SEATTLE -- Matt Brash is nearing a Minor League rehab assignment in his road back from Tommy John surgery, but he¡¯ll remain with the Mariners through their weekend series in San Francisco, a decision that was largely made due to weather conditions.
¡°We¡¯d rather have him throw off the mound with us in 60s and sunny than possible snow in Reno,¡± Mariners pitching coach Pete Woodworth said before Wednesday¡¯s series finale vs. the Tigers, referencing the frigid temperatures expected where Triple-A Tacoma is playing this week.
Brash remains on target for a late-April return, and he¡¯ll join Tacoma at some point, likely after the Rainiers return on Tuesday and begin a homestand, but that hasn¡¯t been officially mapped out yet.
¡°The stuff is ready now,¡± Woodworth said. ¡°But like with any guy coming back from injury, he's not going to immediately slide in and be pivoting every day. That's going to be the tough part.¡±
Therein lies the challenge that the Mariners face once Brash is back -- a good problem to have, for sure -- as they attempt to find comfortable landing spots when working him towards leverage situations.
Brash won¡¯t immediately be inserted into as the setup man or the second option with All-Star closer Andr¨¦s Mu?oz, the role that Brash fulfilled in late 2023, when the Mariners split the highest-level pockets between those two after trading Paul Sewald.
In an ideal scenario, Brash would be deployed at the outset of a clean inning, somewhere after the pivot guy relieves a starter but well before Mu?oz.
¡°We can't go out there and have him getting hot in the sixth inning, and then [a starter] gets out of [a jam],¡± Woodworth said. ¡°Then he gets hot again in the seventh and he comes in and gets a guy. Then he has to do that again tomorrow.¡±
This is where Gregory Santos could see his role blossom.
The right-hander who made just eight appearances last year has already been used thrice in 2025, over which he¡¯s been scoreless with just two hits and one walk. His fastball velocity is averaging 98.4 mph and the slider is at 90.4 mph. Beyond health, the biggest thing is that Santos is throwing strikes.
¡°He had a hell of an offseason. ... The guy just put himself in a situation to be healthy, available and throwing hard,¡± Woodworth said.
Before Brash was lost for the 2024 season, the Mariners were banking on him forming a three-headed bullpen beast with Mu?oz and Santos. All of a sudden, that ambition could come to fruition in the coming weeks.
Seattle¡¯s bullpen has taken a few hits in the season-opening homestand, notably having to cover 8 1/3 innings of Monday¡¯s loss after Emerson Hancock failed to make it out of the first inning, which led to the Mariners optioning him for a fresh arm in Jhonathan D¨ªaz. But it¡¯s also clear that the group will be in far better shape once it injects power arms via Brash and Troy Taylor (right lat strain), who began his rehab assignment on Monday.
Trent Thornton has thrice been used in the eighth inning, surrendering a homer on Opening Day and one in Tuesday¡¯s loss, but also working out of a big jam in Sunday¡¯s win.
¡°Obviously, when those guys are able to come back, it's going to be a massive bump for our bullpen,¡± Thornton said. ¡°But it's all friendly competition.¡±
In related injury news, Woodworth said that George Kirby will throw a side session in the coming days and that ¡°his schedule is built out.¡± Mariners general manager Justin Hollander is expected to provide a more detailed update on Monday, one day after the No. 5 spot in the rotation comes up again. The Mariners are still mapping out their options for that start in San Francisco.
¡°The more days we can give our starters, the better, this early in the season,¡± Woodworth said. ¡°Luckily, we have three off-days in the next [12] days. So it gives those guys either extra days or gives us the ability to push a guy, flip a guy, if anybody's a little soggier than the other.¡±