Mariners' newest pitching project from Dodgers trade could fill crucial bullpen need

Surprisingly, the Mariners were the team to strike first this offseason, bringing back Josh Naylor on a deal that will keep him around for the long haul. This move seems to confirm that the front office wants to be aggressive this offseason and focus on bringing back the players that got them through seven games in the ALCS. However, while the Naylor deal will undoubtedly be impactful, reunions aren't the only priority for the front office this winter.

The Mariners are hoping to revamp their bullpen and made yet another reliever acquisition in Robinson Ortiz

Last week, it was reported that Seattle was looking to bolster its bullpen without breaking the bank, a tricky ordeal given the skewed quality of this year's free agents. To this end, the Mariners already made a move to claim Ryan Loutos off of waivers and more recently acquired left-handed reliever Robinson Ortiz from the Dodgers in exchange for right-handed pitcher Tyler Gough.

Ortiz signed with Los Angeles as an international free agent at just 17 years old and had promising numbers in his first few minor league seasons before COVID and injuries limited him to just 22.2 innings pitched from 2020 to 2024. He bounced back in a big way in 2025, posting a 2.73 ERA in 59.1 innings pitched across High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A.

He primarily relied on a sinker in the mid-90s and a slider in the mid-80s this year, seeing strong results on both pitches. His sinker had a whiff rate of 28.9% in 2025, very high for a pitch with whiff rates traditionally between 10 and 15 percent. Only three pitchers (Josh Hader, Garrett Whitlock, and Brendon Little) had sinker whiff rates higher than 25 percent in the big leagues this year.

Ortiz's 28.3 strikeout rate this past season was impressive, but his overall effectiveness was held back by a 13.0 walk rate. The spread between his strikeout and walk rate tightened even further in Triple-A as he gave up more free passes while fanning fewer hitters. Command seems to be his major weakness thus far but if honed in, his stuff is clearly good enough to be an effective bullpen arm.

The Mariners have been looking for another southpaw to complement Gabe Speier ever since Tayler Saucedo began to struggle at the beginning of 2025. Aside from Caleb Ferguson, no other left-handed pitcher threw more than three innings for Seattle and the lack of a real platoon advantage hurt them more than a few times. Robinson Ortiz is far from a household name and still has plenty to prove but with his upside and natural talent, he could be Seattle's sleeper pickup of the offseason.