Matt Brash

Brash opened the year in the Mariners' starting rotation, but issued 17 walks and had a 2.05 WHIP through five starts and was subsequently demoted to the minors. After two months in Triple-A, he returned to Seattle as a reliever. The right-hander fared much better in this role, recording a 2.35 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 43:16 K:BB over his final 30.2 innings. He still had one of the league's worst walk rates at 14.9%, but issued "only" 4.7 BB/9 in relief versus 7.7 BB/9 as a starter. Brash didn't find success with his 97 mph fastball (.379 BA), but his slider and curve were excellent. It's clear he has the stuff to be a shutdown reliever for the M's, but he'll need to improve his control to earn more high-leverage opportunities.

Brash had thrown just 5.1 pro innings prior to last season, which ended up being a breakout campaign. He relied primarily on a 96-mph four-seam fastball that touched 100 mph and a low-to-mid-80s slider with elite spin and movement. Brash's slider is one of the best sliders currently in pro ball. He also throws a changeup and curveball, but those lag behind as distant third and fourth offerings, respectively. It's his command and control that he really needs to improve upon to reach his potential, however, as his changeup just needs to be passable for him to have success as a starter, and he may not even need a viable third pitch given how good his top two pitches are. The 6-foot-1 righty logged an 11.9 BB% in 97.1 innings at High-A and Double-A, and he can have trouble repeating his delivery. Already on the 40-man roster, Brash will begin the regular season in the major-league rotation, ahead of guys like George Kirby and Emerson Hancock. His fastball/slider combination is enough for him to have a fallback option as a shutdown reliever if starting doesn't work out.