On Thursday night, it was a shock to not see Seattle Mariners reliever Matt Brash on the roster for Team Canada at the upcoming World Baseball Classic. After all, Brash had played for Canada in 2023 and was expected to be on the roster for 2026.

That led to speculation about why Brash wasn’t playing. Was he hurt? Were there insurance issues stemming from his 2024 Tommy John surgery?

Advertisement

Well, M’s fans got a good answer to those questions on Saturday afternoon in an enlightening piece from Shannon Drayer of Seattle Sports 710:

…Matt Brash, who returned from elbow surgery last season, informed Team Canada that he wanted to focus on getting ready for the long season and would not pitch in the Classic.

So that is certainly good news and Brash will come to spring training with one singular Mariners-specific mindset.

Now 27 years old, Brash is a three-year veteran of the M’s and he’s turned into one of the top relievers in the American League. He led baseball in appearances in 2023 with 78, striking out a whopping 107 in 70.2 innings.

Advertisement

However, he missed all of 2024 and a portion of 2025 with that Tommy John surgery, but he came back to make 53 appearances and help the M’s get to Game 7 of the American League Championship Series.

He had a 2.47 ERA, striking out 58 hitters in 47.1 innings. His swing-and-miss stuff wasn’t quite as electric as 2023, but further removed from his injury, we should see his stuff uptick again in 2026.

Brash will enter 2026 as one of the top options for manager Dan Wilson. Andres Munoz is still the established closer, but Brash and Gabe Speier figure to work as the set-up men. Jose Ferrer and Eduard Bazardo will also feature prominently as well.

Advertisement

The M’s have questions in the final three spots, with Emerson Hancock, Cooper Criswell, Carlos Vargas, Troy Taylor and several others remaining options.

–The latest Baseball America farm system rankings came out this week and the M’s were given a Top 10 overall ranking.

–We were joined on the most recent ‘Refuse to Lose‘ podcast by Negro Leagues Baseball Museum president Bob Kendrick, who talked about the legacy of the Seattle Steelheads and the connections of Ken Griffey Jr. and Ichiro Suzuki to the museum over the last 30 years or so.

Remember to join our MARINERS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Mariners fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that’s free too!