Have the cracks started to show in the Mariners’ bullpen?

The bullpen was not expected to be one of the Mariners’ strengths heading into the season. On Friday night, there was a reminder of why.

Seattle’s relievers came into the series against the struggling L.A. Angels with the best ERA in the majors, but a day later were third due to a disastrous opener in which set-up man Joel Peralta and closer Steve Cishek each gave up a pair of runs on three hits in an inning of work (Cishek also walked a batter, which helped set the table for C.J. Cron’s bloop single that scored two).

One game does not make a season, of course, but the bullpen has now given a reason on the field to be skeptical that it can maintain its surprising position as one of the better pens in baseball.

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Before Friday, Seattle had been both lucky and good when it came to its relievers’ performance. Just look at Wednesday’s game, when Steve Johnson, a recent promotion from Triple-A, had to take over for Vidal Nuño in a high-leverage, extra-innings situation against the Tampa Bay Rays. He ended up getting the win in 1 2/3 scoreless innings of work, but not before walking the first batter he faced to load the bases.

The issue wasn’t Johnson’s performance, though. It was the fact that the Mariners had to turn to him when they did. Along with Mayckol Guaipe, Johnson is one of two pitchers in the Seattle bullpen that the team would probably prefer were still in the minors. When you add that to an equation that also has the 40-year-old Peralta in a big role after two straight seasons of 4-plus ERAs, plus key players Charlie Furbush, Joaquin Benoit and Tony Zych rehabbing injuries on the DL, there’s a potential for trouble.

And those aren’t the only causes for concern.

There’s two other injured hurlers the Mariners are waiting on in Ryan Cook and Evan Scribner, both of whom are reclamation projects and neither of which has yet to throw in a regular-season game for Seattle. And there’s one more reclamation project in Cishek, who did bounce back in the second half last season with the Cardinals after losing his job as the Marlins closer, but has blown his last two save opportunities after converting his first 11 of the year.

There is good news, like the strong numbers out of lefty Mike Montgomery’s conversion to reliever and the news Saturday that Benoit and Furbush both threw simulated innings, with the former almost ready to return to the team and the latter set to begin a multiple-part rehab assignment in Tacoma and Arizona next week. The Mariners will likely also see Cook and Zych back in action in June.

What condition Seattle’s bullpen will be in by then, though, is anybody’s guess.

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