Pitching Coach on Seattle Mariners’ Matt Brash: "His slider is maybe the best pitch in terms of pitch movement and velocity in major league history"
Seattle Mariners' Matt Brash is one of the top pitching prospects in baseball, and one coach thinks he could be historically good. Brash is 24 years old, and is poised to have his breakout MLB season in 2023. He pitched 50.2 innings in 2022, resulting in an ERA of 4.44. It was not a mind-blowing debut for the major leagues, but a solid start that Brash and the Mariners can build off of.
Brash spent his offseason training at Driveline Baseball, one of the premier baseball development locations in the country. Matt Brash's dedication to improving his game is a great sign for his future in the big leagues. Many great players will tell you that the drive to constantly improve is by far the most important ability.
Driveline Baseball's director of pitching, Chris Langin, had extremely high praise for Brash, particularly one of his pitches.
"I think you could pretty realistically say his slider is maybe the best pitch in terms of pitch movement and velocity in major league history" - Chris Langin
Expectations were already high for the Seattle Mariners pitcher, and now the ceiling has been raised even further. Having one pitch that is nearly unhittable is a viable strategy for pitchers, as Mariano Rivera proved. The New York Yankees legend and Hall of Famer was an elite closer off the strength of one pitch: his cutter.
San Diego Padres superstar Juan Soto certainly took notice of Brash's incredible slider, as this tweet from Daniel Kramer shows.
"Juan Soto seemed taken aback / impressed by this first-pitch, high-and-in slider from Matt Brash that went for a called strike" - Daniel Kramer
If this prediction for Matt Brash comes true, the Seattle Mariners will have a legitimate Cy Young candidate on their hands.
The Seattle Mariners are one of the most exciting young teams in baseball
There is no denying that the Mariners are a team on the rise, the only question left is how high they can go. They ended their lengthy playoff drought last season and are looking to be a contender once again in 2023.
A huge part of the reason why was rookie phenom Julio Rodriguez, who set the MLB on fire and proved to be a top offensive player.
"Year 2 Julio Rodriguez is gonna be something special" - Bet MGM
The youth movement in Seattle has been incredible to watch, and the journey will be resuming very soon.
