Mariners: 3 takeaways from disappointing series versus Orioles

2) Misiewicz falters while Graveman continues to soar

One of the pleasant surprises for the Mariners this season, is how dominant their bullpen has been. As much as it was hoped they would improve after last year, no one could have expected the level of success achieved up to this point.

In fact the Mariners have one of the very best bullpens in the Majors, whatever metric you want to use to measure their success. However, the Orioles series was notable for the contrasting fortunes of two of the bullpen’s most consistent players up to this point.

Entering the latest series, Kendall Graveman and Anthony Misiewicz both had a perfect 0.00 ERA in 11.2 and 9.2 innings respectively. However, whereas Graveman continued in this vein versus the Orioles, his colleague finally had a poor outing.

When Misiewicz entered Monday night’s game in the top of the eighth, the Mariners were leading 1-0. The decision to go with what was effectively a bullpen start appeared to be paying dividends, with seven innings of shut-out ball.

As much as Seattle was playing a game of chicken with the law of averages by using what was eventually seven pitchers on the night, one of the last arms expected to falter was Misiewicz. However, that’s exactly what happened, and in spectacular style.

There was almost immediate cause for concern, as the 26-year-old walked the first hitter he face. This set the stage for Cedric Mullins, who didn’t disappoint Orioles fans as he hit a home run to give the visitors a 2-1 lead.

Adding to the frustration of the bullpen finally being scored on, was that Mitch Haniger almost stopped it. However, he barely missed on what would have been a Ken Griffey Jr.-esque catch.

Misiewicz was clearly struggling as he then allowed a double by Austin Hays, who would subsequently advance to third courtesy of a deep fly ball. It was at this point the Mariners decided to make a change on the mound.

The stat line for Misiewicz made for tough reading, as he allowed two hits, three earned runs, a walk and no strikeouts in only 0.1 innings. As much as he was due to have a bad outing at some point, there was some discussion of if it was related to how much he had pitched.

However, the Detroit, Michigan native refused to use this as an excuse for his lack of sharpness on the night. Speaking to the media afterwards, he said:

“No I don’t think that was it at all. I know I’m out there a lot, but it’s my job.

“So you know when my number gets called I’ve got to be able to perform to the best of my ability. Tonight I had one off day and unfortunately it was one off day too many.”

The following evening, Graveman would have better results. In fact he was almost flawless after initially giving up a walk, as he allowed no hits or runs in 1.2 innings.

There are likely similar concerns Graveman is also being used too much. As with Misiewicz though, the belief is they will continue to have more good outings than bad.

For the record, both Eric Swanson and Domingo Tapia have a 0.00 ERA so far this season. However, with 4.0 and 2.0 innings pitched respectively, they both have some way to go before getting close to the achievements of Graveman and Misiewicz.

NEXT: GROWTH AND IMPROVEMENT FOR A COUPLE OF KEY PLAYERS