Mariners Moose Tracks, 8/22/17: Taylor Motter, Bartolo Colon, and Paul Janish

Good morning everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your eclipse-filled Monday. Now that all of that madness is finally past us, we can refocus to baseball. That’s most of what we talk about here, after all. So let’s get to it.

In Mariners news...

• Here’s an old story recently dug up by our own John Trupin about how Andrew Albers worked as a substitute teacher during the offseason.
• This might explain the M’s issues with bullpen collapses lately.

• The good news is that David Phelps should be available again shortly.

In Mariners minors news...

• Atta boy, Braden!

• The college strikeout king has continued his dominance of hitters in the minors. The dude has actually performed better since his promotion to Clinton.

• Congratulations, Taylor! Even though he’s with the Mariners now, this is a pretty cool honor. I wonder how often this kind of thing happens: where a player who wins a Triple-A POTW award is called up before the honor is announced.

Around the league...

• Justin Smoak spoke to Travis Sawchik at Fangraphs about his breakout season and what changes he made to drive his success.
• There may be a baseball signed by Babe Ruth buried in a time capsule beneath the ground. We won’t know for sure for more than 100 years.
• Justin Upton is keeping his lips sealed with regards to his future. The Tigers outfielder could opt out of his current contract and become a free agent after the season concludes.
• This is the first time in my recent memory (I’m sure someone reading this will remember a different occasion) where players and umpires are fighting with each other so publicly. Ashley MacLennon breaks down the tension between the two parties and what might be causing it.
• Pinstripe Alley notes that there are precedents for Aaron Judge’s struggles. His success and failures this season have been equally scrutinized, and I’d be surprised if he doesn’t turn it around in the near future.
• I think pictures of baseball players watching the eclipse are among my favorite things on the internet right now. Here’s Bartolo Colon; it’s something you don’t know you want until you see it.

• The Twitter accounts of 13 MLB clubs recited “Total Eclipse of the Heart” to one another yesterday.
• Mets starter Steven Matz is planning to undergo surgery on his pitching elbow.
• Infielder Paul Janish has retired.

Anders’ picks...

• Got eclipse fever and are waiting with baited breath for the next one? There will be several in the next 5-10 years, including another one in the United States! But if you’re from the Pacific Northwest, you’ll have a travel a little bit for that one.