Mariners demote Matt Brash, call up relievers Danny Young and Riley O’Brien

Matt Festa hits the IL and we bid farewell to Nick Margevicius

In preparation for a 7-game home stand, the Mariners made some roster moves that will hopefully aid them in stopping an early season skid.

The other roster moves:

Lots going on here.

• First of all, Brash’s demotion isn’t too surprising given his last several starts. I had hoped to see him one more time at least against the Phillies, but maybe the team thinks he’d be better served working through his approach in AAA. I mean, I don’t know what else they’ll tell him besides, “Hey, throw some strikes mixed in with the bendy stuff, kid.” I am also not a pitching coach or analyst.
• Losing Matt Festa and his wipeout sweeper/slider is a bummer and hopefully the elbow tendinitis is not a sign of lingering issues from his March 2020 Tommy John surgery.
• Reliever Riley O’Brien is a Shoreline native who was acquired from Cincinnati on April 16 and has pitched well in Tacoma so far (zero earned runs in 5.2 innings). He is the grandson of Seattle University legend Johnny O’Brien.
• Reliever Danny Young will be making his big league debut and is a bit more exciting as he does things like this:

• We at LL wish Nick Margevicius aka Nicky Marge aka Large Marge aka NickMargeviciusRitaVille aka MORE CABBAGES all the best in the world. After being diagnosed with the oft-kiss-of-death-for-pitchers sentence of Thoracic Outlet Syndrome in 2020, Margevicius rehabbed and made 4 starts with Tacoma this season, going 0–1 with a 12.75 ERA (17 ER, 12.0 IP) with 4 walks and 11 strikeouts. There’s a decent chance he finds work with another team, but the TOS tag hangs heavy, I’m sure. Best of luck, Nick.
• Matt Koch, see ya in a few months probably.