By this point, I'm well aware of my reputation on the internet as the Dan Wilson defender.

And while I've constantly said that I'm not trying to confuse the Seattle Mariners skipper with Connie Mack, I do recognize that I often try to balance the conversations back to the middle. Often times that does mean taking blame off Wilson and spreading it around more fairly, or at least what I think is more fairly.

But that said, there is something that Wilson can stand to do differently which I feel would help the team as it navigates long road trips like the one the team is on now.

"And it's true, I like to point out the other side of the Dan Wilson discourse a lot. But there is something that Dan Wilson is going to have to do moving forward. He's going to have to start trusting the eighth spot in the bullpen.

Part of what makes Dan Wilson, I think, so well liked in that clubhouse is that he trusts his guys. He trusts his veterans. He's not going to discard you just because you're struggling, right? He trusts the back of Mitch Garver's baseball card. He trusts the back of Rob Refsnyder's baseball card. And while maybe that frustrates you, the fan at home watching, it endears him, I think, to that clubhouse. It is clear that he trusts veterans and that young players have to earn his trust.

That is very, very clear to me.

Given the situation the team is in, he's going to have to start trusting the eighth spot in his bullpen. This team is already down one reliever. They can't afford to basically be down two. And I think it's evident that he does not want to go to Alex Hoppe unless he absolutely has to or the game is completely out of hand.

And whether it's Alex Hoppe, Robinson Ortiz, Domingo Gonzalez, or anybody else that we have seen in that eighth spot, Dan Wilson's going to have to start going to that person because that is the only other thing that can be done, outside of good starting pitching, to save the rest of the bullpen.

I went through and looked, and I hope I have all this tabulated right. Alex Hoppe has thrown in 13 games. Ten of them have been losses, and six of them, I believe, have been losses by three runs or more. So he is the blowout guy. He is the 'we're getting-blown-out' guy. At least that is the preferred role for him.

Yes, he's pitched in a 2-0 loss. He's pitched in an extra-inning game in Houston. He has pitched in some close games. But very clearly, Dan Wilson does not want to throw him in those situations if he can avoid it.

He's going to have to start, at least in this period where you're down a guy and you have 10 games in 10 days, he's going to have to start to develop some trust for whoever's in that eighth spot.

When they were up 4-1 in the seventh on Sunday, maybe that's a spot for Hoppe and not Cooper Criswell. I don't think that necessarily matters, but maybe Hoppe gets an inning in the Monday game and Cooper Criswell doesn't have to go back-to-back so that Cooper Criswell is available on Tuesday.

Those are the situations where I think Alex Hoppe has to be able to get an opportunity. And it's not just him, but whoever is in that eighth spot in the bullpen. I think the Mariners and Dan Wilson have to start going to that person to alleviate some of the stress on what is already a very thin bullpen."

The bullpen is thin because of the team's decision to go to a six-man rotation on this road trip. Heading into Tuesday night, Criswell, Andres Munoz and Eduard Bazardo have thrown in back-to-back games, and Jose Ferrer has pitched or warmed up in three straight. The team also prefers to not utilize Matt Brash in back-to-back games, meaning that the bullpen is likely down several options for game two of the four-game set.

The Mariners and Orioles will play again at 3:35 p.m. PT on Tuesday. The Mariners won 6-3 on Monday. They are now 35-32 on the season.

The newest episode of the 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast is out, featuring Part 2 of our conversation with former M's infielder Ryon Healy. You can listen to it here.

You can also watch the episode below:

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