ESPN MLB Insider Discusses Some of the Criticism of Seattle Mariners Manager Dan Wilson
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Earlier this week, Seattle Mariners manager Dan Wilson caught flack for how he handled various situations in a series loss against the New York Yankees.
On Tuesday night, in a game that the Mariners ended up winning, Wilson elected not to go to Andres Munoz in the eighth inning of a 1-0 game with Aaron Judge due up. On Wednesday, he put left-hander Gabe Speier into a game, only to see Aaron Boone counter with pinch-hitter Paul Goldschmidt, who tied a 2-1 game with a home run.
Then, Wilson went to Carlos Vargas, not Munoz in the eighth inning, and Judge promptly took Vargas deep to give the Yankees win.
We discussed some of those decisions, and general bullpen usage, with ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney on a recent edition of the Refuse to Lose podcast:
There's no question managers can make bad decisions, but I do think that there are times when a lot of the options available to these guys are bad. Craig Counsell, as you know, who manages the Cubs now, was generally viewed in his time as the Brewers manager, as the best manager in the sport. In fact, when he became a free agent, the Cubs gave him the biggest contract ever for a manager. But then in 2024, the Cubs had a bullpen that really struggled. And guess what? Craig Counsell didn't look as smart.
The Mariners did rebound to beat the San Diego Padres on Friday night 5-1. They enter play on Saturday at 24-19 and in first place in the American League West.
You can listen to the full interview with Olney below:
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NEW PODCAST IS OUT! Brady is back for another episode of "Refuse to Lose," talking about the Mariners' recent slide and some of the criticism coming Dan Wilson's way. Should the Mariners have used Andres Munoz in the eighth inning against the Yankees? Should they have intentionally walked Aaron Judge on Wednesday? And what's the issue with the bullpen? Brady also raises a question about Logan Gilbert's impending return and catches up with Tacoma Rainiers standout Samad Taylor for an enlightening conversation. CLICK HERE:
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STILL A PERFECT ZERO: After a scoring change from Tuesday night, Andres Munoz still has a perfect 0.00 ERA for the season. Here's what happened. CLICK HERE:
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