The Seattle Mariners’ bullpen is back to near full strength after a three-week period without two key relievers, according to a May 29 report. Manager Dan Wilson said during the club’s series against the Athletics in West Sacramento that having all relievers available is a significant boost for the team.
Left-hander Gabe Speier returned on Tuesday, making his first appearance in nearly a month and pitching a scoreless inning. Speier said he received a cortisone injection after an MRI revealed inflammation in his left shoulder following outings in Minnesota on April 28-29. He took four days off from throwing before beginning a rehab assignment on May 20, making appearances with High-A Everett and Triple-A Tacoma before rejoining the Mariners.
“The biggest thing is just feeling good,” Speier said. “When I went down, it was just this pinch in the front, and that’s completely gone. So that was kind of like the main thing I wanted to see, is you know, step on it, get after it, and not feel that, and that happened. So that was good. It felt good and I feel good now.”
Speier’s return followed right-hander Matt Brash’s by six days; both had been sidelined with shoulder inflammation since April 29. Brash has logged two scoreless outings since returning and maintains an ERA of 0.00 through 16 appearances this season.
During their absence, Seattle’s bullpen pitched only 55 innings—the second-fewest in Major League Baseball over that span—and posted a collective ERA of 2.78. For the season overall, the Mariners’ bullpen holds the second-lowest earned run average in the American League at 3.16 over just 182 innings pitched.
Looking ahead, Wilson indicated that spreading out pitching duties early should benefit Seattle later in the season: “There’s been quite a few guys that have gotten hurt this year,” Speier said, “… But yeah, it’s great to be back, and you know the bullpen’s kind of at full strength now… That’s a good feeling for sure.”
