Jose A. Ferrer emerging as most valuable arm in Mariners' battered bullpen

This is a tenuous time for the Mariners and their beat-up bullpen.

All-Star closer Andrés Muñoz is off to the worst start of his career.

Three key arms from last season - Matt Brash, Gabe Speier and Carlos Vargas - are all on the injured list.

Right-hander Cooper Criswell, it should be noted, has been a pleasant surprise, working his way into a more prominent role.

But the back half of the bullpen is suddenly comprised of either just-arrived rookie right-handers (Alex Hoppe and Nick Davila) or little-known veteran lefties (Josh Simpson and José Suarez), none of whom were used in the just-completed series against Atlanta.

Just two trusted late-inning arms remain: right-hander Eduard Bazardo and first-year left-hander Jose A. Ferrer.

Bazardo, 30, is again proving to be an indispensable leverage reliever, as durable as he is dependable.

That's all true, too, of Ferrer, who closed out a 3-1 victory over Atlanta on Wednesday afternoon to earn his second save, in two tries, with the Mariners.

Ferrer leads MLB in relief appearances (with 20) and ranks among the top-10 most valuable relievers in the American League, per FanGraphs metrics.

"Right now, I feel super good," Ferrer said, via team interpreter Freddy Llanos. "Obviously, the body keeps getting more acclimated as the season goes along, and I think I'm at my peak probably around the All-Star break. But right now, my body feels super good, super healthy, and I just want to help the team whenever they want me."

Ferrer's save Wednesday was his third appearance in three days against the Braves, the first M's reliever of the season to pitch three days in a row.

As a general rule, the Mariners try to be conservative with their bullpen usage early in the season, wanting to keep relievers as fresh as possible through September and, they hope, beyond. There was no chance, for example, that Muñoz was going to pitch Wednesday, after he'd thrown in the first two games of the series.

Similarly, Ferrer was told Wednesday morning that he wasn't going to be needed for the series finale.

He protested.

"I was ready to go. I woke up this morning and my arm felt great," he said after a perfect ninth inning in which his sinker topped out at 99.5 mph. "So when the opportunity came and they told me, ‘Yeah, you're in,' I was excited."

The club is equally excited about what they've seen from Ferrer.

When the Mariners swung a winter trade with the Washington Nationals to acquire Ferrer - sending top catching prospect Harry Ford to the Nats - they thought they were getting one of the best and most underrated left-handed relievers in baseball.

Ferrer has lived up to that billing so far, posting a 1.89 ERA with two saves and a 16-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio in his first 19 innings with the Mariners.

The 26-year-old Dominican, listed at 6-foot-1 and 233 pounds, has a sinker that averages 97.0 mph, among the fastest of all left-handed pitchers in the sport, and advanced pitching metrics support his elite surface-level numbers.

Through Tuesday, Ferrer ranked in the 97th percentile in average exit velocity (84.8 mph), 95th in expected ERA (2.23), 94th in hard-hit rate (27.9%) and 91st in chase rate (35.9%).

Ferrer has surrendered 23 hits in his 19 innings - with no homers and four doubles - and batters have a .299 average and a .341 on-base percentage against him.

But his .377 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) is one of the highest among all relievers in baseball - .289 is the MLB average for BABIP this season - suggesting Ferrer has been unlucky so far this season (which, again, is supported by his extremely low average exit velocity and hard-hit rate).

Given the state of the bullpen, Ferrer's durability is as important as ever.

Of Ferrer's 72 appearances for the Nationals last year, 20 came with no rest and 20 more came with only one day of rest. He's already pitched on back-to-back days six times for the Mariners (including the three in a row this week), and it's something he takes pride in.

Regardless of the results, Ferrer said he's had to learn how to maintain a positive mindset each time he steps out of the bullpen.

"When you're a young guy and you come into this league, I think that's one of the things that we struggle with a lot, is the mental aspect of it," he said. "This year, every time I feel like I come in, I come in with an eraser. Whether it's good or bad, I'm erasing everything that's happening. It's a new day."

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This story was originally published May 6, 2026 at 11:43 PM.