Scott Servais, Seattle Mariners. (Photo by Dinur via Flickr)
The 2020 Seattle Mariners season is officially in the books. It was certainly an up and down ride during this year’s 60-game sprint. But that should be expected from what turned out to be the youngest team in Major League Baseball.
Despite their youth and uneven play at times, the Mariners finished with a 27–33 record. That was good for third in the American League West Division. Seattle was just two games out of the expanded playoffs. The M’s were in the postseason hunt until the final week of the season. Their young team got just a taste of what it’s like to battle for the playoffs at the Major League level. A valuable experience that will serve them well in the future.
While there were more losses than wins in 2020, the team instilled hope for a better 2021.
PNWS takes a look back at the season that just ended and previews the next season. We continue our six-part series with the relievers.
Seattle’s relief staff underwent radical changes during the short season. Unfortunately, no matter who manager Scott Servais called in from the bullpen, they couldn’t pitch with much consistency. Relief pitching by far was the Achillies heel in 2020.
The numbers back up just how bad Seattle Mariners relief pitching was in 2020.
The Seattle Mariners are expected to go with six starters again next year though they expect to have a full year. This will mean they will have seven relievers but could start the season with eight depending on how many bench players they plan to go with.
As a rebuilding team, not many veteran relievers were expected to spend all season with the Seattle Mariners. Injuries kept the number of deals down, but several pitchers were traded by the deadline.
There were two “feel-good” stories as the Seattle Mariners as the broke summer camp in July. The first was Jose Marmolejos, who made his Major League debut at 27-years-old, after eight years in the minors. Reliever Taylor Williams was the second.
Seattle claimed Williams off of waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers just before spring training. Williams grew up in Camas, WA, as a Mariners fan. It was a dream come true for him to pitch for his favorite team.
If the season began on time, Williams would have started the year at Tacoma. With a strong summer camp, the 5-11 righty began 2020 as the Seattle Mariners closer. Aside from one awful outing in San Diego on August 27, he was quite effective, earning six saves in 11 appearances. That bad outing didn’t stop the Padres from trading for him a few days later.
Also headed to San Diego on deadline day were Dan Altavilla and Austin Adams. Big things were expected from Altavilla; however, he couldn’t control his pitches and was little use to the M’s. Since he was out of options, it was easy to deal him away. Adams was hurt at the end of the 2019 season. He didn’t pit a game in 2020 for the Mariners but rehabbed at the alternate training site when the trade was made.
Only two relievers spent the entire season on the Seattle Mariners roster, Anthony Misiewicz and Yohan Ramirez. The Rule 5 pickup from Houston had a good rookie year. Some control issues resulted in 20 walks over 20.2 innings. Despite the wildness, there is no question about his talent.
The 25-year-old only gave up nine hits, fanned 26 batters, and finished with a 2.61 ERA. Ramirez got better as the season progressed. Over his last 11 games, he had a 1.67 ERA, three saves, and opposing batters had an average of .118 against him.
The Seattle Mariners claimed Matt Magill off of waivers from the Minnesota Twins on July 21, 2019. After the last year’s trade deadline, he became the Mariners closer the rest of the season.
Magill was expected to be the Mariners closer again in 2020, but Williams beat him out in summer camp for the job. That doesn’t mean Magill packed it up and took his fastball home. Instead, the Simi Valley, CA native, was unscored upon in his first eight outings. Then the walls fell in.
Two of his next three outings were horrendous. He was obviously struggling. August 28, the M’s placed Magill on the injured list with a shoulder strain, and he didn’t pitch again in 2020. If healthy, Magill will be in the mix for Seattle’s 2021 closer job.
As mentioned earlier, rookie left-hander Anthony Misiewicz spent all season with the M’s. A converted starter, Misiewicz pitched in 21 games with an ERA of 4.05. He only walked six batters while striking out 25 over 20.0 innings. He’ll likely be one of the Mariners two or three lefties in 2021.
Nick Margevicius started this season working out of the Mariners bullpen before replacing Kendall Graveman in the starting rotation. He’ll have an outside shot to make the rotation at spring training, but Margevicius is more likely to be a long reliever in 2021.
Before the season, the Seattle signed two veteran relievers who had poor 2019 seasons, hoping to bring their pitching careers back to life. Carl Edwards Jr.and Yoshihisa Hirano. Edwards started 2020 on the opening roster; however, after five games, he landed on the injured list with a right forearm strain, costing him the rest of the season. In his five games, Edwards recorded one save with a 1.93 ERA.
Hirano, on the other hand, started his season on the injured list due to COVID-19. After being medically cleared, he spent time at the Mariners spring training site in Arizona getting into shape, followed by some tune-ups at Tacoma. The Mariners activated Hirano on August 21. By September, he was the team’s closer (by default) putting four saves in the books. His season ended on a sour note with five earned runs in 1.1 innings over his final two appearances. Most likely, the Mariners bring back either Edwards Jr or Hirano. Edwards was better in 2020 and is eight years younger.
