Crafting a 4-step plan to fix the Mariners' brutally awful bullpen

When people think of the Seattle Mariners, they think of top-tier arms. There's Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Andrés Muñoz, and the list goes on and on.

Unfortunately, the pitching staff seems a little top-heavy in 2025. While the top stars are shining bright, the other guys are struggling just to stay afloat, especially in the bullpen. It has been the target of the vast majority of roster moves by the front office and it doesn't look like things are slowing down.

So, what are some actionable things the Mariners can do to get the pen back on track?

Presenting a 4-step plan to fix the Mariners bullpen

1. Get Matt Brash back from the IL

While obvious, it needs to be acknowledged. For more than a year, one of the organization's most exciting pitchers has been on the shelf. On the bright side, Brash's recovery has been going well and his most recent action in rehab outings has been outstanding. It shouldn't be long before we see him back with the big league team.

He's currently slated for a return in late April or early May, but the sooner the better. The back of the bullpen could use another reliable arm to go with Muñoz and Gabe Speier, and Brash would provide the team with a third viable high-leverage option, assuming he's fully healthy and picks up where he left off.

2. Lean more heavily on Gabe Speier

Speaking of Speier, he has been incredible so far. There were plenty of encouraging signs during the offseason and it's refreshing to see the optimism pay off. His velocity is meaningfully higher, which has given him best-in-class whiff, chase, and strikeout rates while minimizing walks and hard contact. Those are all reasons he still has a perfect 0.00 ERA over his first nine appearances.

Currently, he's primarily used as a setup man or in platoon situations. Of the 28 plate appearances he has pitched thus far, 11 of them have been in the eighth inning and eight have been in the seventh inning. He hasn't yet pitched in the ninth inning, but he has pitched in high leverage and has held opposing hitters to a .282 OPS in those spots. This should encourage Dan Wilson to give more responsibility to Speier and place more trust in him to handle business when needed.

3. Limit Collin Snider and Eduard Bazardo to platoon work

At first glance, Collin Snider is pretty good. He has a 3.38 ERA over his eight innings, which isn't too shabby. Against right-handed batters specifically, he's been top-notch, limiting opposing hitters to a .594 OPS.

Against southpaws, it's a little different. Snider has pitched 12 lefty plate appearances so far and the results are a cumulative 1.000 OPS. Maybe it's because he doesn't really have a great pitch to attack lefties on the outside of the zone. Whatever the cause is, he should probably be limited to just righties for now.

A reliever whose platoon splits are even more extreme is Eduard Bazardo. He has held right-handed batters to just a .476 OPS, but has gotten shelled by lefties for a 1.173 OPS. These lopsided numbers are a big reason why Bazardo's ERA has ballooned to a 6.35 over the 11.1 innings he has thrown so far.

This does leave the Mariners' hands a little tied when it comes to going to the bullpen against a lefty-heavy lineup, but it's already been shown that neither Bazardo nor Snider are having great success.

4. Get another left-handed pitcher

With Tayler Saucedo being optioned to Triple-A Tacoma following a rough start to the season, Speier is now the only left-handed pitcher on the big league depth chart. This lopsided composition leaves Seattle vulnerable to any lineup that does especially well against right-handed pitching and limits Wilson's ability to get the platoon advantage.

There's more than enough room on the roster to swap out a current player for one or two impactful southpaws, but who are some of the better options?

The currently available class of free agents is thin, but a flier on someone like Will Smith is feasible. A trade is more likely to be effective, and there has been quite of conversation around the possibility of Seattle being the center of a major deal.

There are several players on teams that are likely open to trade talks that could be of help. José Suarez has a 2.45 ERA on an Atlanta Braves team struggling to get going. Keegan Akin has a 2.79 ERA and could be a part of package that would send the Baltimore Orioles some much-needed starting pitching assistance. Garrett Cleavinger has a 3.00 ERA for the Tampa Bay Rays, but that would require dealing with one of the most cunning front offices in baseball.

The point is, there are options on the market if the Mariners front office decides to look. There's a chance the team decides to stay the course and depend on the stronger parts of the roster to shoulder the burden of winning but if the organization wants to make a more well-rounded roster, they'll have to take action and build it themselves.