Duke’s second draft pick of the 2024 MLB Draft is closer Charlie Beilenson, who’s headed to the West Coast after getting taken in the fifth round.
Duke’s pitching this past season was supposed to be a high mark for the team as it prepared for another year in the ACC, and when it came down to it, the pitching was incredible for the Blue Devils.
One of those pitchers, ace lefty Johnathan Santucci, was taken by the New York Mets in the second round of the 2024 MLB draft. Another one of Duke’s dynamic arms, closer Charlie Beilenson, came off the board next as Duke’s second pick of the draft during the second day of the draft.
Beilenson is headed to the Seattle Mariners after they selected him with the 154th overall pick in the fifth round.
Beilenson was a crucial part of Duke’s team over his time in Durham and has the accolades to prove it. In just 2024 alone, Charlie Beilenson went 7-3 with 12 saves, posting a 2.01 ERA (14 earned runs across 62.2 innings pitched) with 92 strikeouts for Duke. He finished the year as an ABCA/Rawlings, NCBWA, and Perfect Game First Team All-American. He was also an All-ACC First Team Relief Pitcher, one of seven Blue Devils on the all-conference squads.
His durability was displayed in 2023 as he broke the school record for appearances in a single season at 39.
He routinely put out fires or shut the door on opposing teams. His versatility is truly impressive, as he can be a one-inning closer, a multi-inning middle or long reliever, or a set-up man. In short, he’s as versatile a bullpen weapon as a team can wish for, leaving fans and analysts in awe of his skills.
He doesn’t throw hard, but it’s reasonable to believe that under the eyes of major league pitching instruction, he may be able to maximize his potential and add a few more miles to his fastball.
With the way the Mariners develop pitchers as an organization and value pitching (they lead the American League in ERA, WHIP, and average against), it stands to reason they will know exactly what buttons to push to maximize Beilenson’s talent.
Last week, the Mariners had one of the wilder wins we’ll see this season when they rallied from four runs down against the White Sox and ultimately won with a Cal Raleigh walk-off grand slam.
And to be honest, Raleigh easily could have been ejected an inning earlier.
In a great breakdown video from Jomboy Media, we saw (and heard!) as both Raleigh and manager Scott Servais took exception with umpire Chris Guccione’s strike zone. Raleigh was upset with Guccione punching him out on a pitch the Mariners hadn’t gotten all night. When Servais came onto the field to protect his player, that was when we could see Guccione admitting that he does have bad nights and that he was just trying his best.
Props to the lip-reading skills from Jomboy. (Warning: Strong language in the video)
The best part had to be that Guccione told Servais that he was up at 3:30 that morning as if the Mariners manager was going to be understanding of the excuse. Servais was tossed for the argument, but Raleigh was surprisingly allowed to stay in the game.
Fans absolutely enjoyed this latest breakdown video. It was elite work all the way.
Can’t imagine MLB will be too happy about an umpire explaining to a manager that he had a bad zone because he was up at 3:30 AM. https://t.co/FTeFFUPEtx
The Mariners are hosting the reigning World Series champions, the Texas Rangers, for a crucial divisional series this weekend.
The Seattle Seahawks may have drafted Byron Murphy II to play defense for them, but there’s nothing that says he can’t try his hand at a little baseball… at least, for ceremonial purposes.
Last night at the Mariners game, the Seahawks’ first round draft choice threw out the opening pitch. So far, I think it is safe to say the Seattle faithful are excited about Murphy’s presense in the Emerald City, regardless of which sport he is participating in.
The Mariners are hosting the reigning World Series champions, the Texas Rangers, for a crucial divisional series this weekend. Fortunately, Seattle prevailed in game one as they held on for a narrow 3-2 victory on Friday night. As it stands, the Mariners are currently 41-31 and hold a 6.5 lead over the 33-36 Rangers for first place in the AL West.
It is always fun to see a little crossover between the Seahawks and Mariners. Last year, Julio Rodriguez raised the iconic 12th Man Flag before the game against the Steelers. The year prior, catcher Cal Raleigh had similar honors as well.
Given the rise of analytics and emphasis on power hitting in today’s game, the bunt has basically been reduced to a relic of MLB’s past. But I must say that there aren’t many plays that top the excitement of a perfectly placed bunt in the most unexpected situation.
We saw just that on Monday.
The Mariners trailed the White Sox by four runs heading into the eighth inning. But once Erick Fedde allowed a lead-off home run to start the inning, the White Sox turned to Michael Kopech in hopes of stopping Seattle’s late rally.
Spoiler: He did not.
Kopech allowed three straight base runners and a two-run single. After a pair of strikeouts, he faced Luke Raley with runners on the corners and two outs. It was safe to say that nobody expected Raley to do this …
Luke Raley BUNTS with two outs to tie it in the eighth! Mariners have rallied to erase a 4-0 deficit pic.twitter.com/ZXuhXA1pdo
Raley laid down an absolutely perfect bunt on a 99 mph fastball (!!!) with third baseman Lenyn Sosa playing deep. Josh Rojas scored easily on the play to tie the game. Raley was so pumped at first base that you would’ve thought he won the pennant. But no, he knew the bunt was gutsy and the gamble paid off.
