Mariners bolster bullpen in late night trade with Baltimore Orioles

The Jerry Dipoto trade chart gained another entry on Wednesday night and the Mariners front office swung a trade with the Baltimore Orioles. They acquired relief pitcher Mike Baumann for Catcher Blake Hunt. It's a move that strengthens and lengthens the Mariners bullpen, which was a bit weaker at this point in the season that the team was hoping, althought brighter times are in sight.

In bringing in Baumann, the Mariners are looking to grab him before anyone else was able to. Of course you think this may be the standard thought process in making a trade, but it's a bit different as Baumann was DFA'd only a few days ago.

The Mariners have acquired Mike Baumann from the Orioles

He's actually been doing well this season despite the DFA, throwing in 17 games for the Orioles. Across 18.1 innings, he had 16 Ks, but has struggled a bit with a 1.473 WHIP. He'd been better of late, with a 1.065 WHIP in his last 9 outings. He mainly throws a 4-seamer that sits around 96 mph, then even throws a knuckle curve and slider as his secondary and tertiary pitches. The Mariners will likely look to increase his slider usage, as opponents are hitting just .176 off of it.

To get him, the Mariners had to trade away Blake Hunt. You may remember Hunt being acquired from the Rays for Tatem Levins in the offseason. Levins has been struggling, so the Mariners looked to have won that trade in the short term. Hunt was doing well in Tacoma, with four homers and a miniscule 11.6% K rate. He's also slashing .293/.372/.533, which is pretty darn good.

The Mariners needed bullpen help, yes, that's true. You know what else they needed? A backup catcher, since Seby Zavala is hitting .188/.212/.344 for the Mariners. It's neat that they were able to get Baumann, someone who can immeadiately step in and help the bullpen in a smaller role. It just would've been nice to trade away someone else, instead of someone that seemed like they would've been a help on a major league level.