The Mariners have brought back their piggyback plan, albeit with a new twist. Buster Olney of ESPN gave his opinion on it on the most recent 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast.
Earlier this week, the Seattle Mariners announced that they are going to bring back the infamous "piggyback" plan in their starting rotation. From now until the All-Star break, the Mariners will have each member of their six-man rotation take turns in the piggyback position.
It all begins again on Friday as the Mariners will send Bryce Miller to the mound with Luis Castillo coming out of the bullpen.
The Mariners will host the Boston Red Sox in that contest at T-Mobile Park (7:10 p.m. PT).
We caught up with ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney on the most recent edition of the 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast to get his thoughts on the situation.
"They're trying to keep everybody in play. You and I have talked about this. They're trying to, essentially, have it be more of a democratic process.
I do think this might be a situation, though, where you need a dictator. Where you need to come in. I suspect, and I don't know this, and I haven't asked anyone with the Mariners this, if Luis Castillo was in the very last year of his deal, I think it would be easier for them to go to him: 'You know what? You're going to the bullpen.'
But he's not.
Seattle Mariners pitcher Luis Castillo (58) throws a pitch against the Washington Nationals during the third inning at Nationals Park. Rafael Suanes-Imagn ImagesI think that they are trying to make this work with the guys they have, and they're trying to please a lot of different people in this thing.
I think it's a situation where you should say, 'here's the decision, here's why we're making it, and you move forward."
Olney is right. The Mariners are trying to keep everyone happy in this situation, and they are also trying to keep everyone available as a starter moving forward should someone get injured.
We are going to talk more about this on the upcoming episode of the podcast, which will be released on Friday morning.
Up next
The Mariners (38-37) will take on the Orioles again in game three of the three-game set on Thursday afternoon at 1:10 p.m. PT. Bryan Woo will take the mound for the Mariners while Shane Baz pitches for the O's.
Woo lost against the Orioles last Thursday.
The M's did not see Baz in their four-game series against Baltimore last week. He's 4-6 with a 4.06 ERA while Woo is 5-5 with a 4.28. He's been brilliant at home, which should give M's fans some confidence as they try to win the series.
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