Mariners set to entrust Cishek with closing duties

By foxsports
Published

The Seattle Mariners recently signed reliever Steve Cishek to a two-year, $10 million contract - a deal that was made possible by the Mariners' willingness to give Cishek the closer role he used to have at the big-league level. 

From 2013 to 2014, Cishek was one of the premier relievers in the game. He picked up 73 saves out of 79 chances during that span for the Miami Marlins before things took a turn last season.

In 2015, Cishek was unable to convert four of his first seven save opportunities, was removed from closing duties and eventually traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. 

When asked by MLB.com's Greg Johns about the new/old opportunity to close in Seattle, Cishek reacted enthusiastically:

Earlier this offseason, new Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto traded away two of the M's prime closing candidates in Carson Smith and Tom Wilhelmsen, creating a hole in the back end of the bullpen that facilitated the signing of Cishek.

"This is a tremendous opportunity," Cishek said from his home in Jupiter, Fla. "Obviously last year, losing the closing job was a huge disappointment to me. I knew I didn't pitch up to my expectations, so just to have this opportunity again to close games out and help this team win ballgames is mind-blowing to me."

Once he joined the Cardinals last season, Cishek pitched well. He posted a 2.31 ERA in just over 23 innings of work down the stretch, and his performance with St. Louis was ostensibly part of what made him an attractive option for Dipoto and the Mariners. 

In fact, Dipoto was quoted by Smith as sounding quite confident in handing Cishek the ball in the ninth inning, given his track record: 

With this signing, Seattle is banking on Cishek being the pitcher he was before falling on some hard times. This could very well work, or it might not - such is the nature of relief pitching in MLB.

"We're one year removed from Steve Cishek being one of the top closers in baseball," Dipoto said. "That wasn't an accident. As we sit here, six seasons into his career, his level of consistency has been remarkable. While it's reasonable to say 2015 wasn't up to Steve's standards, he found ways to contribute and fix himself.

"You don't get many opportunities to bring on a closer of Steve's magnitude this way. This isn't a project of any sort. He's healthy and ready to go, and there's no reason he won't revert to what he's always done. … The bullpen can be a volatile place. If not for the fact he had an early struggle last year, we wouldn't have had this [opportunity]."