43 days until Mariners Opening Day! Previewing #43 Andres Muñoz

There are now just 43 days to go until Opening Day! As we have been doing for the last couple of months and will continue to do so until the big day, we are counting down the days by previewing the player that corresponds with the days until Opening Day. So, let’s look at the Mariners new number 43 Andres Muñoz.

Muñoz came over to Seattle in the Austin Nola deal, and even though Trammell and France were both in the trade Munoz has back of the bullpen stuff and is yet to turn 22, which means he could end up being the biggest part of the trade.

So what should we expect from the new Mariners reliever Andres Muñoz? Spoiler: Gas

Muñoz has a fastball that averages 99.9 mph and he hits the 100’s regularly. He uses two pitches, a 4 seamer and slider, and only throws the slider on a third of pitches. During his only season in the majors, Muñoz threw out of the bullpen 22 times and had a 3.91 ERA and a 3.17 FIP in 23 innings pitched.

However, Muñoz missed all of last season due to having Tommy John Surgery in March. Muñoz is on track for a June return according to Scott Servais, which would be a 14-month recovery from his Tommy John Surgery. But, at the age of 22 and with his potential, I would not be surprised if he gets more time than that to recover.

Hopefully Muñoz can come back at 100% health and maintain his velocity. If he can do that while staying healthy in the future, as I mentioned earlier he has potential to be the best player in the Austin Nola trade.

With a fastball that averaged 100 mph, he could also lose a mph or two as a trade off for more control. I still would hope that Muñoz can keep all of the velocity though as I can not wait for him to make his Mariners debut later this year or next so we can see his 102 mph fastball and wipeout slider.