An Under The Radar Reliever Could Make Impact For Seattle Mariners in 2025
Aside from the Seattle Mariners offense, the bullpen was the biggest weakness on the team in 2024. The floor of that group will be raised in 2025 with Gregory Santos (presumably) healthy, Matt Brash returning sooner than expected from Tommy John Surgery and Troy Taylor having a full year in the major leagues. But other returning pitchers will also be key to the group improving.
And one Seattle media member is high on a reliever taking a massive step forward.
Colby Patnode of the Locked on Mariners podcast highlighted Eduard Bazardo in a post on "X" (formerly known as Twitter). In that post, Patnode mentioned Bazardo's performance over his final stretch of the season and how the former Boston Red Sox international signee could be due for a solid 2025:
According to Patnode's tweet, opposing batters averaged .167 against his sinker. Bazardo also generated a 33% whiff rate with his slider.
Over his final 277 batters faced in 2024, Eduard Bazardo held opponents to a .177/.208/.216 slash, a 1.26 ERA, and a 1.07 FIP. Opponents hit just .167 against his sinker, and his slider saw a whiff percentage of 33%. I'm bullish on Bazardo taking a leap in 2025. #Mariners pic.twitter.com/kfztOJpIwz
— Colby Patnode (@CPat11) February 2, 2025
Bazardo's overall numbers in 2024 weren't great. In 23 appearances, he had a 4.88 ERA and struck out 33 batters in 27.2 innings pitched. He began the year on the 15-day injured list with a right rotator cuff strain.
When Bazardo returned, he was optioned and recalled from the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers three separate times over the course of the season.
There's reason to buy into Patnode's thinking aside from the numbers he pointed out. Despite it being his fourth year pitching in the majors, Bazardo's 23 appearances were almost double his previous career high (12).
Even with Bazardo's inflated stats, he still held opposing batters to a .204 average.
Bazardo showed enough over the final stretch of the season for him to get an extended look as a front-end or low-leverage setup reliever in Spring Training. If he maintains his end-of-season form, then his role could potentially expand in 2025.
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