SEATTLE -- The Mariners added some relief depth to the organization before Sunday’s game vs. the Royals, claiming left-hander José Suarez off waivers from the Braves.
To clear a spot for him on their 40-man roster, outfielder Rhylan Thomas was designated for assignment.
Suarez was DFA’d by Atlanta on Friday, after making eight appearances (one start) with the club, over which he surrendered 12 earned runs in 16 1/3 innings (6.61 ERA), with 12 walks and 21 strikeouts.
The Braves were going through a bullpen shakeup heading into their weekend series at hitter-friendly Coors Field, and they are set to arrive in Seattle for a three-game series on Monday.
Suarez was primarily deployed as a multi-inning option, pitching at least two innings or more in five of his eight outings, including a three-inning save vs. the Phillies on April 17. This year, he’s been leaning more heavily on a changeup, which has generated a 38.3% whiff rate and held hitters to a .187 expected batting average. But his four-seam fastball, which is averaging 93.4 mph, has been tagged for a .400 clip.
The 5-foot-10 lefty has appeared in parts of eight seasons in the Majors, primarily with the Angels (2019-24) before joining the Braves (2025-26). He has a career 5.35 ERA with a 20.8% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate.
Mariners fans may remember Suarez from their benches-clearing incident in Anaheim on June 26, 2022. That day, Suarez was listed as the Halos’ starter before then manager Phil Nevin made a morning-of pitching change to instead use Andrew Wantz as an opener.
Wantz then hit Jesse Winker with a fastball to begin the second inning, which led to one of the most raucous altercations the sport has seen over the past decade. Suarez then followed Wantz in that game and threw six innings in a 2-1 Mariners loss, after many players were ejected.
As for Thomas, he was off to a great start at Triple-A Tacoma with a team-best 34 hits. But there wasn’t a clear avenue to helping the big league team, even in a pinch.
The Mariners have a bevy of outfielders on the active roster, including Luke Raley, Rob Refsnyder, Connor Joe and Dominic Canzone in a timeshare in right field based on matchups. And Victor Robles is returning soon, having begun a rehab assignment on Sunday at Tacoma.