The Mariners announced they’ve selected left-hander Roenis Elías onto the big league roster. Seattle had optioned reliever Drew Steckenrider to Triple-A Tacoma last night to clear a spot on the active roster. In order to open space on the 40-man, righty Riley O’Brien has been designated for assignment.
It’s the second time Elías has gotten a major league call, although this stint figures to be more lasting. The 33-year-old was brought up for a series in Toronto when a handful of Seattle players went on the restricted list because of their vaccination status. Elías was a designated COVID-19 substitute for that weekend, however, and he was removed from the 40-man roster and returned to Triple-A after a few days. He made one appearance, allowing a run on a hit and two walks in one inning.
Elías has otherwise spent the season in Tacoma, making 14 appearances. He’s worked 17 1/3 innings of 3.63 ERA ball, posting lower than average strikeout (17.6%) and walk (6.8%) marks. Elías has yet to allow a home run this year in spite of a fairly ordinary 44.6% ground-ball rate. He’ll offer manager Scott Servais a multi-inning arm out of the bullpen.
Steckenrider had been a key reliever for the M’s last season. An offseason minor league signee, the righty made the Opening Day roster and eventually pitched his way into high-leverage work. He wound up posting an even 2.00 ERA through 67 2/3 innings, an impact contributor to a bullpen that was among the reasons the M’s overperformed and won 90 games. Steckenrider’s below-average strikeout and grounder numbers suggested he wasn’t likely to be quite so dominant again, but he showed solid control and was generally reliable.
That hasn’t been the case in 2022, as his early performance has dipped more than anyone would’ve seen coming. Through 14 1/3 frames, he owns a 5.65 ERA. His already fringy 21.7% strikeout percentage has dropped to just 14.7%, and he’s surrendered a pair of homers. The M’s can only hope that a stint with the Rainiers can get Steckenrider more reasonably back on track, as Seattle has had one of the league’s least effective relief corps this year.
Seattle acquired O’Brien from the Reds in exchange for cash last month. The 27-year-old made just one big league appearance with his hometown club, spending the rest of his time on optional assignment to Tacoma. He’s allowed five runs in ten innings at the minors top level, striking out 14 but issuing 11 walks. O’Brien has worked exclusively in relief this year after starting 22 of his 23 outings with the Reds’ highest affiliate last season, where he pitched to a 4.55 ERA across 112 2/3 frames.
The Mariners will have a week to trade O’Brien or try to run him through outright waivers. The 27-year-old only has a pair of MLB appearances to his name. He’s had success missing bats at the Triple-A level but also dealt with some control concerns. O’Brien still has a couple minor league option years remaining and has already been traded twice in his career, so it’s certainly possible he changes hands again in the coming days.
He’s back
I guess this is only somewhat related but I think it was obvious they were short a few pitchers and probably a position playe. I think we’re a month away from trader Jerry going nuts, either desperately bolstering the team or trading short term / old talent for longer term pieces (that probably aren’t as good). I think they’re fine overall, especially after this season, but really should have addressed the pitching depth before going into the season. The games are already in the books so that doesn’t matter. Theyre chance is slipping fast.. That said even if they go into next year a solid 85 win team on paper, being short pitchers to start the season is a great way to derail that. I feel like they needed another SP (or two) and a couple solid veteran relievers and should have had a backup plan in they OF as well. It makes me wonder if they felt they were less likely to contend than the fans and talking heads thought so they didn’t overspend realizing this could have very likely been the result anyway.
I definitely had higher hopes than going into June a bit of a train wreck. What I would hate to see is them be a perennial 82 win talent team that crosses their fingers each year and hopes they out perform they’re projections or the other teams under perform, and actually be content with that.
I think they planned on contending. Their Py W/L was way high last year, but they added Julio, Frazier, Suarez, Winker, and Ray, and should’ve expected improvements from Kelenic and Lewis. A lot of things have gone wrong to contribute to their weak record.
And I think they have a lot more upside than downside. Kelenic, Haniger, Lewis, and Winker could all contribute at some point. Ray, Flexen, Steckenrider and Castillo should be pitching better than they are.
This is not over.
I dont disagree, although there are legitimate concerns about the pitching. Getting Lewis and Haniger back helps offset losing Kelenic for now. I still think Kelenic becomes at least a solid regular over the next year or two, he has the tools to be good, but it may take time if it’s going to happen. I’m not 100% convinced Flexen is just having a slump and hasn’t just turned back into a pumpkin, and Gonzales is super concerning too, maybe more so. At some point Brash will be back, assuming he doesn’t get pushed to the pen, and someone like Stoudt will get some innings, but they really could use at least another mid rotation pitcher I feel and clearly need to find a couple bullpen arms. The bigger problem is already being 11 games back. The third wildcard does help their chances though.
I feel like the Gonzales comment could upset someonr. I do realize Gonzales is more like Moyer and not to look as hard at things like FIP, but he’s definitely developed home run issues. He has always out performed FIP, but still feel his peripherals are getting bad enough I don’t expect a sub 4 ERA to continue unless he can keep the ball in the yard more, even if he’s doing his best Jamie Moyer impersonation.
Jerry believed he had a team on the brink of being elite. He added who he believed was an “ace” to the rotation (Ray) and filled the Seager (Suarez) hole filled the 2B hole (Frazier) and added an all star OF (Winker). He knew he had young arms (Gilbert and Kirby) and young bats (Rodriguez and Kelenic) coming. But……Ray has had exactly 2 ace seasons and a bunch just like this year, Winker slumped, Kelenic has development issues, and the stellar bullpen of 2021 didn’t carry over. That’s baseball. You don’t know until you know, looks good on paper and doesn’t translate on the field. Mariners still have a lot of young talent, Jerry isn’t a genius or an idiot, just a GM who believed what he saw on paper was better than it is performing so far. Look at the bright spots, JRod is a future star, and let’s see what the next 40 games bring