Andrés Muñoz, the Seattle Mariners’ closer, said on April 16 that he is searching for his best form after allowing a career-high five earned runs in the ninth inning of a walk-off loss against the Padres. Muñoz described it as “the worst outing of his career” and admitted, “I need to find myself again.”
The situation matters for the Mariners as Muñoz has been an important part of their bullpen and his performance can influence close games. Despite this setback, team officials continue to show confidence in him.
Manager Dan Wilson said there is no hesitation about using Muñoz in high-leverage situations unless rest is needed. “Outside of that, I think we feel pretty good about where he is,” Wilson said.
Muñoz explained that his main issue is with the grip on his slider—a pitch that was especially problematic during Thursday’s game and has been inconsistent since last year. He stated, “It’s a grip thing… It’s feeling weird, and it’s been like that since last year, too.” In 2025 hitters managed only a .109 batting average against his slider—one of Major League Baseball’s best marks among pitchers who threw at least 250 sliders—but so far this season batters are hitting .158 against it.
Despite these struggles, Trent Blank, director of pitching strategy for Seattle, said he evaluates relievers over several outings rather than focusing on one bad appearance. Blank added that proprietary projections still show upside for Muñoz’s slider: “Truthfully, I don’t see maybe the same things he’s seeing.” According to Blank’s assessment based on spin rate and whiff percentage data from recent outings, there are no significant deviations from last year’s performance.
While Thursday’s results were disappointing for both player and team—and came with family visiting from Mexico—Mariners leadership remains optimistic about Muñoz regaining command of his key pitch moving forward.