The Mariners would go on to win the game the following inning on a Cal Raleigh grand slam.
May be my fave play of the Mariners season so far.
Crazy Raley was able to get this down with Kopech throwing that pitch in that location. Crazier Mariners actually called for the bunt there.@davesims_ with the great call
One of the greatest bunts you’ll see this year – I’m sure! On a fastball then the no-doubter grand slam from Raleigh! Absolutely madness the last 2 innings. #mariners#chaosballhttps://t.co/oiiRA2GLGl
Up and in around his face at 99 mph and he still lays down a 🤌🤌🤌 bunt to tie the game in the 8th. They don’t make men like Luke Raley anymore. https://t.co/Wh75mRxaZd
The Seattle Mariners really pulled the “If you can’t beat em, join em” card tonight and did exactly what the Royals did to them🤣 https://t.co/X49O6YSR0c
In recent years, we’ve seen MLB teams go all out with highly produced walk-up videos for closers. The Mets with Edwin Diaz and the Twins with Jhoan Durán are right up there with the best of them. The Mariners, though, may have put together this season’s coolest hype video, and it was astoundingly simple.
As the Mariners went into the bottom of the eighth inning of Friday’s game against the Angels down a run, the videoboard at T-Mobile Park *appeared* to have a technical difficulty. Fans were greeted with the “blue screen of death” and a Microsoft reboot. But it was all a pre-planned video, and it was so good.
— Jake | Raise The Trident 🏳️🌈 (@RaiseTheTrident) June 1, 2024
I don’t think the fans at T-Mobile Park that night ever imagined that a Word document could get them hyped up, but it certainly worked. Just a couple batters later, Ty France would hit a go-ahead two-run homer. The Mariners would hold on to win, 5-4.
Fans also loved the creativity there. Great job by the stadium production team.
— Williamsburg Benny (@benfriedlander) June 1, 2024
Low key the best Microsoft ad I've ever seen, and it wasn't even from them. The @Microsoft marketing team could learn a thing or two. https://t.co/vmHzwV5WJP
As a 14-year-old, Ryan Bliss tweeted it was his dream to play for the Mariners. A decade later, he’s suiting up for his MLB debut — in Seattle.
“My dream,” tweeted Ryan Bliss three days before he turned 15 in response to the Seattle Mariners and MLB accounts. “One day.” The post included three emojis, one of which was an airplane and one a baseball.
That was tweeted on December 10, 2014, when Bliss was 14. On Monday night, he made his MLB debut with none other than the Mariners of Seattle, the next chapter of what now feels like destiny.
The Mariners posted onto social media platform X, “10 years later, ‘one day’ has come,” with an image of Bliss dressed in everyday clothing walking onto the field. He quote-tweeted, “Dreams come true.”
Bliss is rankedas the No. 11 prospect in the Mariners’ farm system. He’s listed at just 5-foot-7, but last year, he hit .304 with 23 home runs and 86 RBI between Double-A and Triple-A ball. This season, he leads Triple-A with 28 steals. He swiped 55 bags last year and 31 the season before.
The middle infielder’s path in the minor leagues didn’t start with a Mariners affiliate. Bliss was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the second round of the 2021 draft and traded to Seattle as part of the deal last season for Paul Sewald.
Now, Bliss debuts in the major leagues with Seattle, a decade after he sent his prophetic tweet.
Canaan Smith-Njigba is an outfielder who was most recently with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.
The City of Seattle clearly enjoyed having one Smith-Njigba play for one of their teams so much they decided to bring in another. Seahawks rising star receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba will have some family in town, as the Mariners just signed his brother, Canaan Smith-Njigba, to the team.
Welcoming another Smith-Njigba to the PNW 🙌
We have claimed OF @CanaanSmith_ off waivers from the Pirates.
Canaan Smith-Njigba is an outfielder who was most recently with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, where he made his MLB debut. The Pirates designated Smith-Njigba for assignment, and it seems he has found his next MLB home.
The connection between the Smith-Njigba family and Mariners star outfielder Julio Rodriguez is certainly noticed. Julio raised the 12th Man Flag for the Seahawks game versus the Steelers this past December, and he had an extended interaction with JSN on the sidelines.
okay but JSN taking the time to show love to julio’s whole family is precious https://t.co/8nPRaeqaPI
Clearly, Julio was a fan of the move to sign JSN’s brother Canaan, and shared his excitement on his Instagram story.
Maybe it’s the dayquil talking but it’s so precious to me that Julio has gotten tight with JSN’s family and I really love this for them 🥹 pic.twitter.com/H1OtK60oq5
KG will next need a jersey retirement ceremony and a statue in Minnesota.
Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Bryan Kalbrosky.
Simply put, the two individuals do not see eye-to-eye or get along. Despite playing for the team for more than a decade, Garnett has called Taylor a “snake” who does not know “[expletive] about basketball” and that only represents a fraction of what he has said about the businessman.
Taylor is on the way out, though, and a new ownership group will gain control. Now that Marc Lore and former MLB star Alex Rodriguez are about to take over, Garnett could eventually take a role with the team. Here is more from Brian Windhorst (via ESPN):
“Garnett’s guidance is brought up often by [Karl-Anthony] Towns. And with the Wolves on the verge of finally being sold by longtime owner Glen Taylor to Marc Lore and partners including Alex Rodriguez, that influence might be drawing closer.
Assuming the transaction is finalized, there is a chance Garnett will take a role with the organization, sources told ESPN. He has been in a bitter dispute with Taylor and distant from the franchise in recent years.”
His role is unclear but in May 2021, Pioneer Press journalist Charley Walters reported that Garnett would likely be “heavily involved” in the Timberwolves basketball department once Rodriguez and Lore eventually took control.
The following year, Walters (the same reporter) added that Rodriguez and Lore also wanted Garnett to join their ownership group with a significant investment. The expectation was that an overdue Garnett statue and jersey retirement would follow.
While these are just rumors for now and may not happen, as a sports fan, it is also very cool that Rodriguez may bridge the gap between Garnett and his longtime franchise.
In so many ways, the two former players mirrored each other during their professional careers. Both were very hyped prospects and top picks in their respective drafts then had similar longevities and long-term success playing their sports, reaching their highest moments at similar points in their careers.
Garnett played in the NBA between 1995 and 2016 while Rodriguez played in the MLB between 1994 and 2016. KG was a 15-time All-Star and won his only championship in 2008. A-Rod was a 14-time All-Star who won his only championship in 2009.
Although it was the only time he received the honor, Garnett was the NBA’s MVP in 2004. Rodriguez won the award in the American League for the first time in 2003 (then won it again in 2005 and 2007).
These are also two of the greatest players of their eras who lived up to their lofty hype. Garnett and Rodriguez never got to win a championship for the teams that drafted them, though. A-Rod has said that in retrospect, he feels that he may have left the Mariners “too early” (via Seattle Times):
“I always think about that – boy, if I stayed one more year, with Ichiro, maybe we could take on Goliath and actually get over the top,” he said. “But that never came.”
Even though leaving the team was the right call for him, if he comes back to the franchise, perhaps his presence can help keep the talented roster together moving forward.
Nowadays, the Timberwolves have two former No. 1 overall picks that they drafted on their roster: Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns. The team is enjoying tremendous success as the top seed in the Western Conference.
When projecting the long-term future based on payroll, for financial reasons after also owing a massive salary to Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner Rudy Gobert, it will be a challenge to keep this core group together.
But for the fans who are watching this team in Minnesota, it would likely be incomparable to see the continuity of the homegrown talent win for the team that drafted them. Anything that Rodriguez and KG can do to convince them to stay would go a long way.
Especially as they are playing elite basketball, meanwhile, there is no better time than the present for KG to have a role with Minnesota. The idea of a statue and a jersey retirement ceremony should follow shortly after that, too.
The Most Singularly Strange NBA Moment
Bally Sports San Antonio
The Spurs mascot dressed up as Batman and chased a loose bat around the court during the Timberwolves game.
If that doesn’t make sense, I get it. Cory Woodroof has you covered:
“In one of the most singularly strange moments in the 2023-24 NBA season, a bat got loose in the San Antonio Spurs’ Frost Bank Center and got promptly chased by the Spurs mascot wearing a Batman costume and holding a giant net.
Don’t worry; the world around you is not glitching to reveal The Matrix. This is a thing that actually happened in San Antonio on Saturday night, and it’s apparently not the first time?”
There have been plenty of special guests who’ve raised the iconic 12th Man Flag in the south end zone this year. From former Super Bowl MVP’s to TV celebrities, the pride of the 12’s runs far and wide.
But the Seattle Seahawks have perhaps saved the best for last. For the home finale, the honors will go to Mariners All Star centerfielder Julio Rodriguez. Two days ago, Julio turned 23 years old. What could possibly be a better way to close out the birthday week?
Julio has only been in Seattle for two years now, but it is incomprehensible how beloved he has become among fans everywhere. In his short time, Julio has easily become one of the most popular Seattle sports figures. Of course, winning two Siler Slugger awards, making two All Star games, and winning Rookie of the Year certainly helps!
Last year, Julio became the first player in MLB history to hit 25 home runs and log 25 steals in each of his first two seasons. He also became the fastest Mariner to 50 career home runs, blowing past Alex Rodriguez.
When Julio takes center stage in the south end zone, there is no doubt this stadium will erupt. Already juiced to take on the hated Pittsburgh Steelers, the 12th Man will be ready to roar.
