Mariners' pitching clown car adds a Mexican League standout plucked from Rangers

The Seattle Mariners have used only 22 different pitchers this year, tied for the fewest in MLB. Yet the relief depth chart, at least, has achieved a clown-car sort of vibe. There's no way of knowing who might be out next of the bullpen door next. Heck, it might even be Nolan Kingham.

It sounds like a name an A.I. chatbot would spit out if prompted to imagine a fictional minor league pitcher, but he does actually exist and he is actually a Mariner. He was a member of the Texas Rangers organization, but not anymore after Seattle claimed the righty off waivers on Monday.

It looks like a "Might as well!" sort of move by Jerry Dipoto and company. The 40-man roster had open spots even before the oddest Mariners legend of them all, Casey Lawrence, opted out of his minor league deal. And if this year has proved anything, it's that anyone who can pitch for the Mariners ultimately will.

Nolan Kingham comes to the Mariners with 1 inning of MLB experience and an interesting backstory

Seriously, this Mariners team has somehow gotten 20-plus appearances out of guys like Alex Hoppe, Cole Wilcox, Michael Rucker and Nick Davila. In no universe was that the plan, yet a 162-game season inevitably provides reasons to throw plans out and simply do what is possible.

Hoppe isn't even in the organization anymore, and the same is true of Casey Legumina and José Suarez. Domingo González and Cole Wilcox still are, but in the minors and in the injured list, respectively. And with that, we've name-checked all the randos who have pitched in relief for Dan Wilson this year!

If Kingham eventually adds his name to the list, it'll be surprising only because he's technically in the organization as a starting pitcher and not as a reliever. And the shoe fits, as 16 of the 18 professional appearances he's made this year have been as a starter.

Six of those were for the Sultanes de Monterrey in the Mexican League, and they yielded an impressive 1.82 ERA and 1.010 WHIP. That caught the attention of the Rangers, who signed him and had him pitch mostly as a starter for Triple-A Round Rock.

It was nonetheless in relief that Kingham made his major league debut against the San Francisco Giants on August 3. He flashed a 95.4 mph four-seamer and got his first (and currently only) major league strikeout on a slider to Willy Adames. But lest anyone get too excited, both of those pitches got hit for a slugging percentage over .600 in the 11 appearances Kingham made for Round Rock.

This is to say that Kingham is still working to establish himself as A Guy. And since it's been eight years since the Atlanta Braves chose him in the 12th round of the 2018 draft, he's more likely to be a never-bloomer than a late-bloomer.

As far as the Mariners are concerned, though, what matters is that Kingham has a functional arm. At least until Carlos Vargas, Matt Brash and Cooper Criswell are all back in the bullpen, that could be good enough to earn him a second look in the majors.

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