Offseason Report Card and Prediction: Relievers
Offseason Report Card and Prediction: Relievers
The strength of the 2021 team was the bullpen, and after a rocky start in 2022 the group became elite once again. Electric young arms should anchor this group for years to come.
When the season began there were high hopes for the Mariners’ bullpen, one of the best units in the league in 2021. Paul Sewald and Drew Steckenrider returned at the back end of the bullpen, but the unit struggled mightily to begin 2022.
While Paul Sewald regressed slightly he was still very good, but the rest of the group lacked. Diego Castillo, Andrés Muñoz, and Matt Festa all endured brutal stretches at the beginning of the year. They each had signature games where they blew up, leaving the Mariners with few trusted options.
Steckenrider was someone they expected to trust coming into the season until he lost all semblance of control of his fastball and was designated for assignment. Penn Murfee was called up and almost immediately became their second or third most trusted reliever behind Sewald and Swanson when he was healthy.
Diego Castillo was wildly inconsistent all season, but he began to get a footing in June. Muñoz started throwing his slider more in June and started to morph into one of the best relievers in baseball. Matt Festa became a solid middle reliever and Penn Murfee continued to perform well in the pivot role.
In July Matt Brash was recalled from Tacoma, joining an already potent bullpen. Brash began the season in the rotation but struggled mightily with control. When he was recalled it was clear he was more suited for a relief role, and solidified himself as a building block moving forward. A bullpen build around him and Muñoz can be special. After making few tweaks to his arm slot he became nearly unhittable at the end of the season while pounding the zone with three electric pitches.
At the trade deadline I felt the team may try to add another arm to bolster the back end of the bullpen. Jerry Dipoto and the front office stayed quiet but added a multi-inning option in Matthew Boyd. Boyd was a valued addition to the bullpen once he got healthy, and seemed to have found some new life to his career making the switch from a starting role.
The group was dominant all the way until September when the starting pitching began to struggle. Many of the early season struggles started to pop up again, and many of the guys looked worn down as October started.
Paul Sewald and Penn Murfee are two guys who seemed to really fall off, especially Sewald for the second year in a row.
Manager Scott Servais likes to lean on his bullpen a lot, which can be problematic at the end of a long season. With so many guys worn down, it could be helpful to add another high-leverage arm to this group.
With Sewald, Brash and Munoz locked in at the back end of next season’s bullpen it could be a huge boost to add a high-leverage reliever to take the pressure off. Joe Jimenez is a name that I have mentioned as a trade candidate, as he is in the last year of his deal with Detroit.
Jerry Dipoto has shown the ability to build a bullpen year after year, so this is not anything to worry about. They could use more high-leverage depth but most of the same faces will likely return next season.
Guys like Matthew Boyd, Ryan Borucki and Diego Castillo will be interesting names to watch on the fringes of the bullpen, but for the most part the same group should return. Boyd may have an interest in starting again somewhere, but if he desires to stay in Seattle a swing starter/reliever role could fit.
As for Castillo he seems to be in decline. The sinker and slider combination is not nearly as potent or effective as it used to be, and he is wildly inconsistent.
I would still keep him around to see if he can regain form early next season, but if the struggles continue don’t be surprised if Seattle moves on. Reliever performance is very spotty as we saw from a guy like Rafael Montero who performed extremely well for Houston this year.
Overall this group should be solid again in 2023. They have two players in Muñoz and Brash that can be elite relievers for many years, and Seattle can build a bullpen around them.
The Mariners and Jerry Dipoto do a lot of things really well but building a championship level bullpen is at the top of the list. I expect the bulk of these guys to return and build on a great 2022 season, led by the proven back-end performers.
Long live Los Bomberos.
