MINNEAPOLIS -- The Mariners have been incredibly delicate with leverage reliever Matt Brash since the outset of Spring Training, which made his abrupt departure from Wednesday afternoon’s 5-3 win over the Twins that much more alarming.
Postgame, Brash revealed that he’d been dealing with discomfort in his right side, and that his next step will be a more robust evaluation from team doctors during the club’s Thursday off-day in Seattle.
As a result, given the need for a full-strength bullpen on any given night -- and how they’ve handled Brash -- a stint on the injured list will likely be considered.
“I don't think it's anything super serious, nothing like that I'm super concerned about,” Brash said. “It's very precautionary, and I just didn't want to make it worse.”
Brash delivered just two pitches upon entering in the bottom of the eighth inning, after which Cal Raleigh immediately signaled to the visiting dugout at Target Field. From there, assistant athletic trainer Kevin Orloski and manager Dan Wilson conferred with Brash on the mound before the right-hander exited.
Brash, who said he’d been dealing with the issue for a few days but for the first time ever, showed noticeable discomfort after each of the pitches he unleashed. The first was a 96.3 mph four-seam fastball that got Raleigh’s attention, and the second was registered as a 88.9 mph changeup that spiked in the dirt, way off the plate and to the backstop.
At first, it looked like the pitch was misregistered, given that he rarely throws changeups to righties -- such as Minnesota’s Ryan Jeffers, who he was summoned to face. But Brash confirmed that was indeed the offering.
“I couldn't really get my arm into the right spot that I needed to to compete,” Brash said. “So, it felt really weird coming to the game. I'd never done that before. I didn't really want to. But I just felt like at that point, I couldn't really compete to my best ability and would more hurt the team than anything, kind of growing up there with my 80% effort.”
After Brash exited, Gabe Speier was called upon on short notice -- and for the second straight day -- and he surrendered a single to Jeffers, a stolen base and another single to Victor Caratini that tied the game. Cole Young then orchestrated another remarkable comeback in the ninth to cap a 5-1 road trip.
“I put Gabe in a really tough spot there,” Brash said. “I've done that before, come in when there's like an injury or something like that, and it's really hard. But he battled and kept us in it.”
Brash, who returned from Tommy John surgery last May 3, experienced inflammation in his pitching arm over the offseason that prompted him to dial things back -- and turn down an invitation to pitch for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic.
Brash said throughout camp that he’d recovered fine, but nonetheless, the Mariners were extremely deliberate about his usage, as he made just four Cactus League appearances.
In the regular season, the Mariners avoided using Brash on back-to-back days through their first 14 games. Yet, Wednesday was the third time he had been used on back-to-back days since then, as he also pitched in Tuesday’s 7-1 win.
Brash is one of the sport’s best setup men, entering the day with a 0.00 ERA in 13 outings. Last season, he began the year without surrendering a run in his first 19 outings, which set a franchise record.