Mariners’ Playoff Push Takes Hit With Season-Ending Update

Seattle Mariners reliever Matt Brash will not pitch again this season after an MRI confirmed lingering inflammation in his right lat muscle.

General manager Justin Hollander made the announcement Friday before the Mariners faced the Athletics at T-Mobile Park. Brash had been trying to work his way back from an injury that first landed him on the injured list in June.

“He will be shut down for eight weeks. So that’s obviously his season,” Hollander said.

The 28-year-old right-hander appeared in 20 games this year and posted a 3-0 record with a 0.54 ERA. He struck out 15 batters over 16 2/3 innings while walking five.

Brash first dealt with lat inflammation in May, missing about three weeks. He returned briefly, then went back on the injured list in early June with a strain in the same area. The team later moved him to the 60-day injured list.

Seattle had hoped he might return in August or September to help a bullpen that has struggled in the second half. Since Aug. 1 the relief corps has posted one of the highest ERAs in the majors.

A bullpen session during the recent series in Boston seemed to go well at first. Brash felt tightness afterward, prompting another MRI on Thursday.

The scan showed no structural damage.

“Nothing structurally,” Hollander said. “There’s no tears. He has inflammation similar to where it was before in the same spot.”

Doctors recommended complete rest rather than continued throwing.

“We’re not really sure what’s causing the problem right now,” Hollander said. “He just needs more rest. Like, what we’re seeing is that he’s not getting full healing. Even when he began his throwing progression, it was improved but not gone. The recommendation was to throw and see how it went, and we were super encouraged by the way that went until we hit this plateau. So that tells me — and that tells our docs and everyone — that we just need to shut it down and see where we are in eight weeks.”

The pattern had become familiar. Brash often felt fine throwing on flat ground and even during bullpen sessions, only for tightness to return in the hours afterward.

“This has been a recurring theme with this specific injury,” Hollander said. “He feels good when he’s throwing on flat ground, but in the pens, it’s continued to tighten up on him as he finishes the bullpen and gets into the recovery phase.”

The extra downtime should allow the inflammation to clear.

“The hope is that he can start his offseason throwing progression sometime in early November,” Hollander said.

Brash has been a valuable piece when healthy. He threw more than 70 innings in 2023 with a 3.06 ERA. After missing all of 2024 following Tommy John surgery, he returned last season and posted a 2.47 ERA in 47 1/3 innings.

This year’s limited workload still showed his stuff. Opponents managed just eight hits against him. Yet the repeated setbacks left him unable to complete a normal progression to live batting practice or a rehab assignment.

The Mariners now turn their attention to the remaining games with the roster they have. Brash’s focus shifts to full recovery so he can enter 2027 spring training without the same limitations.

Team officials said they expect him to follow a normal offseason throwing program once the rest period ends. For now the right-hander’s 2026 season is over.