Nestor Cortes Jr. was absolutely awful. The former Bronx Bomber pitched 7.2 innings over seven games, with a 15.19 ERA and six home runs allowed before a left elbow injury ended his season early. Only 25-years-old, Cortes has to show much more next spring to make the Seattle Mariners relief staff.
A starter at the outset of 2020, Kendall Graveman lasted two games before neck spasms sidelined him for a month. Upon his return, Graveman pitched out of the bullpen. He wasn’t too bad over nine relief appearances. The lefty had a 3.60 ERA and .182 batting average against in September. His contract is up, and it doesn’t look good for renewal. Graveman could come back on a minor league contract with a chance to earn his way on the team with a spring training invite.
In 2019 the Mariners took Brandon Brennan in the Rule 5 draft as they did Ramirez this year. He was the only reliever on the M’s staff from the start of 2019. Brennan opened the season with Seattle but spent most of this season on the injured list with a left oblique strain.
He pitched one game before going on the IL for most of the season. The 29-year-old came back at the end of September and pitched to a 3.68 ERA. If Brennan stays healthy, he could be on next season’s opening roster.
Last year Joey Gerber pitched at the Double-A level and began 2020 at the alternate training site in Tacoma. Drafted in the eighth round in 2018, Gerber is on the fast track through the Mariners system. He was called up to the big club on August 4 and became a key part of Servais’ bullpen.
The rookie finished second on the team in relief appearances (17) and third in relief innings (15.2). For the most part, Gerber had a good season with a rough spot here and there, finishing with a 4.02 ERA. At just 23-years-old, Gerber is expected to be a big part of rebuilding the Mariners relief staff.
Righty Erik Swanson was disappointing this year. Maybe he gets some slack for missing several weeks with a forearm strain. However, a 12.91 ERA in 7.2 innings pitched won’t cut it. Swanson has the potential to be a quality long reliever but has to show the Mariners he can be better next spring or its a ticket to Tacoma.
At the 2019 trade deadline, the Seattle Mariners acquired Taylor Guilbeau from Washington. The lefty began the year playing intrasquad games in Tacoma but made one appearance opening week. He came back a week later and was outstanding. Between August 4-20, Guilbeau threw 6.2 innings over seven appearances without yielding a run.
That’s where his 2020 season ended, he missed the rest of the season due to injury. Guilbeau is a strong candidate to head north with the team after spring training in 2021.
Before the season ended, Seattle claimed former Washington State Cougars standout, Ian Hamilton, off of waivers from the Chicago White Sox. In 2019 right shoulder issues sidelined him for a good part of the season, which carried over to 2020. Hamilton spent most of this summer at Chicago’s alternate training site but did pitch in four games for the ChiSox with an ERA of 4.50. I’m sure he’ll have his opportunity to be one of the Seattle Mariners relief pitchers next spring.
Ljay Newsome made Seattle Mariners history on August 20 when he became the franchise’s first 26th round draft pick to play for the team. The 23-year-old did an outstanding job in his MLB debut, going three innings giving up one run. When the M’s traded Taijuan Walker, Newsome replaced him in the rotation. After getting roughed up in his final few starts, he’s a longshot at best to make next season’s rotation. The Mariners will give him a shot at a starting spot in spring training, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if he began next season in Tacoma as either a starter or reliever.
The multi-player deadline trade with San Diego brought several good young players into the organization. Among them was 21-year-old Andres Munoz. He pitched well for the Padres in 2019 with a 3.91 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 23 innings. After one spring training outing this March, Munoz complained of elbow pain. Tommy John surgery was performed in March, which sidelined him for all of this season. When he returns to active duty is unknown. It takes pitchers at least a year to come back from TJS. While Munoz might make an appearance or two for the M’s next year, look for his 102+ miles-per-hour heater to make his impact in 20202.
Aaron Fletcher came over from the Nats with fellow lefty Taylor Guilbeau. He was promoted to Seattle from Tacoma around the midpoint of the season. The results were very disappointing. In six Mariners outings, Fletcher had an ERA of 12.46 with seven walks and seven strikeouts. Because he’s on the M’s 40-man roster, Fletcher could get some opportunities to pitch for Seattle next year. On the bright side, Mariners top prospect Jarred Kelenic said Fletcher was the best lefty he faced this summer at the team’s alternate training site.
The Mariners have three relievers who are among their top 30 prospects in camp next spring to make the opening roster, Sam Delaplane, Wyatt Mills, and Art Warren. These “young guns” will add some fresh faces to the bullpen competition.
We will have the final edition of our series later in the week.