Seattle, WA
What stands out to Stanek about Seattle Mariners' bullpen success
The Seattle Mariners have developed a reputation over the past few years for acquiring lesser-known relievers and transforming them into valuable bullpen pieces.
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It’s resulted in Seattle consistently sporting one of the league’s best bullpens, despite having largely a rotating cast of arms from year to year. In each of the past three seasons, the Mariners’ bullpen has finished in the top eight of the majors in both ERA and WHIP, according to Fangraphs.
This season, Seattle’s bullpen has been hit hard by injuries. Hard-throwing reliever Matt Brash is out for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Gregory Santos, another high-leverage reliever, is out until at least July with a lat strain. Tayler Saucedo missed three weeks with a hyperextended knee and Gabe Speier is now in the 15-day injured list with a rotator cuff strain.
And yet, the Mariners’ bullpen is once again among the best in the league. They rank third in the majors with a 1.14 bullpen WHIP and ninth with a 3.62 bullpen ERA. Talented closer Andrés Muñoz is no doubt a big part of that, but lesser-known names such as Austin Voth and Trent Thornton have also played key roles.
What’s the secret to Seattle’s continued bullpen success? Veteran reliever Ryne Stanek, who signed with the Mariners in March after spending the previous three seasons with the Houston Astros, gave some insight during an appearance on Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob last week.
“The general philosophy here is just so attack-forward that, regardless of who you are or what you do, you’re attacking at all times,” Stanek said. “You’re trying to impose your plan on somebody, as opposed to having to try to think of plan A, and then divert to plan B, and then maybe plan C. No, it’s like, ‘We’re gonna go after plan A, and until you beat that plan, we’re gonna keep going plan A.’ It’s a relentless plan.”
Stanek termed it as being “incredibly stubborn” – in a good way. He explained that one bad result shouldn’t discourage a pitcher from trusting what he excels at and focusing on that.
“I think some people get scared off of being stubborn because of one bad result,” Stanek said. “You can’t get scared off of something on just one bad thing happening. There’s too many games and too many opportunities to (let) a negative result affect the rest of your season (and cause you to) avoid a pitch or avoid a location or whatever the situation may be.”
Listen to the full conversation with Ryne Stanek at this link or in the audio player near the middle of this story. Tune in to Wyman and Bob weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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Thanks to Carrie Brown for the westward view of our Saturday night sunset. The high today hit 68 at the airport – eight degrees above normal – but nowhere near the record for this date, which was 89 degrees back in 2016. The forecast suggests two more days of partly sunny, almost-70-degree weather, before the chance of rain returns.
CHICAGO (AP) — The struggling New York Mets placed former Seattle Mariners second baseman/designated hitter Jorge Polanco on the 10-day injured list on Saturday with a right wrist contusion.
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The move was made retroactive to Wednesday, a day after Polanco went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts in a 2-1 loss at the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 32-year-old Polanco is batting .179 (10 for 56) with a homer and two RBIs in his first season with New York, which has lost nine straight.
“When doctors first took a look at him, it looked like he got hit by a pitch when he didn’t,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “In talking to him, it was just a couple of swings that he took that night. … He didn’t think much of it, but just got worse the following day.
“So you just got to let it calm down a little bit and then we’ll go from there. But we don’t have a timetable for how long this is going to last.”
Polanco, who signed a two-year, $40 million contract with the Mets in December, also has been dealing with an ankle issue.
“He was trending in the right direction,” Mendoza said of the ankle injury. “It’s definitely going to help, obviously now with him being shut down. But the biggest thing now is that we’ve got to take care of that wrist.”
Polanco spent the previous two seasons with the Mariners, who acquired him in a February 2024 trade with the Minnesota Twins.
Polanco struggled during his first season with Seattle in 2024, hitting just .213 with 16 homers in 118 games while playing through a knee injury that didn’t become public knowledge until after the season.
But after the Mariners somewhat surprisingly brought him back for a one-year contract in 2025, Polanco rebounded to hit .265 with 26 homers and an .821 OPS in 138 games last season. He then added three homers during Seattle’s playoff run, along with a 15th-inning walkoff single in Game 5 of the American League Division Series that sent the Mariners to their first ALCS in 24 years.
Seattle Sports staff made additions to this post.
Mariners RHP Bryce Miller to begin rehab assignment
Seattle, WA
Brandon Nimmo hits leadoff homer, Jacob deGrom works 4 scoreless as Rangers beat Seattle Mariners 5-0
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – APRIL 17: Corey Seager #5 of the Texas Rangers tags out Dominic Canzone #8 of the Seattle Mariners during the fourth inning at T-Mobile Park on April 17, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
SEATTLE – Brandon Nimmo hit a leadoff home run, Jacob deGrom threw four shutout innings and Gavin Collyer earned his first career win as the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners 5-0 on Friday night.
Seattle lost its fourth straight game, and was shut out for the fourth time in 21 games, falling to 8-13. The Mariners were shut out six times during the 2025 season. Texas won its third straight game.
Nimmo led off the game with a 372-foot shot to right field off Mariners starter Logan Gilbert (1-3). It was Nimmo’s 16th career leadoff homer and second of the season. He also hit a leadoff home run on April 11 in a 6-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
DeGrom effectively maneuvered through Seattle’s lineup, and worked out of a one out, bases-loaded jam in the first inning. The two-time Cy Young Award winner recorded two of his three strikeouts after walking Josh Naylor to load the bases. Randy Arozarena fanned on a curveball, and Luke Raley swung through a fastball.
Texas added to its lead after Nimmo’s homer. Wyatt Langford’s single to left scored Corey Seager, who led off the third inning with a double. The Rangers stretched the lead to 3-0 on an RBI single from Jake Burger in the seventh.
The Mariners’ best scoring chance came in the sixth after Collyer (1-0), who worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings, left the game.
J.P. Crawford singled to left off Tyler Alexander with two out, and Mariners third base coach Carlos Cardoza sent Naylor from second base, but he was thrown out by Langford.
Texas added two more runs in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Andrew McCutchen and an RBI double by Josh Jung.
Seattle third baseman Brendan Donovan left the game early due to a left hip issue.
Mariners right-hander Bryce Miller, who started the year on the injured list with a left oblique injury, was at T-Mobile Park for the first time this season. He will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Tacoma on Saturday.
Up next
Mariners RHP George Kirby (2-2, 3.25) will face Rangers righty Nathan Eovaldi (2-2, 5.40) on Saturday afternoon.
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