That new slider Mariners reliever Taylor Guilbeau is throwing? He found it on Instagram
Midway through spring training last season, the Seattle Mariners bullpen was an area of concern.
It continued to be throughout the regular season, with the club ultimately cycling through 31 true relievers, and a mix of starters and position players who were also used in spots to pitch the later innings.
This season at that midway point of spring training? Mariners manager Scott Servais has more young, talented arms than he has roster spots for.
“We all know how many relievers we’ve used in the last few years, and to be able to go down and bring those guys up — guys who have real stuff, real strikeout-type ability — it’s exciting,” Servais said.
“But, it will make the decisions really tough when we get down to the end here.”
Taylor Guilbeau, 26, is one of those young, talented arms in the running for an Opening Day roster spot, and has pitched well enough this spring to make a case for starting his season in the big leagues.
The left-hander, who is the No. 23 prospect in Seattle’s system, has appeared in five games and entered the week tied for the team-lead in strikeouts among relievers with eight.
But, what the Mariners are most impressed with is how Guilbeau, normally a fastball and changeup pitcher, added a promising slider to his mix this offseason.
“Last year, from probably Double-A to the big leagues, I threw about six different sliders, and just could never find one and get comfortable with it,” Guilbeau said.
Former Mariners lefties Wade LeBlanc and Tommy Milone each taught him how they throw the pitch, but Guilbeau still felt inconsistent.
“There would be days where I would throw it, and it would be really good,” he said. “There would be days where I didn’t know what the heck it was doing.”
How did Guilbeau finally find the slider that the Mariners believe could be a big weapon for him moving forward?
Instagram.
This winter, while scrolling through his feed, Guilbeau came across an intriguing post by professional pitcher Robby Rowland, who has built a following of more than 52,000 on the site by breaking down the mechanics of pitching.
The post that changed how Guilbeau has approached the spring includes a short video — barely seven seconds long — of Indians starter Mike Clevinger demonstrating how he grips his curveball and slider.
“I was in the offseason hanging out at my high school field, and I scrolled through and I saw it and I was like, ‘Well, this kid’s got good stuff, and I might as well try to take his grip and kind of make it into my slider,’ ” Guilbeau said.
“I ended up taking, I think it’s the breaking ball grip, and kind of converted it into my slider. … I’ve stuck with it ever since, and it’s progressed into my third pitch.”
Guilbeau played catch using the new grip a few times, and it felt much more natural. The frustrations of all of those other versions of the slider he tried were suddenly behind him. There was no more trying a new grip one day, and abandoning it the next.
“That goes to show, for me, how I stuck with it and how great it’s become, and is going to become in the long run,” he said.
Guilbeau’s already seen a change in how productive he can be as a pitcher by adding this third option. He pointed to Saturday’s appearance against the A’s — really the only game this spring he’s labored in, allowing three runs in 1 1/3 innings — as an outing where his newfound slider was particularly necessary.
“Last year I went in with fastball-changeup, and my fastball-changeups are really good, but just having that third pitch — because you’re going have days like (Saturday) where I didn’t have my fastball-changeup — to go to when you’re struggling to get out of a jam like I was kind of helped me out big time,” Guilbeau said.
“Having a third pitch, fourth pitch, whatever you have, I would say that helps you out tremendously, just always having an extra thing to go to.”
The Mariners like how Guilbeau’s slider has developed this offseason. He’s only been throwing it for two months, but it’s been so effective it’s already added another layer to him as a pitcher.
“I think he felt like he needed that weapon against left-handed hitters to be more consistent,” Servais said. “Last year it really wasn’t doing a whole lot. … He did say in our send out meeting with him, ‘I’m going to tighten up my slider. It’s going to get better next year. You’ll see.’ And we have seen it. It’s better.
“I don’t want him to get so consumed with that pitch, though, that he forgets about his fastball. That’s really his ticket. He’s got a good moving fastball, it sinks. … But, we’ve seen a big jump in the pitch grades on his slider. It’s a real weapon. It’ll be good for him.”
Guilbeau is more than just a left-on-left pitcher, and he’s proven it since he joined the Mariners last summer as part of the trade that sent relievers Roenis Elias and Hunter Strickland to the Nationals.
He appeared in five games with Triple-A Tacoma, posting a 1.80 ERA, before he was called up and debuted with Seattle midway through August.
Of the 17 relief appearances he made with the Mariners, he held opponents scoreless in 13 of them, and only gave up multiple runs once, while striking out seven and walking three.
Guilbeau, like many others in camp, has embraced the youth movement this spring, and is ready to compete for a spot in Seattle.
“There’s a lot of opportunity,” he said. “From the first day I got traded, Jerry (Dipoto) specifically said that, and when I got to meet Skip, he specifically said, ‘There’s a lot of opportunity. Take it and run with it.’ I feel like that’s what I’ve been doing, and I hope to continue to get opportunities, which I will, and I know a lot of guys will.
“We’re young guys, we’re a young staff, we’re young across the board. … I am definitely excited to see where this goes.”
This story was originally published March 9, 2020 at 11:58 AM with the headline "That new slider Mariners reliever Taylor Guilbeau is throwing? He found it on Instagram."
