Story by
This One Injury is Looming Large Than You Think For Seattle Mariners
- Story by
- This One Injury is Looming Large Than You Think For Seattle Mariners
(Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images)
The Seattle Mariners just completed a brutal stretch of 13 games in 13 days, going 7-6 to pull themselves to 11-15 on the young season.
While the Mariners did some very nice things in those 13 games, they also did a lot of things that left some potential wins on the table.
Advertisement
The offense struggled with runners in scoring position, they got a disappointing start in San Diego from Luis Castillo and the bullpen leaked at times - in multiple spots.
Andres Munoz blew saves against both the Padres and Athletics while Casey Legumina took a loss against the A's. Eduard Bazardo and Gabe Speier were both tagged for runs - and threw a ton of pitches - and Cole Wilcox has failed to shine brightly just yet.
Jose Ferrer continues to bend, but not fully break, leading fans to express worry about him as well.
I was a recent guest on the ' Mitch Unfiltered ' podcast with Mitch Levy and Joe Doyle and it became clear through our conversation that the concerns about the mid-leverage and pivot part of the bullpen are real.
Advertisement
Who would have thought that the team would miss Carlos Vargas so much?
Seattle Mariners pitcher Carlos Vargas against the Los Angeles Dodgers during a spring training game at Camelback Ranch-Glendale. Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
About Vargas
The 26-year-old was acquired in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks before the 2024 season and made his debut with the M's in 2025. He appeared in 70 games for Seattle, pitching to a 3.97 ERA in 77.0 innings. A hard-thrower, Vargas doesn't miss many bats, as evidenced by his only 54 strikeouts in those 77 innings, but he serves a valuable role in that bullpen.
He has the ability to come in in the fifth or sixth inning and pivot the game to the higher-leverage guys, and he also has the ability to get outs across multiple innings.
Advertisement
As a result, he's able to limit the workload on the highest-leverage options for manager Dan Wilson, while also limiting exposure to some of the lowest-leverage options.
Vargas is currently on the 60-day injured list because of a lat strain and won't be eligible to come back until the end of May. We have yet to hear any updates as far as a potential rehab assignment goes.
Speaking of rehab assignments
Starting pitcher Bryce Miller , who has missed the entire season with an oblique issue, will be pitching for High-A Everett on Friday night. Our own Teren Kowatsch will be in attendance with his thoughts and takeaways.
Advertisement
We caught up with Triple-A Tacoma broadcaster Rylee Pay on Tuesday's ' Refuse to Lose ' podcast to talk about how Miller looked in his first rehab start.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION:
Remember to join our MARINERS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Mariners fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!
