The Seattle Mariners crop of relievers have been one of the most tumultuous bullpens in the American League this season.  Between trades, injuries and high workloads, the front-end of the bullpen has seen a lot of change since Opening Day on March 27.

But the Mariners' high leverage arms have remained consistently solid for the team throughout the year. One of the pitchers that has stepped into that role is Eduard Bazardo.

The right-handed reliever, who was originally signed by the Boston Red Sox on Sept. 4, 2014, out of Venezuela, is in the middle of a career-best season.

Entering Friday, Bazardo has posted a 2.61 ERA with 69 strikeouts in as many innings pitched across 63 appearances and has allowed an opposing batting average of .189. He has a perfect 5-0 record and has seven holds this year. His innings pitched, strikeouts opposing batting average and wins are all career-highs.

Entering Friday, Bazardo's innings ranks fourth in the major leagues among pitchers who have exclusively pitched in relief. According to pregame notes shared by Mariners PR. If Bazardo finishes in the top five in innings pitched, he would be the first Seattle reliever to finish in the top five of the majors in innings pitched since Brandon League did it in 2010 according to pregame notes shared by Mariners PR.

Bazardo has received more opportunities this season as the season has progressed. He was a jack-of-all traded reliever used in a variety of low-leverage and high-leverage opportunities for most of the season, but he's now firmly a back-end arm for the team.

In a recent episode of the "Refuse to Lose" podcast, Bazardo caught up with Roundtable Sports' Brady Farkas during a recent series against the Tampa Bay Rays to talk about his getting more opportunities and trust from manager Dan Wilson and the organization.

"That's what I like ... the opportunity I got right now," Bazardo said. "That helps me to be confident and still throwing good. My confidence was really good and that helped me a lot to be consistent and keep helping the team."

In addition to receiving more opportunities in close games, Bazardo has also gotten the ball for more multiple innings. And it hasn't been uncommon to see the fifth-year pitcher's velocity to jump the deeper he goes into his outings.

"Always my second inning, I feel like I'm already loose," Bazardo said. "When I feel good, you'll see my velocity is going up. ... First inning ... you'll see 93, 94 (mph). And then the second inning, you'll see me like, I throw 96 to 98 more consistently."

Bazardo will be under team control for several seasons. He will enter pre-arbitration in 2026 and will be in his first year of arbitration in 2027. Nased on the jump Bazardo has made this season, he will continue to be firmly entrenched as one of Seattle's best bullpen arms going forward.