ARLINGTON -- Cody Martin's time with the Mariners was brief, but the right-hander out of Gonzaga created a positive impression in his two games out of Seattle's bullpen.
The 26-year-old was optioned back to Triple-A Tacoma on Saturday after pitching well in both Thursday and Friday's games until the club was ready to bring up top-pitching prospect Edwin Diaz, who has been outstanding at Double-A Jackson.
Martin joined the team Thursday after veteran Joel Peralta was designated for assignment and pitched a scoreless sixth to earn the win in that night's wild 16-13 comeback win at San Diego, then allowed one run in three innings to help salvage an overworked bullpen in Friday's 7-3 loss to the Rangers.
"He did an excellent job," manager Scott Servais said prior to Saturday's game. "The thing I liked is Cody didn't look frazzled. He just got in there and does what he does. He didn't try to throw harder or make the breaking ball nastier than it is, he just threw strikes, he got us outs.
"He obviously got us some big outs in San Diego the other night and allowed us to come back in that game and then did a really good job last night to put us in position where we didn't burn through everybody so we're in a good spot tonight with our bullpen."
Martin, 26, was claimed off waivers by the Mariners in October after pitching 25 games for the Braves and A's last season. He's 3-5 with a 7.27 ERA in 27 big league games. And while those numbers won't open many eyes, his latest performance certainly helped his chances of a return engagement.
"Absolutely," Servais said. "He showed well. He put himself in a good spot to get an opportunity to come back here. Myself, Jerry [Dipoto], our front office, we're not always looking for the guys that throw 97-98. There are different ways to build a bullpen and we value the guys that can get them out in different ways.
"So he's in a good spot organizationally because some organizations aren't that way. If you don't throw 95, they just move on. We don't have that luxury. We don't have 12 guys lined up, so you have to look for different ways to get them out and Cody has the ability to get Major League hitters out."
Worth noting
• Shortstop Ketel Marte (sprained left thumb) was slated to play his last Minor League rehab game for Triple-A Tacoma in Las Vegas on Saturday, then will take Sunday off and rejoin the Mariners in Seattle on Monday, when he's eligible to come off the 15-day disabled list.
• Center fielder Leonys Martin (strained left hamstring) did some agility drills with trainer Rick Griffin on Saturday and continues to progress well. Servais said Martin likely will play a game or two with Tacoma next week prior to coming off the DL on Friday at the earliest.
• After leading the American League in ERA much of the season, a rough stretch of games has dropped Seattle to third in that category at 3.72 going into Saturday's action.