Seattle Mariners source locally, call up pitcher Riley O’Brien

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May 6, 2022

The Seattle Mariners made some roster moves. One of those moves meant calling up a local product, Riley O’Brien for his chance to debut in Seattle.

Three weeks ago, the Seattle Mariners made a trade with the Cincinnati Reds for P Riley O’Brien in exchange for cash considerations or a player to be named later. The Mariners initially assigned him to Tacoma to start his tenure with the organization. Last night, O’Brien got the call to pack his bags and board the plane to join the M’s main roster. Let’s get the 411 on who O’Brien is, and why the Mariners made a play for him.

Brief History

O’Brien played high school baseball for Shorewood High School, and his college days were spent at Everett Community College. He was an 8th-round draft pick back in 2017 by Tampa Bay and was then traded to Cincinnati in 2020 for P Cody Reed. O’Brien got his first career MLB start in September 2021, where he lasted just 1.1 innings.

Transition to the Pen

After spending the majority of his career as a starting pitcher, when the Mariners acquired O’Brien, they had the intention of transitioning him to a relief role. This has proven to be successful for the start of his season. In 2022, has a 2.08 ERA over 8.2 innings, along with 11 Ks in his last 6 games.

His most recent pitching appearance came on May 3 against Salt Lake City where he pitched the 7th and 8th innings, allowing only 1 hit and 1 walk, to go along with his 2 strikeouts. This performance was good enough to get him his first career win as a relief pitcher.

Why the Mariners?

O’Brien was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. He played his entire high school and college career here. In a season when expectations are high, making moves like this in an attempt to bring a son back to his family, while also revitalizing his career is a great move by GM Jerry Dipoto. It was a low-risk – high-reward situation.

If O’Brien pitches as well as he has for the Rainiers, the M’s look like geniuses. This is not the only time that Dipoto has brought a hometown name back to the Emerald City. Two days after the M’s announced the acquisition of O’Brien, they made a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks for CF Stuart Fairchild in exchange for cash considerations. Like O’Brien, Fairchild hails from Seattle and grew up a Mariners fan.

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Needless to say, Mother’s Day is definitely on Dipoto’s mind these days. He brought home two boys to their mothers and also obtained some valuable depth to an already deep roster.

 

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