Seattle Mariners pitcher Andres Munoz (75) reacts after recording the last out of the game against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on May 3. Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

ESPN MLB Insider Makes Case For Seattle Mariners' Reliever as Best in Baseball

Originally posted on Seattle Mariners on SI
By Brady Farkas | Last updated May 23, 2025 6:45 PM ET

CHICAGO - Heading into Friday night's contest with the Houston Astros, Seattle Mariners reliever Andres Munoz appears to be headed for a second straight All-Star season.

Through 22 games, Munoz is 16-for-16 in save opportunities. He's got 28 strikeouts in 21.2 innings and he's also still got a 0.00 ERA, despite the calendar nearly flipping to Memorial Day.

Speaking on the most recent edition of the Refuse to Lose podcast, ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney made the case for Munoz as the best reliever in the sport:

So my colleague Paul Hembekides, who's a researcher on the show 'Get Up' at ESPN, he's a content producer, I have him on the podcast all the time: He's a total baseball nerd. He declared on the podcast that came out on Wednesday that Munoz is the best reliever in baseball because he strikes out hitters at incredibly high rates and when he's not getting strikeouts, he's getting ground balls. Because of the incredible combination that he has, four-seam and two-seam fastball with a run on them. It's clear that opposing hitters, as Hembo explained, that they just have a really hard time squaring up the stuff.

And the slider that he throws is a big swing and miss pitch for him as well. So, it's interesting. I feel like the relievers are more volatile than just about any position. I had that conversation with an executive this week where he said, 'boy, with some of these teams like the Orioles who have struggled this year, you can almost trace the times when they were good, was when their bullpen was good.' And from year-to-year you're not sure exactly what you're going to get right now. What the Mariners, they are are getting, is the best relief in baseball.

You can listen to the full interview with Olney in the podcast player below:

The Mariners enter play on Friday at 28-21 and in first place in the American League West.

This article first appeared on Seattle Mariners on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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