Bryan Woo's Recent Dominance Holds More Weight Due to Significant Loss in Family

Those outings would already be incredible highs for any pitcher. But they hold a lot more significance for Woo after a recent death in the family.

After Woo's outing against the Yankees, he was unavailable to speak to the media due to what was described as a "family situation. We now know that Woo's grandfather, John Woo, died during Bryan's start. He was 95-years-old.

The information about Woo's grandfather was outlined in a story from MLB.com's Daniel Kramer.

“It's the values that have passed down from him to my dad to my parents to me, and just making sure I keep those values instilled with me and everywhere I go,” Woo said in Kramer's article. “Keep the most important thing the most important thing, which is other people. It's the team, it's the organization, it's the fans. It's not about you. It's never about you.
“It's always about the group around you and the people that make you as good as you are, and how you can always make other people better. Those values started with him.”

According to the article, Woo went into his start against the Yankees knowing that his grandfather would likely die that night. His grandfather was listening to the game on the radio while in the hospital.

“Bryan knew when he was pitching in New York that his grandfather was passing that night, and we all were worried about him,” Hilary Woo, Bryan's mother, said in the article. “But at the same time, we encouraged him to use it as fuel and take him out there with him.”

John Woo got to see Bryan Woo pitch once in person, during the latter's rookie season against the San Francisco Giants on July 3, 2023.

Woo has put together a dominant season for Seattle, going 8-4 thus far. The Mariners are 51-45 and will return from the All-Star break on Friday, when they host the Houston Astros at T-Mobile Park.