Now that Mariners will be starting spring training in almost two weeks let’s look at who will be competing for a spot in the bullpen. Like most of the roster there aren’t many spots available to make the team. Outside the primary guys there could only be about one spot open and it would have to be someone unexpected who has a really good spring training or an injury happens.
The Mariners have ten pitchers plus a few minor league invitees who be going for eight spots. The Mariners might bring seven pitchers north but most likely it will be eight which leaves the Mariners with three bench players.
One of the bullpen spots most likely go to a pitcher that is competing in spring training for the starting rotation. This pitcher will be the long relief pitcher and add depth to the starting rotation along with some starting in Tacoma. The Mariners are hoping they won’t have a season like last year where they used forty pitchers including seventeen as starters.
Edwin Diaz return again as the primary closer. The Mariners signed Juan Nicasio as a free agent to pitch the eighth inning plus the ninth when Diaz needs a rest. Nicasio ended last season as the closer for the St. Louis Cardinals. He will share the eighth inning with Nick Vincent. The Mariners want to be sure that Vincent isn’t overused like last season when he ran out of steam in September. After off-season surgery the Mariners are hoping to have a healthy David Phelps all season long. Phelps will be the primary reliever in the seventh inning who can go a couple innings if necessary. Mark Rzepczynski will return as the left handed specialist along with fellow lefty James Pazos who will be able to go at least one inning as well like Phelps. So that makes six pitchers with one spot to fight over since the eighth likely will be long reliever.
The pitchers that will be competing for the seventh spot in the bullpen will be hard throwing Dan Altavilla who the Mariners could begin the season in Tacoma however I am sure they would love him to nail that spot down. He could be used as a closer as well. Other candidates would be Tony Zych who returns once again to compete for the spot. Zych again spent part of last season on the disabled list however he was able to pitch in forty-five games with a solid 2.66. Like Altavilla he is a hard thrower and is only twenty-seven years old. Another candidate is Shawn Armstrong who the Mariners acquired in a trade from the Cleveland Indians for international slot money. He only pitched in twenty-one games for the Indians last season so we will have to see. I am sure the Mariners staff saw enough of him that they thought he could compete for a spot in the bullpen. Another guy is Nick Rumbelow who they acquired from the New York Yankees however the last time he pitched in the major leagues was 2015. The Mariners have other candidates to compete for the bullpen but the chance of them making the opening day roster is slim since only one spot is really up contention.
Since we are fans and not sure how the starting rotation will be during the 2018 it will be important that the Mariners have a strong bullpen. With the Mariners everyday lineup that should score enough runs and the starting rotation the three primary starters in James Paxton, Felix Hernandez and Mike Leake can go at least six innings should help out. Erasmo Ramirez is expected to be the fourth starter so if he can make it into the sixth inning that would be nice as well. Whoever the fifth starter is the long reliever will likely be available to come in those games.
Anyway spring training will be interesting to see fills out the one or two spots remaining in the bullpen. The Mariners will have some depth there if they need to bring up anyone from Tacoma during the season. Go M’s.