Mariners’ pen has no guarantees, even with closer Steve Cishek and a returning Charlie Furbush

The Mariners appear to have good footing in many areas after Jerry Dipoto’s first offseason as general manager, including a deep starting rotation, improved defense in the outfield, and several lineup additions known for getting on base.

Less clear is how Seattle’s bullpen will shake out.

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The pen is the position group with the most turnover from last year, and it’s easy to believe that was by design – the Mariners’ relievers ranked 25th out of the 30 MLB teams with a 4.15 ERA. The result is a group that has a limited number of roles seemingly in place heading into spring training, and even some of those are question marks.

Two things that are known: Left-handed specialist Charlie Furbush is one of only two returning players who were a significant part of the pen in 2015, and newcomer Steve Cishek is set to be the closer. But to expect everything to go smoothly with either player is a stretch.

Furbush posted a career-low 2.08 ERA and 0.646 WHIP last year, his fifth with Seattle, but his season ended in early July after pitching just 21 2/3 innings with a slight tear of his rotator cuff, an injury he’s still working back from. Cishek, meanwhile, has closing experience from his time with Miami, but he found himself out of that job – and eventually traded to St. Louis – after blowing four of seven save opportunities for the Marlins in 2015.

The right-handed Cishek, 29, said his problems stemmed from mechanics, which he’s made a focus of his offseason.

“When you’re pitching in the ninth inning and you’re mechanically not very comfortable, it’s pretty hard to have the confidence that you had in years past,” said Cishek, who saved a career-high 39 games in 2014. “I just lost a little confidence early because I didn’t feel the same, and it reflected in my performance.”

He feels the issues he dealt with in 2015 ultimately made him more prepared to return to closing.

“It was great for me mentally because it helped me to handle adversity, so if this problem comes up in the future I know how to take care of it quicker … Obviously I want to be back in that (closing) role again. I enjoy the adrenaline rush that comes with it and the pressure. I just wanted to give it another shot. I couldn’t have been happier when we signed the deal just to have this job. I’m just going to pitch to the best of my ability and see what happens.”

Furbush, who will turn 30 in April, hopes to be ready for Opening Day, but the process will continue to be a slow one in his return.

“It’s not necessarily we’re in a position to be ready for the first day of camp. They’re gonna take it a little slow with me, but put me in a position to be ready April 4,” he said.

The positive is that, even though he still has a lot of rehab to go through, his offseason wasn’t altered much from how it usually goes. Not only that, his shoulder is pain-free.

“I would normally start throwing around the same time that I did, end of December, beginning of January … I had I guess the same break I would have normally if I hadn’t been injured, so it actually worked out pretty good in terms of that schedule. So now it’s just staying on that and I’m feeling good. I’m pretty happy to say that I’m throwing and it’s pain-free.”

What will be different, though, are the faces he’ll see when he gets back in the clubhouse in Peoria when pitchers and catchers report in two weeks.

“I’m gonna miss a couple of my old teammates, but I’m really looking forward to meeting all the other guys,” Furbush said. “I think we’re gonna have a really good group. I kinda look at it as pieces of a puzzle that kinda were put together here that Jerry did a great job of finishing that puzzle off and getting all the pieces that we need to build a championship 2016 season.”