Seattle Mariners Lose Huge Pitcher to Injury
The Seattle Mariners have suffered another crushing injury to their pitching staff in the early going of the season, placing high-leverage reliever Andrés Muñoz on the injured list with a right deltoid strain.
It's the second big injury to the staff this year, as starter Robbie Ray was placed on the injured list after his first start of the season. He has a flexor issue and there is no immediate timetable for his return.
The Muñoz loss is a devastating one for a team that boasted one of the best bullpens in the majors a year ago. He burst onto the scene last year, pitching in 64 games and registering a 2.49 ERA. He struck out 96 batters in just 65 innings. The Mariners don't have a traditional closer but Muñoz pitches in the highest of leverage spots and this injury will force manager Scott Servais to change how he utilizes things.
We saw Paul Sewald pitch the ninth inning on Saturday against the Cleveland Guardians and Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports that reliever Matt Brash will take Muñoz's role in the high-leverage spots.
Brash, 24, has some of the best stuff in baseball but has to continue to work on harnessing it. This year already he has a K/9 of 16.6 but also has a 4.2 BB/9.
The Mariners back end of the bullpen trio figures to be some combination of Sewald, Brash and Diego Castillo.
In other Mariners news, the team optioned reliever Matt Festa to AAA and brought up both Justin Topa and J.B. Bukauskas.
The Mariners are currently 4-5 on the season and will finish out a weekend series with the Guardians on Sunday at 1:40 p.m. ET.
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