Mariners Notebook: What M’s are looking for with Bryan Woo

When Bryan Woo made his MLB debut in Texas two weeks ago, the Seattle Mariners’ already young starting rotation was younger, pitching in place of the injured Marco Gonzales.

VIDEO: Seattle Mariners glitch — does this slow start feel any different?

Woo got off to a rough start in his first career as he allowed six homers in just two innings.

But the 2021 sixth-round pick was better in his second MLB start, allowing two runs and striking out seven in 4 2/3 innings against the Angels last week.

“He’s kind of into the game,” Mariners coach Scott Servis said before Friday’s game. “…Texas got on him early and I think last time he was able to get the fastball going at the end of the game — that was his pitch, of course — and then once he settled in, we’d see Got some good breakouts and he did a good job.”

Against the Chicago White Sox on Friday night, Woo will make his third career start — the first at home at T-Mobile Park.

“Hopefully, I’m not looking for him to go seven shutouts — I’ll take that — but we’re not looking for that,” Servais said.

Servais said the Mariners are looking for something like Woo’s last out, ideally giving them five innings before sending the game to the bullpen.

“If he goes all the way and hits 70 pitches after five innings, I’d absolutely have him back there. But we’re not planning to extend his contract,” Servais said. “This is a guy who hasn’t pitched a lot of innings — a lot of innings — in his pro season, so we do need to be aware of those things.”

The White Sox have had some struggles this year, as evidenced by their 30-40 record going into Friday, but they are aggressive and have strength in their lineup, Servais said.

“I think it’s a good game for Bryan, but he’s got to lead in the counts,” he said.

Servais was asked about developing young pitchers during seasons at the MLB level, emphasizing that even in the majors, these young starters still need to stay in “development mode.”

“Maybe some nights he doesn’t have a feel for his drive pitches or changeups. You’ve got to keep working on them and still throw them, but you’re trying to not hurt yourself in situations where it’s not going to hurt you or in certain situations. will hurt you,” he said.

For Woo, Servais said a key was his process between starts, starting with his debrief after his most recent outing. That’s important, as is being around other starting pitchers, even though most of the rotation is young, the M’s captain said.

“While we do have young staff, we have a few guys that have been through recently with Logan (Gilbert) and George (Kirby) and Bryce (Miller) who can now be relied upon. So there’s a lot to gain, There’s a lot of knowledge to gain, even if you’re not out there pitching,” Servais said.

seattle mariners lineup

JP Crawford, SS
Julio Rodriguez, CF
Ty France, 1B
Teoscar Hernández, RF
Jarred Kelenic, LF
Eugenio Suarez, 3B
Raleigh, CA
Mike Ford, DH
Jose Caballero, 2B

Brian Hu, SP

chicago white sox lineup

Tim Anderson, SS
Andrew Benintendi, LF
Louis Robert Jr., CF
Eloy Jimenez, DH
Jack Berg, 3B
Gavin Sheets, RF
Andrew Vaughn, 1B
Elvis Andrews, 2B
Sebi Zavala, C

Michael Kopech, SP

notes:

• After a hot June, Rodriguez has cooled off, sharply downgraded to .196/.245/.326 for June so far.

“A lot of it is for Julio and pitch selection,” Servais said. “Like any player, swinging on the right pitch is huge … Julio is still extremely aggressive. He doesn’t want to just hit the ball and have pitchers come to him, he wants it to happen. I want to see To the point where he steps back and lets the pitchers come to him because they’re kind of scared of them. Then he can use that to his advantage.”

• France and Hernández are two favorites for the Mariners.

France has slashed .338/.398/.588 over the past 20 starts, while Hernandez has slashed .350/.422/.600 in June.

• Caballero has not only been good for the Mariners since his debut, he’s been good.

According to Fangraphs, Caballero’s 129 wRC+ is tied for second among MLB second basemen with at least 120 hits this year. (Note: Caballero has 126 going into Friday).

Have the Seattle Mariners found their DH yet? Dipoto talks about Mike Ford’s performance

Follow @TheBGustafson