The right-hander has had a great year, with 38 saves overall, but some of his outings in the second half have been wobbly, leading some to wonder about the level of trust in him for an October run.
The Seattle Mariners lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night, dropping the second game of the three-game set at T-Mobile Park 5-3.
With the American League West title in hand and a first-round bye already secured, the result of the game didn't really matter, but the process did as the M's head into October looking for their first World Series appearance ever.
Closer Andres Munoz entered the game in the top of the ninth inning of a tie game, likely for his final appearance of the regular season, and he struggled. Munoz walked the first two batters before allowing an Enrique Hernandez double to score two runs.
Now, there are really two schools of thoughts here. The first is that the game didn't matter, Munoz knows that, and therefore didn't have the same focus and adrenaline that he will in October. He got his work in and that's what matters, similar to spring training.
The second is that Munoz's shaky outing is reminiscent of what we've seen in the second half of the season, but he was finally burned by it, and it's an issue heading into October.
I tend to lean to the latter.
Munoz has had a phenomenal season by all accounts. An All-Star, he's got 38 saves and a 1.73 ERA. He's struck out 83 batters in 62.1 innings. To label him as a "concern" or a "problem" would be a disservice.
But it's fair to note that bullpens often win and lose games in October, and Munoz has certainly generated his fair share of trouble in the second half.
Since his first post-All-Star appearance (July 19), Munoz has made 27 appearances. He's only allowed six earned runs in those appearances, which is also excellent. He just had a stretch of eight straight scoreless appearances before Saturday - also excellent.
However, of those 27 appearances, 14 have featured at least one hit allowed, and 11 have featured at least one walk. Six have featured both. The traffic has piled up, and in the playoffs, when the teams are better, and the hitters are more focused and disciplined, you have a harder time getting away with creating traffic.
So, is Andres Munoz a problem? No. But is there a level of trepidation about his outings? That's fair.
The Mariners will close out the regular season on Sunday afternoon at 12:10 p.m. PT. The playoffs begin Tuesday though the M's won't play until Oct. 4.
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