One way the Mariners are in better shape for second half

The Seattle Mariners enter the second half of the MLB season holding onto a one-game lead over the Houston Astros in the AL West, and there’s no arguing that pitching has led the way so far.

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Most of the credit belongs to Seattle’s stellar starting rotation, but the bullpen held things together for the most part despite three key injuries.

The Mariners will be without Matt Brash, who led MLB in relief appearances in 2023, all season due to Tommy John surgery. They didn’t have offseason trade acquisition Gregory Santos for nearly the entire first half due to a lat injury. And Gabe Speier, who was a breakout left-hander last season in the Seattle bullpen, scuffled this May before landing on the injured list with a rotator cuff strain.

Even with those bumps in the road, the Mariners’ relievers rank second in baseball in both WHIP (1.15) and opponent batting average (.210), as well as ninth in ERA (3.66). And Seattle’s bullpen also has the benefit of having to carry the least amount of innings in baseball because its rotation has pitched the most.

Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto spoke about his bullpen when he joined Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Wednesday, and he’s optimistic about what it could do down the stretch.

“I believe our bullpen is getting healthier,” Dipoto said. “… We’ll get to the point coming out of the break where I think Gregory Santos is maybe more accessible to us. We’ve been trying to rehab him with some combination of major league games and minor league games in the effort to reintroduce him to high-end competition. He is a huge, huge boost to us – I think as you’ve seen. Physical stuff is unbelievable. We’ll have Santos maybe more accessible than once in a series coming out – maybe more of an every-other-day type of thing. We will get Gabe Speier back shortly after the break if not coming out of the break, which is an exciting thing.”

Having those two available to handle high-leverage situations will not only help out All-Star closer Andrés Muñoz, but also take some pressure off of other arms who had to be relied upon in tough spots especially in recent weeks.

“I know the last couple of weeks weren’t as good as it had been previously,” Dipoto said, “but guys like Trent Thornton, guys like Austin Voth, guys like Ryan Stanek did unbelievable work picking up the the slack with not having Matt Brash all year, with only having two innings from Gregory Santos, with having lost Gabe Speier for a good part of the first half. These weren’t just losses for us, these were some of the best relievers in the league. And the fact that they held it together for us and still produced like a top 10-ish bullpen for the first half was remarkable. So that’s going to be a help.”

While there is potential for the Mariners to add to their ‘pen before the July 30 MLB trade deadline, seeing Speier near a return and having Santos readily available could have a similar impact.

“We’d like to find a way – and this one could be more in-house than not – with adding some layers in our bullpen,” Dipoto said. “You know, guys that have pitched a lot for us and have done an awesome job, now we’re getting some of those back who I mentioned earlier. Another face of experience down there wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for our group either.”

You can hear the full Brock and Salk conversation with Seattle Mariners president Jerry Dipoto in the podcast at this link or in the player near the top of this post.

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• What Jerry Dipoto said about Mariners’ need to make more contact
• Dipoto explains the trouble with this MLB trade deadline
• ARod’s advice for Seattle Mariners’ Julio Rodríguez amid down year

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