Morosi ‘worried’ by how much Mariners are using Andrés Muñoz

The Seattle Mariners are off to one of their best starts in years, but the formula hasn’t been anything close to what many would have expected.

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The offense has carried the first-place Mariners for much of this season. Meanwhile, the greatest strength of the team – its pitching – has largely been middle of the road while dealing with key injuries to starters Logan Gilbert and George Kirby.

The M’s entered Wednesday ranked 12th in team ERA (3.72), 21st in WHIP (1.31) and 21st in opponents’ batting average (.246). They also ranked just 22nd in innings pitched by starters (182 1/3 innings).

MLB Network insider Jon Morosi discussed the Mariners’ pitching during a wide-ranging conversation with Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob on Tuesday. While the numbers haven’t matched last year’s dominance, he isn’t surprised by what has transpired with the pitching thus far.

“I would say that the pitching numbers that you mentioned would not be a surprise to anyone if you had said in spring training, ‘Listen, you’re going to lose two of your most important pitchers to the injured list, and you’re gonna have to rely on names like (Emerson) Hancock, (Logan) Evans, the younger Luis (F.) Castillo,'” Morosi said.

However, there is one development with the pitching staff that has given Morosi some reason for concern: the usage of flamethrowing closer Andrés Muñoz. The right-hander has been electric early on with zero earned runs allowed and an American League-best 12 saves while pitching in 17 of the M’s 35 games this season.

“You’ve got arguably the best relief pitcher in the world right now in Andrés Muñoz, who you’ve gotta be careful (with),” Morosi said. “The one number that I’m worried about right now with Andres is 17 games. That’s a lot of appearances in the early part of May. That is almost an uncomfortable number of appearances.”

Muñoz is currently on pace to pitch in 79 games, which would be 15 more than his previous career high set in 2022.

The right-hander’s injury history is what has Morosi concerned. Muñoz missed the 2020 season and all but the final game of 2021 after having Tommy John surgery in March 2020, and he had foot surgery following the 2022 season. He also missed nearly two months in 2023 with a right deltoid strain and dealt with back issues that limited him early last season.

“I don’t care who you are as a reliever, if you’re throwing that hard, that often, it is a red flag,” Morosi said of Muñoz, whose fastball regularly touches 100 mph.

Morosi added the caveat that the Mariners have a much better grasp on Muñoz’s health than he does, but he still feels his usage shows the club needs to find more reliable options in the bullpen to lighten the load moving forward.

“You have Matt Brash coming back. Obviously, he’s already been back, which is a really important point in their in their season,” Morosi said. “But they need I think at least one more quality leverage reliever, or I’m going to be really worried about Muñoz and his durability down the stretch.”

Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Listen to Wyman and Bob weekdays from 2-7 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

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