On Sunday morning, we raised five questions that still needed to be answered in advance of Opening Day for the Seattle Mariners, which is this Thursday (7:10 p.m. PT) against the Cleveland Guardians.
By Sunday afternoon, we had gotten answers to two of them: It looks like J.P. Crawford is going to start the season on the injured list and that Mitch Garver has won the backup catcher job.
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By Sunday night, it looked like we got the answer to a third one: How the bullpen is going to shake out. That became apparent when the team sent Cole Wilcox and Yosver Zulueta to Triple-A Tacoma, and in how the M’s played Sunday night’s game against the Chicago White Sox.
With eight spots available in the bullpen, the Mariners entered camp with essentially six already accounted for. Andres Munoz, Matt Brash, Gabe Speier, Jose Ferrer, Eduard Bazardo and Carlos Vargas are all out of options or are too good to be optioned, so those six were always safe.
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As long as everyone is healthy, that left just two spots available.
It seems as if Casey Legumina, also out of options, is destined to take spot No. 7 in the bullpen. Because his roster spot is inflexible, he won’t have a permanent grip on it, but giving him the spot instead of simply DFA-ing him seems like the best use of the bullpen at the outset.
He went 4-6 with a 5.62 ERA in 2025, but he features a high-octane fastball and a good slider, and the M’s surely don’t want to give that away without at least one more chance. Furthermore, if he starts the season on the roster, perhaps he’s more likely to get through waivers should the team need to make a move early in the season.
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The No. 8 spot appears set to go to Cooper Criswell, who was acquired this offseason from the New York Mets. He’s a veteran who has the ability to start or relieve if the team needs it.
I had been championing the idea of using Criswell in the rotation and either Emerson Hancock or Wilcox in the bullpen. Why? Because Criswell is out of options as well, making the entire bullpen inflexible if he’s out there.
Seattle Mariners pitcher Emerson Hancock (26) throws against the Chicago Cubs in the first inning at Sloan Park. Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
However, when Criswell came on in relief to throw one inning in Sunday’s win over the White Sox, it all beat sealed it for me. He’s going to be in the bullpen while Hancock starts in place of Bryce Miller.
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Hancock has started three games this spring and has built up to 15 innings, tossing at least three innings in his last four appearances. He’s also reached 74 pitches on his pitch count, where Criswell’s high is 61. It just seems likely that Hancock is being built up as a starter while Criswell is being built up as a long reliever and bullpen option.
It all goes back to roster flexibility. The Mariners bullpen doesn’t have it. Any time they want to make a bullpen roster move, someone is going to have to get designated for assignment and they’ll risk losing them.
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Legumina is likely the first person to be in that position, but it will be very interesting to see how the M’s handle the bullpen over the course of 162 games.
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