One roster move the Mariners need to make immediately
After dancing on the edge of their fourth crushing defeat in as many days, the Mariners need a bullpen shakeup in the worst way.
For the fourth straight night in a row, the Mariners had us on the edge of our seats but were able to pull off the victory in an ugly win in Kansas City. The victory snapped a three-game losing streak marred by a boom or bust offense and a shaky bullpen.
Seattle jumped out to a 7-0 lead led by four home runs in the fourth inning, but after Emerson Hancock’s struggles, the lead deflated to just 7-5. The offense tacked on an insurance run, and the Mariners were able to get to Andrés Muñoz with five outs remaining.
Muñoz struggled again, walking two and giving up three runs albeit unearned due to a Josh Rojas error. His inconsistencies and struggles have come at a bad time for a team still searching for answers in the back end after trading their closer.
The Mexico native and his back-end counterpart Matt Brash have both really struggled with walks this season and command in general, leading to more hits and baserunners than last season.
One of my main complaints about the Dipoto era has been the refusal to get too much depth at positions. No matter how much depth you think you have in your rotation, your lineup, or your bullpen it will always be tested. That’s why I was disappointed in this deadline, not because they traded Paul Sewald, but because they didn’t add another reliever to replace him.
Justin Topa and Gabe Speier could see elevated roles, but then again you need them to continue thwarting rallies in innings 5-8. So where does Seattle turn to fix this problem? Double-A Arkansas.
Prelander Berroa has been a fascinating storyline for me to watch this season. The young bullpen arm was acquired in a deal with the San Francisco Giants last season, and you can read his scouting report here.
Making the taxi squad early in the season, Berroa didn’t end up making his debut until July 21 and was promptly sent back to Arkansas the following day.
He hasn’t seen the big leagues since, likely because of his lack of strike-throwing ability. As of late Berroa has been in the zone more often, but has been hit hard in his last few outings.
The other curious thing about Berroa is his usage. The 23 year old reliever has been used about once every three days, which gives me questions on how well he is responding after outings.
Nevertheless, the Mariners need pitchers with swing-and-miss stuff and back-end ability. Even if Berroa were to slide into the role that Matt Brash once had, I think it is worth a shot at this point.
The fastball-slider combination can absolutely get big league hitters out right now in a leverage role, the question is can he throw enough strikes? I think this is worth a try.
The upside is huge here, but the downside of not throwing strikes is also big. Seattle has always been good at developing bullpens under the Dipoto regime, so my guess is they still have some red flags about Berroa.
Some other options for a call up include Travis Kuhn, Riley O’Brien, and potentially Casey Sadler in a few weeks. The bullpen has been heavily taxed over the last few days, so some roster shuffling seems necessary for tomorrow night’s game.
I believe Prelander Berroa needs to get added for the upside at this point, especially with how little the Mariners use some members of the unit. This will be an interesting thing to keep an eye on especially if struggles persist.
GOMS.
