What change at manager could mean for rest of Mariners’ season

Aug 22, 2024, 2:10 PM | Updated: 7:09 pm

Scott Servais, Logan Gilbert and Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners. (John Fisher/Getty Images)

(John Fisher/Getty Images)

Seattle Sports

The second half of the Seattle Mariners’ season has headed the wrong direction, and it has resulted in the M’s deciding to move on from manager Scott Servais.

Mariners relieve manager Scott Servais of duties, hire Dan Wilson

Servais has been replaced as manager by former Mariners catcher Dan Wilson, the team announced Thursday afternoon. What could the change mean for a team has fallen from 13 games over .500 in June all the way back to an even 64-64, with is five games out of a playoff spot with 80% of the season in the books?

Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy caught up on Thursday with Trevor May, a former MLB pitcher who is now an analyst and host on Foul Territory, The Athletic’s Rates and Barrels podcast and ESPN’s Statcast broadcasts of Sunday Night Baseball games, and he shared insight on what the late-season change could mean for Seattle’s scuffling roster.

“That’s possibly a different personality around there. Maybe the vibe is a little bit different,” he said of the Mariners going from Servais to Wilson. “I think that’s where it starts. Honestly, sometimes just a clean slate for the guys in the clubhouse and a different voice of authority is enough to kind of shake things up. There could have been a feeling of ‘same old, same old’ happening at times.”

Former MLB pitcher Trevor May (@IamTrevorMay) shares his thoughts on the #Mariners news w/ @michaelbumpus5 and @StacyRost now on Seattle Sports.

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May, a Washington state native who retired in 2023 after nine seasons in the big leagues, related it to how some players benefit from the change in scenery that comes with switching teams.

“Sometimes players get traded or get to go to another place, don’t have their baggage they had with their last organization and then they kind of flourish a little bit more,” he said. “There’s dozens of times we can point to that happening, so hopefully that is the immediate impact they get from a new manager.”

The File: A closer look at new Mariners manager Dan Wilson

May wondered if this is could just be the start of a bigger change for the franchise.

“Moving forward, it will be interesting to see how they make other personnel decisions, maybe (change their) philosophy and culture moving forward. Like, ‘How do we score runs? How do we prevent runs?’ They’re very good at preventing runs, it’s the scoring runs that’s the issue. So there might be a an identity thing that needs to be changed there and it might start with a new group of coaches.”

Bump and Stacy airs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Seattle Sports. Click here for podcasts of every full episode.