Mariners right-hander Casey Sadler is dealing with soreness in his throwing shoulder and is “going to be down for quite some time,” manager Scott Servais told reporters (including MLB.com’s Jesse Borek and The Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish). Sadler is apparently taking time to decide on what his next step will be, which could be an indication that surgery is being considered to address the issue.
Seattle’s lockdown bullpen was one of the main reasons the M’s recorded a surprising 90 wins in 2021, and Sadler was a major part of that relief corps. The righty had the lowest ERA of any pitcher in baseball with at least 40 innings pitched last season, as Sadler posted a tiny 0.67 number over 40 1/3 frames. After being charged with an earned run in an appearance against the Athletics on July 25, Sadler then held opponents scoreless over his next 29 appearances and 28 innings, a streak that is still ongoing.
Sadler is a grounder specialist, and thus obviously benefited from a .188 BABIP after generating a 62.9% groundball rate last year. Still, ERA predictors (3.06 SIERA, 3.25 xFIP) also liked his work, as Sadler posted a solid 25.5% strikeout rate and 6.9% walk rate, and his 0.22 HR/9 was also the third-lowest of any pitcher in the 40+ innings club. Sadler has also posted excellent spin rates on his fastball and curve in each of the last three years.
A veteran of six MLB seasons, Sadler’s performance has been inconsistent, which isn’t unexpected for a pitcher who relies so heavily on grounders. Of Sadler’s 125 2/3 innings, 86 2/3 of those frames have come in his two best seasons — last year with the Mariners, and his 2019 season when he had a 2.14 ERA over 46 1/3 combined IP with the Rays and Dodgers.
The 31-year-old reached arbitration eligibility for the first time this winter, and agreed to a $1.025M salary for the 2022 season. Unfortunately for both Sadler and the M’s, it now seems as though it will be some time before he can continue his scoreless-innings streak or perhaps even get back onto a mound. Sadler also missed over two and a half months on the injured list last season due to shoulder inflammation, and he also had a major injury setback earlier in his career as a member of the Pirates organization, when Tommy John surgery cost Sadler the entire 2016 season.
Most of the Mariners’ 2021 bullpen is returning, though they’ll now have Ken Giles in the mix, after Giles missed all of 2021 recovering from his own Tommy John procedure. Left-hander Ryan Buchter was also signed to a minor league deal earlier today, adding another veteran arm to the mix.
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