How will Mariners handle struggling ‘pen until Hunter Strickland returns?
May 8, 2019, 3:42 PM
Mariners reliever Anthony Swarzak has given up an earned run in five of his last six outings. (Getty)
(Getty)
The Mariners had a closer for this season. Unfortunately for them, that lasted all of four games.
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Hunter Strickland threw perfect innings in two saves for Seattle in their season-opening series against the Athletics in Japan, but he ended up with a strained lat following a March 29 outing against the Red Sox where he gave up a game-winning home run, landing him on the 60-day injured list.
The 30-year-old Strickland’s recovery is starting to kick into gear – he has been cleared to resume throwing this upcoming Monday, 710 ESPN Seattle’s Shannon Drayer reports – but not only is he not eligible to return from the IL for a few more weeks, but he will probably need more time than that to go on a rehab assignment in the minor leagues.
That leaves the Mariners with the bullpen they have right now, the same one that has coughed up a lead or been unable to keep the score tied in four of Seattle’s last seven games entering Wednesday.
ROOT Sports Mariners analyst Mike Blowers joined 710 ESPN Seattle’s Bob, Groz and Tom for his weekly interview Wednesday and broke down what he’s seeing from the Mariners’ pen.
“At this point you just try to piece it together, which is what (manager Scott Servais) has basically done,” Blowers said. “He has refused to name anybody the closer, which I think is the right thing to do because he wanted to have the flexibility to put guys in certain situations. And then after that you just kind of watch them grow and see how they’re going, and they’ve learned a lot about a number of different guys.
“… They’re starting to get an idea on guys, but the bottom line is it always helps all of that stuff if you have Hunter Strickland at the end of it.”
The good news is that a pair of young relievers new to Seattle this season have shown potential.
“Connor Sadzeck, he has been impressive. This is a guy that really struggled with his command, always had a good fastball. They helped him out, made him realize that his slider was an excellent pitch, and the more he throws that it seems that he has better command of his fastball. He’s been on a terrific run,” Blowers said. “Same with Brandon Brennan. They weren’t sure where he was going to be at and he’s been really good. Struggled a little bit with his command (Tuesday) night but outside of that he’s been terrific.”
The not-so-good news is that the Mariners haven’t seen great results from 33-year-old veteran Anthony Swarzak, who has been leaned upon in high-leverage situations. Swarzak blew a save Tuesday, giving up a two-run home run to the Yankees’ Gio Urshela and taking the loss in Seattle’s 5-4 defeat, and he has allowed at least one earned run in five of his last six appearances.
Blowers thinks left-hander Roenis Elías, who has a 2.41 ERA and 1.07 WHIP in 16 appearances, will start getting more opportunities as a result of Swarzak’s struggles.
“I think that you’ll probably see somebody else out there (in high-leverage situations instead of Swarzak). I’m not sure who that is going to be; my guess would be right now (Servais) is probably leaning a little bit more towards Elías because of the way that he’s been throwing the baseball,” Blowers said. “But you know, there’s no guarantees on anybody that’s out there because they haven’t been closers.”
You can listen to the full segment with Blowers in the player embedded in this post or download a podcast version at this link.
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