The Mariners informed reporters today, including Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times, that right-hander Matt Brash has medial elbow inflammation and can start playing catch on Tuesday. He likely won’t be ready for Opening Day but it’s still a positive development since reporting from earlier this week indicated that missing the entire season was a possibility.
Brash was shut down from throwing a week ago, downplaying the severity of his issues by saying he was just “banged up” and “didn’t feel great” after throwing a bullpen. As mentioned, subsequent reporting from a couple of days ago suggested Brash was at risk of missing significant time, perhaps even all of 2024.
That makes today’s news a welcome development for the Mariners, though the concern will likely linger until he gets back on the mound. In the short term, he’ll resume his program shortly and try to build up for game readiness.
If that all goes well, it will be a great relief for the Seattle bullpen. Brash posted a 3.06 ERA last year but may have deserved even better. He struck out a huge 34.7% of batters faced while also posting an above-average 46.1% ground ball rate. His 9.7% walk rate was a tad high but not disastrously so, with relievers around the league averaging a 9.5% clip last year. Some extra runs may have scored thanks to a .380 batting average on balls in play and 77.2% strand rate, which is why his 2.26 FIP and 2.86 SIERA were even more bullish on his performance. He did all that while racking up four saves and 24 holds.
The club figures to have Andrés Muñoz in the closer’s role with Brash and Gregory Santos likely to be in setup jobs. There were recent injury concerns about both, as Santos had some discomfort near his teres major muscle. But Santos has already begun playing catch and general manager Justin Hollander suggested today that things are moving in a positive direction, per Divish. If things continue to trend well for Santos and Brash, it will be a nice development for the club, especially considering how worrisome things looked not too long ago.
Well they should still be looking for BP depth. Elbow inflammation often means TJs. Even if he doesn’t go down they could still use options.
They’re always looking for pitching depth. They never stop adding/upgrading. It’s one of the few guarantees we can expect from Seattle.
I think its critical now. They have an uncertain situation with one of their top bullpen arms and very little starting pitching depth after Hancock. And yes of course they will he fishing for pitchers and churning the bottom of their depth like they always do.
They literally have half a dozen guys in camp for BP depth:
– Trevor Kelley
– Joey Krehbiel
– Kirby Snead
– Tyson Miller
– Heath Hembree
– Ty Buttrey
– Travis Kuhn
– Sean Poppen
– Casey Lawrence
– Jhonathan Diaz
fangraphs.com/roster-resource/depth-charts/mariner…
Thats true but I still feel they should still be looking for a more projectable high leverage arm in case Brash misses real time. I am sure they have better idea of his medicals than me though and are likely evaluating that reliever pile and wouldn’t be surprised gems emerging from that group.
Higher leverage arms than those listed will not settle for minor league deals where they get to be “BP depth”
It would require a trade.
And you sre right would not be depth but members of the opening day staff. So your point about the depth stands, what i should have said is that they could use more help, not depth.
Cold they though? You could easily argue the Mariners have the best group of pitchers from too to bottom. Easily the top rotation
Those are non-40 arms. They have a handful more on the 40, but obviously the concern is the quality of the depth.
None of those guys are good really
Inflammation doesn’t often mean TJ. Otherwise every reliever/starter would be getting TJ. Glad he’s supposedly not in need of surgery. He’s a big part of our pitching staff.
I sure hope this diagnosis is closer to the truth than the season ending stuff we were hearing…
Elbow inflammation isn’t good, that can usually lead to something much worse. Jerry should start looking at potential trades I would think. That sucks for this young man…
Even if it doesn’t lead to surgery he could still miss plenty of time. They need help in the bullpen.
It could also lead to him just delaying surgery. Happens a lot.
Well all he has to do is rest it longer and it will go away. The risk is rushing him back and there is no need for that now.
2024 AL West Division Champion Mariners just got some great news.
Buzzard- could you be a sport and tell me who wins the other 5 Divisions? Many mahalos!
According to what seems to he a MLBTR consensus the Dodgers will win all 6 divisions.
Im is a genius and never wrong. Losing my house after defaulting on the mortgage is not my fault contrary to what my ex wife says. My picks are, Orioles, Tigers, Mariners, Braves, Cubs, Dodgers. Don’t underestimate the Tigers pitching.
You are not very good at this buzzkill thing.
I’ve ruined the excitement of plenty of people on this site. Angel fans being at the forefront of the list.
Would love to hear your rank of top baseball movies of all time 🙂
I’ll start!
1. Bull Durham – A timeless classic with so many great lines. Prophetic and personal in that it seemed to tell my life story beforehand.
2. Major League – Uecker was enough, but the rest of the cast plays up as well. I think I’d still drop everything in my life if Rene Russo ever called me.
3. The Sandlot – A close-to-perfect tale of Americana. Definitely a home run over Hercules’ fence!
So many that just missed the cut, it was difficult to narrow down to 3.
Number one for me is Field of Dreams. That movie always fills me with a sense of hope. In no order besides Bull Durham, Major League, and The Sandlot. Moneyball was great. Trouble With The Curve was a nice baseball story from an old scout’s point of view. Rookie of the Year was part of my childhood growing up as a young boy.
What about “The Natural” with Robert Redford?
Bull Durham is in its own tier, despite Costner’s bad acting. Sandlot is my 12 year old sons favorite
Air Bud Seventh Inning Fetch ;p
No love for Hardball? RIP Baby G
Lolforo!
