Mariners right-handed pitcher Matt Brash has been red-hot in Triple-A Tacoma, working nine consecutive scoreless outings since May 25.
Brash's demotion and subsequent transition to the bullpen had gotten off to a shaky start, highlighted by a disastrous appearance on May 22 in which he surrendered five earned runs on two hits and a trio of walks against Giants affiliate Sacramento. But since then, he's been lights out and could be well on his way to rejoining Seattle's major league ballclub in the near future.
The 24-year old righty, who was acquired from the Padres for reliever Taylor Williams at the 2020 trade deadline, has tallied 14 strikeouts and walked just two batters during his recent stretch. Only five hits have been recorded against him in that time, with his FIP sitting at an impressive mark of 1.49.
On Tuesday, Brash recorded his second career save at the professional level, striking out a pair of Sacramento hitters and surrendering just one hit. So far, he's pitched on back-to-back days once and two out of three days four times.
Cracking the Mariners' Opening Day roster as a starter, Brash struggled mightily with his command and control after a strong major league debut against the White Sox on April 12. From there, he allowed a combined 15 earned runs on 20 hits while striking out 13 and walking a whopping 16 in 14.2 innings pitched against the Astros (twice), Marlins and Royals.
Although it could be temporary, Seattle is hoping Brash's move to the bullpen will provide a similar spark to when Edwin Díaz underwent a similar transition in 2016. Díaz, who also features a devastating fastball-slider combo like Brash, was an immediate success as a reliever and quickly became the team's go-to high-leverage arm.
Brash has the potential—and the arsenal—to be a game-changer for the Mariners as well.
The team's bullpen, which is tied with the Royals for dead-last in fWAR (0.0) this season, has turned things around as of late and ranks 11th in win probability added (+5.02) since the start of June, thanks to some big contributions from the likes of Diego Castillo, Paul Sewald, Penn Murfee and Erik Swanson. It's also expected to get veteran reliever Ken Giles, who's been on a rehab assignment after suffering an injury to the tendon in his right middle finger, back sometime this week. But even then, the unit could still use more reliable depth, particularly in high-leverage situations, and a breakout from Brash would certainly help solve that issue in a big way.
Frankly, it's possible Brash's return to the bigs could be imminent, especially with the Mariners set to play five games within the next four days against the visiting Angels.
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