TL;DR
The Seattle Mariners placed left-handed pitcher Gabe Speier on the 15-day IL due to shoulder inflammation. They activated José Suarez and selected Josh Simpson from Triple-A Tacoma to fill the gap in the bullpen.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - APRIL 29: Gabe Speier #55 of the Seattle Mariners pitches during the game between the Seattle Mariners and the Minnesota Twins at Target Field on Wednesday, April 29, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Michael Turner/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - APRIL 29: Gabe Speier #55 of the Seattle Mariners pitches during the game between the Seattle Mariners and the Minnesota Twins at Target Field on Wednesday, April 29, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Michael Turner/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The already injury-plagued Mariners took another hit today as it was announced lefty Gabe Speier is going on the IL with left shoulder inflammation. LHP José Suarez, who was recently claimed off waivers from the Braves, has reported to the club to take his place. Additionally, the Mariners selected lefty Josh Simpson from Tacoma and sent RHP Cole Wilcox to Triple-A.
Speier, 31, hasnât been objectively bad, but nor has looked like the dominant reliever he was last year. While his numbers look fine on the surface, his expected metrics have been rough: his line of a .261 xBA, .466 xSLG, and .337 xwOBA are all career-highs, and all up about a hundred points over where he ended last year.
Curiously, Speier has been leaning on his slider more heavily this season than his fastballs, throwing the pitch 35% of the time, but heâs had trouble landing it with the consistency he did in 2025. On the left is his 2025 heat map for the pitch; on the right, this season.
For whatever reason, heâs had trouble getting the slider to the bottom of the zone consistently, and when the slider leaks into the middle and up on the plate, bad things happen.
No further details are yet available about the grade of severity of Speierâs shoulder inflammation; we will update this story when we know more.
With Speier down, the Mariners are going for a double-barreled approach to replacing the lefty in the bullpen. Josh Simpson, 28, has been selected from Triple-A Tacoma after being previously recalled on May 1. As we wrote about Simpson the last time, heâs got a big nasty sweeper and some legit strikeout potential, but he struggles to throw strikes. So far thatâs not been an issue thatâs worked itself out at Triple-A Tacoma, so expect Simpson to have a short leash if he canât solve his strike-throwing issues on the fly in the big leagues. Quite an ask. To make room for Simpson, the Mariners sent another arm with command issues, Cole Wilcox, back to Tacoma, which makes me sad because I believe in Wilcoxâs stuff, but at the end of the day, you have to throw strikes. Wilcox will have an opportunity to work on that with Tacoma and work his way back up to Seattle â soon, hopefully.
The other lefty the Mariners are going with is new acquisition José Suarez, . The former AL West foe has had a bumpy start to his 2026 season with after a successful 2o25 after signing there as a free agent. Suarez has also had issues throwing strikes, and has less bat-missing ability than Simpson, but he has more neutral platoon splits rather than being a lefty specialist and as a former starter has length to cover innings if one of the Mariners starters goes short, a troubling trend of late. While neither of these relievers are a perfect replacement for peak Speier, each one now has a shot to try to carve out a role in the Mariners pen and make a case to be kept around even after an IL stint ends.