This is why I asked. We all have different opinions, and none of them are wrong. Love you all
Eastbound n Down.
Apersand withholding. Always a sucker for Major League and Angels in the Outfield. They had their “tack” which would be banned in this current era of MLB. Bull Durham is like the Fellini of baseball films and Field of Dreams is its Hollywood equivalent. Hardball and Moneyball each have their own home. Probably going to waste half my weekend watching half of them 😉
First thing that came to my mind…
“Take It easy, take it easy
Don’t let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy
Lighten up while you still can
Don’t even try to understand
Just find a place to make your stand and take it easy” – The Eagles
Don Henley drugs teenage girls and has them stay over for sleepovers. F the Eagles.
Snip snap snip snap
You wish
Well, that’s certainly a change of course from the DEFCON 2 messaging yesterday.
thats amazing
Play ball!
Gonna win it all.
I never doubted that, and it’s good to know that Brash will have a big part in the glory.-
I hope that’s correct Fred.
bloom, I wish I had worded that differently.
It’s good to know that Brash might still have a big part in the glory.
That is what I meant to say.
Fred whatever happened to those many philosophical post of yours?
I guess I just got old, Lee.
That’s what happens to us.
Geez, talk about an overreaction. They were practically burying the dude last week and now it’s just normal stuff that all pitchers go through. Well, at least until we find out next week that his arm has fallen off. Seriously, I wish him the best. Not an M’s fan but I know how important he is to that team.
The truth is probably somewhere in between panic and everything is fine. Its elbow inflammation not a sore lat (which can still be a sign of something serious), I’m not celebrating yet.
As my realtor once said, “Everything’s fine until it isn’t fine.”
Not buying it. I learned along time ago to never believe a pitcher’s injury prognosis.
Yes Team PR departments often have a high spin rate.
Especially with Spider Tack
A lot has changed in 2 hours.
Divish has been known to seek the sensational headline, thus I don’t really take his word as much anymore. His brand of journalism isn’t great.
Careful, he has a burner account on here
Divish is a lil troll like that. PNW deserves better
Divish not Journalism. Sold out.
Great news. I hope he’s given ample time to ramp up.
I wonder what the bottom line is for Stanek, and how many teams have a serious offer for him. He’s by far the best non-Boras exiles still available pitching-wise
I’d seriously consider locking him up ASAP as we’ve seen just how fragile a bullpen can be. You never have enough arms out there.
Finally. Some…relief…
From missing the whole year to back in 1 week? Yeah buddy sold his soul at the crossroads in Georgia
“He may be out for the year…”
5 seconds later…
“He is throwing tomorrow…”
After 78 appearances last year and arm soreness this year, I can’t see this ending well for Matt Brash. It’s very hard to believe you go from “extended absence” to “throwing tomorrow” in a 24 hour period.
What is the incentive for lying? Also, no one outright said he was going to miss the whole year; it was pure speculation on Divish’s part–and possibly absurd speculation. He was trying to put two and two together. I don’t think the organization ever believed his entire season was in doubt.
Mlbfan- your “throwing tomorrow” jibe is very different from what is actually happening. He is to begin playing catch on Tuesday of next week. You’re implying he’ll be on the mound throwing to a C. You can bet the M’s will not even let him play catch if his elbow is still sore.
Myacct2- Divish is not the type of writer to fish for “absurd speculation!” If you read his article he literally writes “Industry sources believe that MB could miss an extensive amount of time, possibly the season.”
He then writes, and this is the ONLY speculation Divish makes here- “even if the updates are positive on Brash’s arm, he likely won’t be ready to go for Opening Day….” His only speculative phrase there is hardly an absurd view. Rather, just an informed opinion based on nearly 20 yrs of covering SEA baseball.
Still wouldnt be shocker at all to see him miss the start or the season despite being cleared to throw.
For the record, he had elbow pain and inflammation. This is never a good sign and that is why he was sent for an MRI and evaluation. Divish reported what team sources, and really anyone who has ever followed baseball, that they were concerned that he could need TJ. After the imaging and the evaluation, it was determined that it was just inflammation with no injury. Or at least no extra injury. They made sure to mention that the joint looked no different than the last time it was imaged. They didn’t say it looked fine. So he should be OK to return to throwing as soon as the inflammation goes down next week, but we should all hold our collective breath anytime they say his arm hurts.
Bring in Stanek. He had an amazing 2022 and was over used last year, in my opinion. He has a good arm and good stuff and as recently it seems is the pattern with bullpen arms, perhaps the Mariners can make him better.
Funny how less becomes more. The rest of the staff will rise to the occasion. If he is gone for awhile the possibilities could be when he returns they will be that much more improved.
@Lee What are you talking about? Yes, you hope everyone picks it up in his absence but you need a number of quality arms. Stanek is a known quantity.
I gave you a thumbs up. There is merit in both are reasoning. Another reality is with the thought that, my thought would more likely appeal to the mariners frugal nature. wont not waste not. Hey? .
Less does not became more.
Of course it seems an oxymoron grasshopper this is difficult to explain, since the intangibles are at work here, only to say what is not seen is hard to visualize. Now go and prepare yourself for this season.
Brash went from “season over” to “back in a week”
Who is making the diagnosis? Dr seuss?
Snake oil can do wonders Johnny Utah, Say you’re not related to Johnny Ringo are you?