Seattle Mariners Bullpen: 2021 Opening Day vs. 2020
Herb Nightengale
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Anyone who watched the Seattle Mariners play in 2020 knows the bullpen was their weak spot. GM Jerry Dipoto revamped the unit in the offseason. They should be much better in 2021.
We will look at this year’s version of the Seattle Mariners‘ opening day bullpen compared to last season’s. There are only two returning relievers on this year’s opening day roster, Anthony Misiewicz and Nick Margevicius. The rest are either converted starters or pitched someplace else at the beginning of last season.
2020
Last year, the Seattle Mariners relief corps was abysmal. At times, when manager Scott Servais called to the pen, it was like adding gasoline to a fire. Very rarely did the M’s get great results. A concept such as consistent good outings over multiple games didn’t exist.
The Seattle Mariners bullpen began the 2020 season with 11 relievers because of the COVID-19 expanded rosters for the shortened season. They opened the season with relievers were Dan Altavilla, Brandon Brennan, Nestor Cortes, Carl Edwards Jr., Zach Grotz, Matt Magill, Yohan Ramirez, Bryan Shaw, Taylor Williams, along with Nick Margevicius and Anthony Misiewicz.
Only three spent the entire season on Seattle’s roster Misiewicz, Margevicius, and Yohan Ramirez. The rest were either injured, traded, or otherwise didn’t pan out. As a sign of overall bullpen improvement, Ramirez didn’t make the team out of spring training this year. The M’s assigned him to their alternate site, so he could be back up with the team at any time.
Converted
Kendall Graveman had a tough start to his Seattle Mariners career. After a pair of unsuccessful starts last season, he was diagnosed with a benign tumor on his spine. When he came back, Graveman pitched out of the pen quite effectively. In nine relief appearances, the lefty pitched 10 innings with a 3.60 ERA and .167 BAA. His stuff looked even better in Spring Training.