Seattle Mariners Closer Andres Munoz Made Baseball History in 2024 Campaign
![Seattle Mariners relief pitcher Andres Munoz (75) throws against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium in 2024. Seattle Mariners relief pitcher Andres Munoz (75) throws against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium in 2024.](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_8001,h_4500,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/inside_the_mariners/01jjscb1mfz3jcgpksq7.jpg)
Seattle Mariners closer Andres Munoz made some special and unique baseball history in 2024, as noted by the popular @CodifyBaseball account on "X:"
The lowest batting average allowed by a pitcher in home games in one MLB season in all of history (30+ innings)?
Andrés Muñoz for last year's Seattle Mariners. .080!
The lowest batting average allowed by a pitcher in home games in one MLB season in all of history (30+ innings)?
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) January 29, 2025
Andrés Muñoz for last year's Seattle Mariners. .080! pic.twitter.com/nK5nnf20ki
Munoz, who made the All-Star Game for Seattle, went 3-7 for the year but he posted a solid 2.12 ERA. He struck out 77 batters in 59.1 innings and was downright wicked at T-Mobile Park, which we just learned is the most extreme ballpark in baseball.
A 26-year-old native of Mexico, Munoz is 10-20 lifetime with a 2.65 ERA. He is a five-year veteran of the Mariners and San Diego Padres, having been acquired by the M's in a trade with San Diego back in 2020.
He became the Mariners closer in 2023 after the team traded Paul Sewald to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
It will be interesting to see how manager Dan Wilson deploys his bullpen this year, as it's his first full season as manager. The plan heading into 2024 (presumably) was to have a three-headed monster of Matt Brash, Gregory Santos and Munoz, with any of them being able to fill any of the late-inning roles. But Brash missed the entire year with Tommy John surgery and Santos was out most of the year with a variety of injuries.
WIth Santos healthy in 2025, and Brash coming back early in the season, the team could pivot to its original plan, which would put Munoz in more of a hybrid role.
The Mariners figure to deploy Munoz, Santos, Collin Snider, Trent Thornton and Troy Taylor as righties out of the bullpen, at least at the start of the year. Japanese flamethrower Shintaro Fujinami was also signed to a minor-league deal this year.
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