Spring Training storyline: The bullpen battle

Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty ImagesThis era of Mariners baseball is defined by three things: Julio Rodríguez, an elite starting rotation, and spinning straw into bullpen gold. The Mariners relief corps of the past three years has been one of the best in baseball, and it’s gotten better every year. But a throughline for each of those bullpens has been guys coming out of nowhere to dominate the end of games. The most famous examples are Paul Sewald being signed to a minor-league deal and Matt Brash being acquired as a Player To Be Named Later. But the list goes on and on and on. Gabe Speier and Justin Topa were in last year’s Pile. Penn Murfee and Matt Festa were in 2022’s. Casey Sadler and Drew Steckenrider were in 2021’s.

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