ARLINGTON, Texas — The question gets posed to Texas Rangers All-Star second baseman Marcus Semien fairly regularly: Who, he’s asked, is the nastiest pitcher in the major leagues right now?
His answer lately has been the same: Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz.
“Especially once he added his sinker,” Semien said. “Now he’s got two fastballs and his slider. It’s a problem.”
As he spoke, Semien was sitting at his locker inside the American League clubhouse, just two locker stalls away from where Muñoz and Logan Gilbert were stationed a few hours before the start of the 94th MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday night at Globe Life Field.
When the topic of Seattle’s pitching was broached, Semien let out a prolonged sigh, as if to say, Thanks for bringing that up.
“That’s what we’ve got to deal with,” he said, motioning to the two Mariners’ All-Stars.
(Semien has just one hit (a double) with three strikeouts in six career plate appearances vs. Muñoz, and just two hits (both singles) in 29 plate appearances against Gilbert.)
Just a few lockers to the other side of the Mariners pitchers was Aaron Judge.
The Yankees slugger was the one All-Star that Muñoz said he was most excited to meet this week. During Monday’s media day interviews, Muñoz was asked, if given a wish, what one skill he would steal from another major-leaguer.
Muñoz didn’t hesitate: “I want to hit like Aaron Judge.”
Judge has faced Muñoz three times, with one walk and two strikeouts. They got the chance to shake hands and chat for a minute Monday in the outfield.
“He’s impressive, man,” Judge said inside the AL clubhouse Tuesday. “Anytime you have a guy like that waiting in the back of a bullpen for a tight situation, where he’s got 100 or 101 [mph] plus a nasty slider, it makes for a tough evening as a hitter. Usually you’re like, ‘Let’s just get to the bullpen,’ but you don’t want to get to the bullpen with that guy.”
Judge added: “I see what he does on the field, but as a person he seems pretty incredible too.”
Gilbert can vouch for that.
The Mariners’ emerging ace described Muñoz as one of the most humble and well-liked players on the Mariners roster. Many teammates would say the same about Gilbert — just two good dudes.
The difference is when Gilbert takes the mound, he takes on a new persona (don’t mess with “Walter”).
The “nice guy” image, though, doesn’t change for Muñoz when he pitches. He doesn’t huff and puff or take on the look of a middle linebacker ready to tackle a quarterback. There’s nothing menacing about Muñoz — well, nothing but his “stuff.”
“I mean, 102 [mph] is still pretty intimidating,” Gilbert said of Muñoz’s best fastball. “Everyone just does it a little bit differently. … ‘Muney’ just gets along with everybody so easily. He’s just naturally so genuine, and for how hard he works and how good of a person he is, he really deserves to be here.”
An ‘emotional’ day for brothers
Muñoz’s two older brothers, Miguel, 29, and Helmer, 27, can vouch for him too.
Yes, they said, Andrés has always been a sweetheart of a little brother.
“Ever since he was a little kid, he was that guy,” Miguel said. “In Little League, if one of his teammates was crying, he would be the one to console him.”
About 90 minutes before first pitch Tuesday night, Miguel and Helmer found their seats in Section 119 at Globe Life Field.
They had driven some 1,400 miles over 27 hours in a Kia sedan from the family’s hometown in Los Mochis, Mexico, to arrive in Texas. They called it an “emotional” experience for them to see their little brother in an All-Star uniform.
“We feel so proud,” Miguel said through Mariners interpreter Freddy Llanos.
After Muñoz learned he was added to the AL roster on Friday, he called his parents to break the news to them. His mom, Maria Apodaca, was in tears.
Muñoz then made a request of his brothers to come to the game. So they started driving.
“It’s even more emotional for us because he called us and said, ‘Hey guys, I need you guys.’ So it’s a little more special knowing that he requested us to be here,” Helmer said.
Unfortunately for the brothers, Andrés was not called on to pitch in the American League’s 5-3 victory over the NL. Rangers manager Bruce Bochy used his own high-leverage reliever, veteran Kirby Yates, for a scoreless eighth inning, and Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clase closed it out in the ninth.
Gilbert was unavailable to pitch Tuesday after starting for the Mariners on Sunday. The Mariners and Angels were the only two teams not to have a player participate in the All-Star Game.
The Muñoz brothers are part of a close-knit family, and Miguel and Helmer have taken a hands-on role to support their brother’s baseball career.
Throughout the season, they will dive into video analysis and Statcast data of opposing hitters, providing their own scouting reports to supplement pitching plans formulated by Mariners coaches. Andrés’ wife, Wendy, gets involved in the scouting reports too, and it’s common for Andrés to talk with his brothers on the phone before a game. He values their input.
It’s a tradition the brothers started in 2019 when Andrés was pitching for the Padres’ Triple-A team. He started pitching better after that, so they’ve kept it up.
“Ever since, we’ve continued to do it every game,” Helmer said.
Helmer also serves as Andrés’ personal catcher during winter throwing sessions back home in Los Mochis.
He had never played catcher as a kid — the older brothers both threw the javelin, and Andrés was a talented triple-jumper until he was about 13, when he began to focus on pitching full time — but he’s grown into the role, with a few bumps and bruises along the way.
There was one particular pitch and one particular hand bruise that Helmer remembered vividly, even a couple years later.
“He threw a slider I had never seen before,” Helmer said. “It had so much break on it.”
One nasty pitch
In 2022, Muñoz broke out with the Mariners because of that slider. His four-seam fastball touched 103 mph during his first full season with the Mariners that season — the fastest pitch in franchise history — but his slider was, and is, his best pitch.
It was one of the most untouchable pitches in the majors in 2022; opposing hitters had a .126 batting average and a .296 OPS against Muñoz’s slider, whiffing 50.8% of the time he threw it.
A shoulder injury early in 2023 and a back injury this season have sapped some of his velocity. He continues to pitch while wearing a back brace, but he says he’s feeling better now than he has at any point this season.
Muñoz, as Semien referenced, did add a sinker to his arsenal last season, and that’s been effective for him too (hitters have a .185 average and no extra-base hits against the sinker this season).
“He didn’t need another ‘plus’ pitch, but just for fun he added the sinker,” Gilbert said with a laugh. “Especially for right-handed hitters, it’s just unfair.”
One of Muñoz’s priorities in the first half of this season was to get his slider back to where it was in 2022. He says he’s getting closer, and his brothers — watching ever so closely — agreed.
“It’s good right now,” Helmer said, “but he’s not throwing it with the confidence he had in 2022. But I think he’ll get there soon.”
Notes
- Former Rangers (and Mariners) third baseman Adrian Beltre threw out a ceremonial first pitch before the All-Star Game. Beltre will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame this weekend.
- Seattle University product Tarik Skubal, representing the Detroit Tigers in his first All-Star Game, threw a scoreless second inning for the American League. Skubal got ex-Mariner Teoscar Hernadez to fly out to end the inning. Hernadez, a day after winning the Home Run Derby, went 0 for 2 as the NL’s starting center fielder.
- MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, in comments made to the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on Tuesday, said he would consider returning to the tradition of each player wearing their own team jerseys next year, instead of the special AL and NL jerseys used in the All-Star Game in recent years. On Tuesday, AL players wore orange-themed uniforms and the NL wore black-and-blue.