Seattle Mariners Reliever Matt Brash Discusses Effectiveness of New Pitch
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The Seattle Mariners will begin the second series in a 10-game road trip against the Chicago White Sox at 4:40 p.m. PT on Monday. The Mariners will have all the momentum going into the series after sweeping the San Diego Padres. Seattle had an all-around performance against San Diego, and the bullpen was a big part of that success.
Matt Brash was one of the relievers who thrived in the weekend series against the Padres. He made his fifth appearance of the season May 17 and pitched a scoreless inning with one strikeout.
Brash was already a dangerous pitcher with a pitch-mix comprised of an upper-90s fastball, slider, sinker and knuckle curve, according to Baseball Savant. Since he was activated off the injured list on May 3, Brash has introduced a new pitch to his arsenal that's getting results against left-handed batters: a kick changeup.
Brash discussed the new pitch in an article by Shannon Drayer of Seattle Sports:
“I think it puts another look in the hitter’s head,” Brash said. “Lefties have to respect that now – and some righties. It helps get guys off my slider, it can set up my slider or sinker. I love it. I have a lot of confidence in it. It’s great weapon for lefties.”
According to Drayer's article, Brash has thrown the kick-change eight times in his five appearances. Two have been strikeouts.
Matt Brash Kick Change pic.twitter.com/oKcUvLJrAy
— Kick Dirt Baseball (@KickDirtBB) May 7, 2025
The introduction of the kick-change has resulted in his fastball taking a back seat. He's thrown it just once since making his season debut, according to Baseball Savant. His slider has had an average velocity of 95.8 mph with a put-away rate of 40%. It's his most often-used pitch, particularly against right-handed batters, and it seems that the fastball simply isn't a pitch he needs right now.
Brash also talked with Drayer about decreasing the use of his fastball and the advantage the slider has presented this season:
“I feel like the sinker hasn’t been hit hard, and it’s really good early in the count,” Brash said. “I have a lot of confidence in it in (the strike) zone so (I’ve) just kind of gone away from the four-seam. I feel like the changeup, it plays really well off the sinker. If there is a lefty that struggles with fastball up, we’ll go to it.”
The Mariners are still monitoring Brash's usage, and it might be a while before the team uses him at the level they did before his injury in 2023 where he led the league in appearances (78). But he's been effective and has already been slotted back into a high-leverage role.
Brash had a 0.00 ERA this season with six strikeouts and three hits in 4.2 innings pitched across his five outings.
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