Seattle Mariners Reliever Matt Brash Goes Viral For Ridiculous New Pitch
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The Seattle Mariners pitching staff began the season banged up, but has been steadily working its way back to full strength in recent days. One of the Mariners best relievers, Matt Brash, was activated off the injured list on May 3. He made his season debut that day, which was his first outing since Sept. 30, 2023, due to recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Brash made his second appearance of the season in Seattle's 5-3 win against the Athletics on Tuesday.
It wasn't the cleanest outing for Brash, who's still working his way back to full form after his year-long absence. He pitched 0.2 innings in the top of the seventh, walking one, hitting another and allowing one infield hit. An apparent new offering from Brash that was the story of his outing.
Brash threw a "kick" changeup against J.J. Bleday in the second at-bat of the inning that generated a swing-and-miss. The pitch was registered at 90 mph. It was recorded as a knuckle curve, according to Baseball Savant. The pitch had five inches of vertical break and 39 inches of drop.
Former Mariners pitcher and current broadcaster Ryan Rowland-Smith was just one of the people to highlight the pitch in a post on "X."
Matt Brash Change up=#Nasty pic.twitter.com/ClZjXBUPf0
— Ryan Rowland-Smith (@hyphen18) May 7, 2025
Matt Brash Kick Change pic.twitter.com/oKcUvLJrAy
— Kick Dirt Baseball (@KickDirtBB) May 7, 2025
Brash already has a dangerous array of offerings that made him one of the most effective relievers in baseball in 2023. His four-seam fastball, slider and knuckle curve all had a put-away rate of 20% or more. He generated a whiff rate of 48.7% with his slider. He led the majors in appearances that season (78) and had a 3.06 ERA with 107 strikeouts in 70.2 innings pitched.
Brash threw a changeup just once in 2023, and if the the kick-change is a permanent addition to his repertoire, then he has the potential to be a more dangerous pitcher than he already was.
The Mariners will play the Athletics on Wednesday afternoon at 12:35 p.m. PT.
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