In 2018, the Mariners called upon Edwin Díaz’s award-winning right arm 73 times, yielding a league-leading 57 saves, a preposterous 15.2 strikeouts per nine innings, and a superhuman 207 ERA+. Having a 24-year-old piece of scorching elastic to finish games is an excellent luxury, and a blanketing comfort when winning in the late innings, but Díaz’s whole shtick is rendered mostly useless if his boys can’t hand him a lead.
While it’s not quite a pressing need the way starting pitching or a center fielder is, the waters become a little less treacherous if the Mariners add some depth to the reliever pool.