Wihelmsen Back at Closer

Was anyone else surprised to see the bartender closing the game on Sunday August 23? I certainly was though in the back of my mind I was hoping he would be closing. I thought it was time for Carson Smith to stop closing games for a while anyway.

Like most of the bullpen Wihelmsen has been struggling off and on all season. Right now he does look like he is in the right frame of mind to close game; how long that will last is anyone’s guess. Also, like most of the bullpen he spent some time down in Tacoma. He was there only for about ten days which is minimum time required staying in the minors before being recalled. You can only be recalled sooner because of some else being put on the disabled list. The time spent with the Rainiers did seem to do him some good and he has pitched better than the rest of the bullpen. Of course, we all know that is not very hard to do.

Wihelmsen is one of the few guys in the bullpen to have experience in closing besides Carson Smith since Rodney was released on Saturday.  Though I did say I like him as a closer he is still better being a setup man just like Smith.  Wihelmsen like everyone else in the bullpen is auditioning for next season; he is one of the few veteran pitchers the Mariners have in the bullpen now. Right now Joe Beimel and Charlie Furbush are on the disabled list; Beimel will be returning to the bullpen when the time is up soon from the disabled list but Furbush is out for the rest of the season.  

The Mariners still think highly of Wihelmsen otherwise he most likely would have been traded at the end of July trading deadline. In fact I read on twitter just before the Mariners traded J.A. Happ to the Pittsburgh Pirates that there was interest in Wihelmsen. I figured the Mariners didn’t trade him because no one was willing to give them good enough prospects in return.

I do really hope the bartender is around the Mariners for several more years; he is a nice guy with a great sense of humor to go along with Furbush but relief pitchers can lose it so fast we have seen that this year in Seattle.  So September will be interesting month for the Mariners regarding the bullpen along with the rest of the team. Go Mariners!