Seattle Mariners' Injury Updates on Andres Munoz and Robbie Ray

The Seattle Mariners are reportedly close to getting back ace reliever Andres Munoz, but the news isn't as good on starting pitcher Robbie Ray, who underwent Tommy John surgery on Wednesday.

The Seattle Mariners, in the midst of a three-game winning streak, got some more good news on Thursday, as they are closer to getting back ace reliever Andres Munoz.

Mariners reporter Brandon Gustafson of Seattle Sports 710 tweeted:

"Quick injury note from Dipoto this AM: Andrés Muñoz is gonna throw a bullpen session tomorrow and if that goes well, he'll face hitters on Monday. Said Muñoz would then go on a rehab assignment, but should only need 1-2 outings and the goal is a mid-May return to the MLB roster."

Quick injury note from Dipoto this AM: Andrés Muñoz is gonna throw a bullpen session tomorrow and if that goes well, he'll face hitters on Monday. Said Muñoz would then go on a rehab assignment, but should only need 1-2 outings and the goal is a mid-May return to the MLB roster.

— Brandon Gustafson (@TheBGustafson) May 4, 2023

That news is huge for the Mariners, who have looked thin in the bullpen at times. Paul Sewald has done a nice job at the back end, but Matt Brash has been up and down. The team recently sent Diego Castillo down to Triple-A and has relied on contributions from Trevor Gott and Justin Topa.

Munoz has been out since early April with a deltoid issue.

He burst onto the scene last year, pitching in 64 games and registering a 2.49 ERA. He struck out 96 batters in just 65 innings as the Mariners went to the playoffs for the first time since 2001.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the news is even worse than feared on starting pitcher Robbie Ray. We knew that Ray was going to miss the rest of the season with surgery on his flexor tendon, but the team reported on Wednesday that he also underwent Tommy John surgery, which was never reported before.

He'll now miss all of this season and likely a good chunk of next season.

He signed a five-year, $115 million contract before the 2022 season with the Mariners, a year after winning the Cy Young with the Toronto Blue Jays. He went 12-12 in 2022 with a 3.71 ERA and started Game 2 of the American League wild card series against the Blue Jays.

For his career, he's 74-71 and has played with Seattle, Toronto, Arizona and Detroit.

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