Seattle Mariners: Bullpen has kept club in AL playoff picture
With as bad as the Seattle Mariners starting rotation has been, the team is still in contention for a playoff berth. Much of the credit can be given to the bullpen, which has stepped up since the beginning of July.
No one is talking about Seattle.
It could be because the Seattle Mariners didn’t make a huge splash at the trade deadline or because they aren’t considered as contenders by baseball fans and analysts alike.
The club’s biggest news all season has been about the slew of injuries its pitchers endured throughout the first half of the season. Yet the team sits just 2.5 games of out the playoffs at this point.
People can point fingers and say general manager Jerry Dipoto is the one to thank, after wheeling and dealing all offseason. Others can praise skipper Scott Servais for guiding the team towards a playoff berth, even though there’s no legitimate shot of claiming the division.
But if it weren’t for the Mariners’ bullpen, they wouldn’t be in this situation.
The team’s relievers compiled the third-best ERA in July at 2.29. Just two pitchers coming out of the pen sported ERAs above 4.00 last month – Marc Rzepczynski and James Pazos. The rest were dominant.
Edwin Diaz has found his groove again as Seattle’s closer. He received criticism as the closer earlier in the season, even though he was never really that bad. The young fireballer blew just two saves in the first two months and possessed a 3.80 ERA entering June. That’s clearly not as bad as Fernando Rodney or Sam Dyson, who each still have closing jobs.
The 23-year-old reached new heights in July, allowing just two runs in 13 2/3 innings while whiffing 21 batters. He continues to be an elite up-and-coming reliever for the M’s.
A pair of pitchers that haven’t gotten much appreciation are Nick Vincent and Tony Zych. Sure, they aren’t on the level of Craig Kimbrel or Archie Bradley, but they have been solid for a team that lacks an intimidating pitching staff.
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Zych resembles Brandon Kintzler, inducing ground balls frequently while striking out relatively few hitters. Zych’s ground-ball rate is 48.8 percent career-wise, per Fangraphs. Vincent doesn’t strike out many batters either, but gets outs via the fly ball.
Both have played key parts in the Mariners’ bullpen, sporting the two best ERAs on the team of any pitcher with more than 10 innings pitched.
They aren’t the only contributors though. Since being recalled for his fourth stint with the big league club, Emilio Pagan has been impactful. He tossed 13 1/3 innings in July, allowing just one run, while striking out 15.
With new additions David Phelps and Erasmo Ramirez and Pagan, Seattle now boasts reliable long relievers and late-inning pitchers. If the pen continues to mystify hitters, the Mariners’ playoff chances improve substantially.
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Now if only the starting rotation could step it up as much as bullpen has this past month.