A week ago, Bryan Woo got touched up by the Cardinals to the tune of four home runs. He only made it through three innings, while striking out just one of the 18 batters he faced. Recapping the game, I wrote:
Was Woo bad or do we just shake it off? Let’s be real here, four home runs is a lot. And he was genuinely missing middle-middle pretty regularly—this wasn’t some Chicago wind storm or something. But on the other hand, you can’t get too worked up about an off day from a guy who’s had so much consistency that he literally holds the franchise record for most consecutive 6 inning games to open a season. All I know for sure is that, for today, pulling him after three innings was the correct move.
It’s a lot harder to shake off a second outing like this. Facing the other Missouri team tonight, Woo at least made it through six this time, but surrendered six runs on 11 hard-hit balls while striking out just two.
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The trouble was mostly contained to his first and last innings. The Royals ambushed him in the first with a pair of leadoff singles setting up a ball off Cole Young’s glove and a Salvador Perez line drive. Before you could blink, the score was 3-0 with a runner in scoring position and nobody out.
Woo took a beat and mostly settled down from there. That runner scored, but it was on a water balloon into shallow left that Leo Rivas couldn’t track down while Randy Arozarena wasn’t even in the camera shot. Woo then got through four clean innings in a row, but allowed more hard-hit balls than whiffs over that stretch. And in his last frame, he gave up two more runs on solo shots from KC’s Ferrari and Lamborghini, Vincent Pasquantino and Jac Caglianone.
So what happened? Woo blew it off, saying of his first-inning struggles, “The only one that I’d probably like to have back is the sinker to Salvy. But I thought the rest of the pitches were not bad by any means.”
I respectfully disagree.
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Two culprits jump out tonight. First, he had the same problem that got him into trouble on Saturday: leaking over the plate. I’m going to let a picture tell a thousand words here. That big empty circle in the strike-side of the shadow zone? That’s generally where one wants to throw the ball.
The other issue might be more serious: the sinker. It’s marginal, but this season he’s lost both run and rise on his two-seamer, and those marginal differences can compound, especially when he’s leaving it belt high rather than sending it to the bottom rail. It’s no surprise that guys are having a much easier time squaring it up and keeping it off the ground this year. The Mariners, or at least Cal Raleigh, seem to agree this is an issue. Woo threw seven in his first two innings, but just three over the entire rest of his outing. But I worry about this as a long-term solution. Arsenals are complementary. I’m just not sure his four-seamer will play as strongly without his most-used secondary.
So two bad outings in a row, but with no sign of injury or velo drop. Do we shake it off? I still vote yes, but the concern meter has risen from 0 to 2. And, despite his putting on a confident front through most of his post-game press conference, Woo signaled that he’s concerned too. “My process might have been alright, but I still got my ass kicked. There’s a balance to it, try to take the good and learn from the bad. But. You know. It sucks.”
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Woo’s final words before leaving the podium were: “I don’t know. It’s —. I got not a ton of answers.”
If that makes you want to have his back after all he’s done for this team, you’re not alone. Julio Rodríguez said, “I feel like Woo has come through so many times for us and has pitched so many huge games for us.”
In his last outing, the Mariners offense was able to pick up Woo’s bad start by scoring 11 and eventually winning the game. And there were moments when it felt like that might happen again tonight, beginning with the first inning when they struck back after falling behind 4-0.
J.P. Crawford drew a leadoff walk and, the calendar having flipped from April to May, Julio went to the upper tank.
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And the Mariners kept chipping away, with Connor Joe and Randy Arozarena hitting solo shots in the fifth and sixth. Julio even tied it up in the seventh inning and earned his first Sun Hat Award of the season, with his second home run of the game, this time going to the deep part of the park.
But, this being a Royals-Mariners game, the Royals struck back, scoring again in the seventh after Salvador Perez’s second double of the game. After that, the only hopeful note for Seattle was Alex Hoppe (the only hoppeful note?), who struck out the side against three batters who each have a career strikeout rate under 18%.
Tune in early tomorrow for Randy Johnson’s number retirement ceremony, which Mariners TV will air starting at 6:00.
