Mariners add former first-round draft pick on waiver claim
Jan 9, 2025, 1:56 PM
Tyler Jay of the New York Mets pitches against Atlanta in 2024. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
(Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
The Seattle Mariners have added a left-handed option to their 2025 bullpen competition.
Tyler Jay, a 30-year-old southpaw, has been claimed off waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers by the M’s, the team announced Thursday.
He is the second reliever added by the Mariners on a waiver claim in as many days following the addition of Hagen Danner from the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday.
More: Mariners claim reliever with interesting background
Like Danner, Jay has seen limited MLB action thus far, appearing in three games with the Mets and another two with the Brewers last season. Three of those five outings saw him throw two innings.
The Brewers designated Jay for assignment last week when they acquired pitcher Grant Anderson in a trade with the Texas Rangers. Jay was traded from the Mets to the Brewers in July after New York designated him for assignment.
Jay was high draft pick coming out of the University of Illinois, going sixth overall to the Minnesota Twins in the first round in 2015. He has primarily pitched out of the bullpen as a professional, starting just 20 of his 162 appearances in the minors.
Jay was out of the game in 2021 after he was diagnosed with an allergic condition that caused inflammation in his esophagus and made him lose weight, but he made a comeback in 2022 with the Joliet Slammers of the independent Frontier League. He returned to organized baseball with the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate in 2023, and made his MLB debut with the Mets on April 11, 2024.
Per Statcast, the 6-foot-1, 185-pound Jay used a sinker 52% of the time in his 2024 MLB appearances, and complemented it with a cutter (22% usage), sweeper (18%) and four-seam fastball (8%). The sinker is his fastest pitch, averaging 93.1 mph last year.
Jay is one of five left-handed bullpen options on Seattle’s current 40-man roster, joining Tayler Saucedo, Gabe Speier, Austin Kitchen and Jhonathan Díaz. The addition of Jay makes the 40-man roster full.
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