Matt Brash, Gabe Speier updates aren't the good news the Mariners truly need

Not one person has ever complained about an already solid bullpen getting even stronger. And with Matt Brash and Gabe Speier close to rejoining the team, nobody connected to the Seattle Mariners is about to be the first.

Unless something goes wrong in the next few hours, Brash figures to be the first one back. He's been on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Tacoma, and Jerry Dipoto hinted during an in-game interview on Tuesday that the right-hander could be activated as soon as Wednesday.

What a boost that would be. Since returning from Tommy John surgery last summer, Brash has worked a 1.99 ERA over 67 appearances. Him going on the injured list with right lat inflammation seemed like more of a safety measure than anything, and he's looked like his usual self while on rehab.

Speier, meanwhile, is set to join High-A Everett to start his rehab assignment on Wednesday. This counts as a pleasant surprise, as his diagnosis of left shoulder inflammation sounded akin to a five-alarm fire. Instead, the lefty could be back within the next week.

It's not the Mariners bullpen that could use a couple of potential saviors

Brash last pitched on April 28. Speier last pitched a day later on April 29. Without either of them or Carlos Vargas in the pen, it was basically Andrés Muñoz, Jose A. Ferrer and pray for rain.

Or not, as it turns out. The pen has been just fine in May, posting a 2.78 ERA and a 24.7 strikeout percentage that each rank within the top 10 of MLB. There have been hiccups, most recently including a too-slow hook for Luis Castillo that hung Muñoz out to dry on Tuesday. But for the most part, the pen is not to blame for the club's 7-11 skid in May.

So, if you'll pardon the scorching-hot take: it's really the offense that needs good news.

It's nice that Colt Emerson is up and already hitting dingers — or at least the one dinger, anyway — but the offense has been the prime suspect in too many of the Mariners' 27 losses. It has notably produced three runs or fewer in eight of the team's MLB-high 12 one-run losses. It's also been one-hit twice after getting one-hit just once all of last season.

Literally any kind of good news would do here. Best of all would be if Cal Raleigh (oblique strain) and Brendan Donovan (groin strain) were the next ones to get positive injury updates. Failing that, any sign that Cole Young, Dominic Canzone or especially Rob Refsnyder is about to stop slumping would be more than welcome.

This is it, folks. For all of the imperfections in the depth chart and Dan Wilson's faults as a strategist, it's hard to ask the pitching to do any more than it already is. Because when that side has allowed the eighth-fewest runs in the league while the other has scored the ninth-fewest, something tells me the other side is the real problem.

Until that changes, the Mariners aren't going to find it any easier to win games. It's that simple.

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