Andrés

Muñoz

Muñoz gave up three straight hard-hit balls to begin the inning, but only one turned into a hit, and he then struck out Yordan Alvarez to end the game. As per usual, it’s been bend-but-not-break for Muñoz this season. He has a 5.63 ERA, but he’s 8-for-10 saving games, and he picked up a win after one of the two blown saves.

Muñoz gave up a single to Dominic Smith with two outs, but he then got Drake Baldwin to ground out to end the game. It’s his seventh save in nine tries to open the year.

Muñoz entered with a one-run lead in the ninth and gave up a run after an odd misplay from Julio Rodríguez in center. Everything was fine aside from that, so there’s no cause for concern here. The Mariners, though, did lose in 10 after they failed to score the automatic runner.

The Mariners scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning to give Muñoz a lead in the bottom half, and he did not disappoint. The 27-year-old didn’t allow a baserunner and struck out two batters en route to his sixth save of the season. He remains an elite closer option despite his inflated 6.00 ERA.

Muñoz allowed a leadoff walk to Nolan Gorman, but he was able to strike out the next batter and initiated a double play to end the inning without any damage. The right-hander has now save five-of-six chances, and his ERA lowers to 6.55. That ERA is almost entirely based on a five-run scuffle against the Padres. He’s an elite closer.

Muñoz did allow a two-out single to Nathan Church that brought the go-ahead run to the plate, but he battled back to strike out Ramon Urias to end it. The 27-year-old stopper has now converted four of his first five save opportunities on the season while posting a troublesome 7.20 ERA, 1.50 WHIP and a 17/5 K/BB ratio over his first 10 innings.

Nick Kurtz hit a 438-foot homer off Muñoz in a one-run game in the top of the ninth before the Mariners came back with a run of his own in the bottom of the inning. Muñoz has an 8.00 ERA through nine innings, but he’s missing as many bats as ever and, Kurtz’s bomb aside, has not been hit particularly hard. Even with the slow start, he still has to be regarded as a top three or five fantasy closer, given the state of the position.

Muñoz didn’t strike out the side because his first strikeout ended up being a wild pitch that allowed Jake Burger to reach first base. He fanned the next two batters and got a weak groundout to second to procure his third save of 2026. His ERA still sits at 7.88, but that’s not really indicative of how he’s pitched, and certainly not indicative of what to expect for the next five-plus months.

Muñoz came in to to clean up a bases-loaded mess, and he struck out Brandon Nimmo as the tying runner to get the save. The 27-year-old has had some shaky outings — although his five-run disaster Wednesday was much more about bad luck than bad pitching — but offers as much upside as any closer in baseball. It would be foolish to consider moving on from him at this point.

Muñoz surrendered four hits and a walk before being replaced by Jose A. Ferrer with the score 6-5. Jackson Merrill then hit a game-winning double off Ferrer, who was charged with the blown save while Muñoz took the loss. Muñoz gave up just one hard-hit ball and was pretty unlucky that the rally materialized in the first place. Still, he’s now saddled with a 9.45 ERA for the young season. It’s probably not anything worth worrying about.