; he reads off some of his stats to see if D.C. could guess who it is.

With the minor league season starting this week, D.C. and Locked On Mariners Contributor Jon Miller talk about minor league ball. D.C. attended the Spokane Indians home opener last Tuesday, and be briefly talks about that. Jon talks about some of the players he remembered watching as Tacoma Rainiers, some of whom went on to big league success, and some of whom didn't. Shane Monahan, Greg Pirkl, and Jim Bonnici are three names that are specifically brought up. The two of them also talk about the minor league experience at large. (From a fan's perspective, of course.)

John Means no-hit the Seattle Mariners today. It was a brilliant pitching performance. D.C. talks about the game, and also serves up some no-hitter trivia, both regarding the Mariners and Baltimore Orioles; there are some strange coincidences regarding the last three no-hitters thrown in Seattle, including this afternoon's. Connor Newcomb from Locked On Orioles talks about John Means in the third segment, and also about his mastery on the mound.

Despite having to utilize the bullpen for the entire game yesterday, the staff did a very good job, by and large. (The 8th inning aside, of course.) D.C. talks about the game, which for him speaks more about the lack of offense than it did one bad inning from the bullpen. The minor league season starts today, and D.C. offers a quick preview of the two local minor league teams, the AAA Tacoma Rainiers and the A+ Everett AquaSox. (And of course HIS hometown Spokane Indians.)

The Mariners did take two of three games over the weekend against the Angels. D.C. talks about all three games, including Saturday's disastrous outing from Ljay Newsome, and Sunday's pitcher's duel. He also breaks down Jacob Nottingham's very brief and very odd tenure with the M's organization. In C block, D.C. offers some grand slam trivia on the anniversary of Dan Wilson's inside-the-park salami against the Tigers in the Kingdome.