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# Matt Brash’s Promising Return and What Lies Ahead For Him and the Mariners
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/matt-brashs-promising-return-what-lies-ahead-for-him-mariners/
- Published: 2025-03-25T05:45:11.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T06:00:08.000Z
- Author: Corbin Smith
- Tags: Mariners, Matt Brash

\[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1080"\]

![ Credit: Matt Brash/Instagram ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/298634678_175595148297392_7083876885786059551_n-format-original.jpg)

Credit: Matt Brash/Instagram \[/caption\]

What typically winds up being a nondescript Cactus League finale was anything but for Mariners reliever Matt Brash on Monday. Seattle’s Spring Training capper with the Padres served as the stage for Brash’s first appearance in an official MLB game, exhibition or otherwise, since September 30, 2023, and it didn’t take long for him to turn heads. 

He threw 12 pitches and came out firing, hitting 98 miles per hour on the radar gun with his first offering of the day. Two pitches later, he put away Padres outfield prospect Braedon Karpathios with a whiff-inducing sweeper for the first of two strikeouts. The other came a batter later against Trenton Brooks, a 29-year old longtime minor-leaguer with just 12 games of MLB experience under his belt, who took a called strike three on a Brash heater. 

Brash’s outing came to an end after he issued a four-pitch walk to the subsequent hitter, but despite that and the lower-level competition he overall faced, there were nothing but positives to take away from his efforts and, most importantly, no issues reported afterward. He sat between 97 and 98 MPH with a high of 98.5 on the fastball, produced familiar results with his signature sweeper, and even showed off a changeup with negative induced vertical break and a Stuff+ of 118, [per Pitch Profiler](https://x.com/pitchprofiler/status/1904282530292850834/photo/1?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com). 

> Sweep God Matt Brash made his return to the mound today!  
>  
> Those pitches registering as a cutter and slider are actually his patented sweeper—and yep, it still looks GREAT!  
>  
> Plus, he's added a new changeup with negative IVB! [pic.twitter.com/QtddIZEwUX](https://t.co/QtddIZEwUX?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com)— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) [March 24, 2025](https://twitter.com/pitchprofiler/status/1904282530292850834?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com)

“There’s a lot of emotions,” Brash said following the game, [via the Seattle Times](https://<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sweep God Matt Brash made his return to the mound today!<br><br>Those pitches registering as a cutter and slider are actually his patented sweeper—and yep, it still looks GREAT! <br><br>Plus, he&#39;s added a new changeup with negative IVB! <a href="https://t.co/QtddIZEwUX">pic.twitter.com/QtddIZEwUX</a></p>&mdash; Pitch Profiler %28@pitchprofiler%29 <a href="https://twitter.com/pitchprofiler/status/1904282530292850834?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw">March 24, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>). “… After I struck out the second guy, I kind of took it all in and I was like, ‘Wow, I’m back.’ … Super pumped to be in there. I got all those emotions and butterflies and all that back, and got my adrenaline going. So just super happy. Everything felt good.”

Coming off a sensational 2023 campaign in which he struck out 107 batters in 70.2 innings and was one of just four relievers to finish the year with at least 2.0 fWAR, Brash was forced to undergo surgery to have an internal brace installed in his right elbow in May of 2024\. Just 10 months later, he’s remarkably back on the mound and on the brink of rejoining a Mariners bullpen that sorely missed his presence a season ago.

For some time now, the Mariners have expressed optimism that Brash will be able to be activated around the end of April and have yet to waver on that front. The 26-year old righty, acquired in a 2020 deadline-day trade with the Padres, is expected to stay back in Peoria, Arizona for a few more days and will pitch in at least one extended Spring Training game. So long as he experiences no setbacks, the next and final hurdle for him to get back to the majors will be a series of rehab appearances in Triple-A Tacoma. 

Among the most crucial things to watch for over the course of Brash’s rehab assignment will be how his body responds in between each outing, if his velocity stays in a consistent spot, and eventually if he can pitch back-to-back days. While he was sharp and seemingly far along on Monday, it shouldn’t come as a surprise if Seattle errs on the side of caution and takes its time to make sure he’s in a good place physically before bringing him back into the fold. After all, Brash’s delivery is still violent as ever and the strain it puts on his arm will always leave him in danger of reinjury. 

That said, Monday was an encouraging first step towards what could be a game-changing addition for the Mariners. It may take a while before Brash looks like the pitcher fans know and love, and it’s certainly unfair to expect him to right away or perhaps at any point in 2025, but his eventual return will undoubtedly be a welcome and electrifying sight in Seattle — and it may not be that far off.