Mariners Moose Tracks, 1/8/22: Levi Stoudt, Brad Ausmus, Genevieve Beacom, Sunday Night Baseball

Happy Saturday! Here’s hoping you’re not being too badly affected by the wild weather pounding various parts of the state right now. I am a little bummed because I am supposed to be cozied up near a fire in Suncadia right now celebrating a friend’s birthday weekend, but since the Cold Miser appears to be working overtime on the passes, that obviously isn’t happening. Stay safe and warm/dry, friends!

In Mariners News:

• MLB Pipeline profiled a breakout prospect for each team in 2022. Noelvi Marte gets namechecked in the intro, but the Mariners’ selection is righty Levi Stoudt. Stoudt was our guest on the podcast a while back; check it out if you missed it!

• Lefty Jose Aquino punched out 65 batters in 43 innings this year in the DSL. He’s a live arm to watch in the system.

Around the League:

• Pitching Ninja has some footage of Genevieve Beacom becoming the first woman to pitch in the ABL and I can’t lie, I went full Jodie Foster in Contact on seeing it. No words...

• Brad Ausmus just can’t quit the AL West. He’s joining the Athletics as a bench coach. No word as to whether or not the New York Times will be acquiring his contract, as well. Ausmus will be joined by fellow bench coach Ray Montgomery, a first-time coach coming over from the Angels’ front office.
• SABR is launching a new monthly interview series via Zoom with host Shakeia Taylor. The series kicks off on February 3 and features Roger Cador, whose long history with the game includes coaching former Mariner Rickie Weeks Jr., the first Black winner of the Golden Spikes Award. Cador currently serves on MLB’s task force targeted at increasing African-American participation in baseball.

• If you, like me, cannot stand listening to the Sunday Night Baseball telecast, the New York Post has good news for you. Alex Rodriguez will no longer be doing weekly games for ESPN, instead joining Michael Kay (television announcer for the Yankees) for a ManningCast-style broadcast with the execrable name “Kay-Rod” that will air on ESPN2 as an alternative broadcast during the highest-profile games. The new Sunday squad will include David Cone and Eduardo Perez, with Karl Ravech doing play-by-play. Meanwhile, the Post also indicates that Buster Olney’s role on the telecast is “in question.” All of this is great news for people who like the game of baseball as it’s currently played and want to listen to knowledgeable analysts who, and I know this might come out of left field, actually like the game of baseball.

Kate’s pick:

We love a good baseball TikTok, especially when it’s from a Mariners fan.