Mariners have placed the right-hander Penn Murfee on the list of 15-day injuries from right elbow inflammation, according to Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (Twitter link). right-handed Juan Then being called up from Double-A in the respective move, and Then’s first appearance will mark his MLB debut.
Murfee launched his own Main League in 2022 and immediately contributed to Seattle’s stables, reaching an ERA of 2.99 in 69 innings of 1/3. Murfee’s strike and walking rate is much higher than average, and he’s one of the best players in the league at making soft touches. Overall results have improved this season by Murfee’s 1.38 ERA over 15 innings, with the exception of the red flag on a significantly elevated 16.7% walk rate. A small 0.143 BABIP certainly helped Murfee avoid a lot of damage, despite his SIERA being 4.52.
Walking has been an issue for the entire Mariners stable this season, though the relief legion is still pretty solid overall. However, the bad news is that M’s is currently short of two notable relievers, Murfee and Andres Munoz, who spent almost a month on 15-day IL due to right deltoid strain which appeared to be a bit more troublesome than initially anticipated. For what it’s worth, Murfee’s elbow inflammation also seems relatively minor, as Divish tweets that the Mariners are hoping he can avoid the IL trip altogether.
It was then added to Seattle’s 40-man roster in November, protecting the right from selection in Draft Rule 5. It was followed by an international signing for the Mariners in 2016 and upon delivery. translated with the Yankees in November 2017, acquired as part of Edwin incarnated trading in June 2019. After the 2019 season ended, things started to go sideways for Then, who (like all minor jumpers) lost the 2020 season because of the pandemic, and then struggled through two shortened seasons due to injury in the high-place A and Double-A Levels in 2021 and 2022.
MLB Pipeline ranks 23rd on Mariners’ list Top 30 prospects, noted that his performance in the Arizona Fall League was worthy of a return to the rankings and seemed to indicate that his elbow problems were behind. Back to Double-A this season, Then has a 27.5% strike rate and 7.5% walk rate over nine work innings, but also a 5.00 ERA.
In the end, promoting Then to the pro leagues and skipping Triple-A altogether seems like a positive move for the Mariners, given both the results and the fact that Then only threw a total of 30 turns. (including AFL and Dominica Winter League games) since the start of the 2022 season. It’s possible M’s could be watching After that it’s only a short-term addition before envisioning a 40-man squad opening. out to accommodate another pitcher.
