In myriad ways, the Mariners’ bullpen is getting healthier by the day.
Right-hander Matt Brash has been with the club the past few days, and he’s scheduled to travel with the team Thursday for its first road series starting Friday in San Francisco.
Brash, who missed all of 2024 after having Tommy John surgery last May, made his return to the mound in the Mariners’ final spring-training game on March 24. He touched 98.5 mph and pronounced himself ready to begin a minor-league rehab assignment.
That assignment will come soon with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers. But instead of traveling with the Rainiers to Reno — where there’s snow in the forecast this week — Brash will throw a bullpen session in front of Mariners coaches this weekend in San Francisco.
“The stuff is ready now,” Mariners pitching coach Pete Woodworth said.
Brash remains on schedule for a late-April return to the Mariners.
Right-hander Troy Taylor could be back before then.
Taylor, who opened the season on the injured list with a right lat strain, made his first rehab appearance for the Rainiers in Reno on Tuesday, throwing 19 pitches (with 13 strikes) and touching 99 mph. He allowed four hits and two runs in two-thirds of an inning.
Last August, Taylor made his MLB debut and emerged as one of the most valuable arms in the Mariners’ bullpen over the final stretch of the season. The Mariners project the 23-year-old as a potential closer in the future.
Gregory Santos, meanwhile, has been a pleasant surprise in the first week of the season.
The mercurial right-hander has thrown three scoreless innings in his first three appearances of the season, a promising start for the 25-year-old Dominican after his injury-marred debut with the Mariners last season.
Santos touched 100 mph in his most recent outing Tuesday night — he’s averaging 98.4 mph on his sinker so far — and Woodworth said Santos’ slider is comparable to that of closer Andrés Muñoz.
“Santos has been really good,” Woodworth said.
Throwing strikes is most important for Santos, and if he can be effective in the zone — or at least effectively wild — then he could be a viable candidate for the pivot role.
It was in that role that Brash excelled during his breakthrough 2023 season, when he was often called on to relieve a starter and escape a runners-on jam.
The Mariners will be more cautious with Brash when he comes back this time. They’ll plan to deploy him in “clean” situations to start an inning.
“Like any guy coming back from injury, he’s not going to immediately slide back in to pivoting every day. That’s going to be the tough part,” Woodworth said. “It’s a challenge for us, finding out how to use him, at least to start.”
Notes
— George Kirby is scheduled to throw a side session in the next couple days in Arizona as he continues to build up arm strength. Kirby was shut down in early March with shoulder fatigue. If he continues to make steady progress, he could be back with the Mariners by late April.
Kirby’s replacement in the rotation, Emerson Hancock, was demoted to Triple-A on Tuesday after he was roughed up in his season debut Monday. The Mariners, who have an off day Thursday, have not decided which starter will take the No. 5 spot in the rotation when it comes up Sunday in San Francisco.
It’s possible the Mariners could push up the other four starters one day.
“The more days (of rest) we can give our starters, the better, this early in the season,” Woodworth said. “Luckily, we have three off-days in the next (12) days, so it gives those guys either extra days or gives us the ability to push a guy, fix a guy, if anybody’s a little soggier than the other.”
— Two of the Mariners’ top pitching prospects will have a delayed start to their seasons. Right-handed starter Michael Morales, ticketed for Class AA Arkansas, is progressing through a delayed build-up after he was shut down in the offseason because of arm soreness. The Mariners’ third-round pick in 2021 is not expected to make his season debut until late April at the earliest.
— Right-handed reliever Hunter Cranton, the Mariners’ third-round pick in 2024, has been delayed getting up to speed on the mound after suffering a concussion when he was hit by a line drive in his first outing of the spring on March 7.
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