Mariners' Matt Brash undergoes Tommy John surgery, ending his 2024 season

Seattle has officially lost yet another high leverage reliever. In addition to Gregory Santos who has been on the IL since joining the team, it was announced that Matt Brash had undergone Tommy John surgery on Wednesday and will not be pitching at all this season.

He was one of the best bullpen pieces in baseball last year, posting a 3.06 ERA and 13.6 SO/9 over his 70 ⅔ innings pitched. Known for his wipeout slider, he had a strikeout rate of 44.1% on the pitch and a whiff rate of 48.5%. Opposing batters averaged just .162 against it. His cumulative strikeout and whiff rates of 38.1% and 34.7% were amongst the top 2% of qualified pitchers.

Matt Brash underwent Tommy John and is out for the season

When asked for comments, Scott Servais remarked that losing an integral, high-leverage reliever like Matt Brash is hard to take and will require him to be even smarter about how he utilizes his remaining relievers. On the bright side, he added that relievers tend to come back a little quicker than starters because they don't have to worry as much as about ramping up to volume. Furthermore, Brash is just 25 years old so he should still have plenty of great pitching ahead of him.

In addition to Brash and Santos, the Mariners also lost Tayler Saucedo after an in-game incident which saw him hyperextend his knee on a play at first base. Seattle isn't short of pitching talent by any means but fans shouldn't expect the bullpen to be nearly as dominant as it was in 2023. The hope is that he is able to come back in 2025 at some point to rejoin the team. Whether he does or doesn't, we all wish Matt Brash a speedy and healthy recovery.