Mariners insider podcast: Covering all the bases

By Shannon Drayer

This week on the podcast, we take a closer look at some major changes we have seen in Lloyd McClendon’s lineups and why he has made them. I tell the back story of how I discovered what Roenis Elias was up to in the ninth inning of his complete-game shutout against the Tigers when he all of a sudden switched up his delivery and I answer a question from a listener who wanted to know a little bit more about the Mariners’ travel and how they get from place to place.

We hear from a number of players, including John Buck, who tells us how a Mariners coach has gone above and beyond to help him stay game ready. Cole Gillespie tells a story that has me convinced that he is not as quiet and unassuming as he has seemed so far this year in the clubhouse. Charlie Furbush, Tom Wilhelmsen and Fernando Rodney help explain how it came to be that Rodney found himself one out away from coming into a game with the wrong uniform top on.

Finally, former big leaguer and current bullpen catcher Jason Phillips gives us the inside view of the work that goes on with the pitchers – he catches all of them – and tells us what has most impressed him with Felix Hernandez, who he has caught for the past six years.