Mariners add reliever prospects Berroa and Sweet to bullpen
Jul 19, 2023, 4:13 PM
Prelander Berroa of the Seattle Mariners warms up during spring training on Feb. 24, 2023. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
(Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
The Seattle Mariners shook up their bullpen ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Minnesota Twins, exchanging two rookie relievers for, well, two other rookie relievers.
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The M’s announced Wednesday afternoon that they added right-handed relievers Prelander Berroa and Devin Sweet from Double-A Arkansas and demoted fellow righties Ty Adcock and Isaiah Campbell to Double-A in corresponding moves.
When Berroa and Sweet get to pitch in a game, it will be their MLB debut.
Berroa is the headliner in this situation as he’s rated as the Mariners’ 13th-best prospect, per MLB Pipeline.
The 23 year old came to the organization early last year from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for utility man Donovan Walton. The moved quickly proved beneficial to the Mariners as Berroa reached Double-A and had a 2.86 ERA in just over 100 innings in 2022 while striking out 13.4 batters per nine innings pitched.
That all was as a starter, though. This year after five starts, Berroa moved to the bullpen and the results have been stellar.
Overall, Berroa has a 2.93 ERA in 24 games this year for Arkansas. In 19 games as a reliever, Berroa has a 0.77 ERA and has allowed 12 walks and 10 hits, all of which have been singles. He’s also striking out 13.5 batters per nine as a reliever and help opposing hitters to a miniscule .130 batting average and .377 OPS.
Berroa is armed with an upper-90s fastball and a hard slider, too. He also has at times thrown a changeup.
Sweet is 26 years old and started his professional career as an undrafted free agent in 2018. He’s been in Double-A the last three years and this year he’s been especially sharp, posting a 1.54 ERA in 35 innings pitched and allowing fewer than one baserunner per nine innings. Sweet has also posted a 12.1 strikeouts per nine rate this year.
Sweet’s go-to out pitch is his changeup, which has been seen as one of the top pitches in the M’s system for a few years now. His fastball will sit typically 92-94 mph.
Adcock and Campbell both made their MLB debuts this year.
Adcock, 26, started his career with nine consecutive scoreless outings, but he allowed two or more runs in each of his last three appearances.
As for Campbell, the 25 year old pitched three times, totalling 3 2/3 scoreless innings and picking up six strikeouts.
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