Three days ago, ESPN published a tongue-in-cheek article called “Why Your Team Didn’t Do What You Wanted This Winter.” In a spectrum that ran Dodgers-to-Rockies, the Mariners were thankfully much closer to the Dodgers side of things, but Bradford Doolittle, the author, did question why the Mariners didn’t get another lefty bullpen arm to help Gabe Speier, saying some not-so-nice things about Jose Ferrer in the process and giving minimal attention to Robinson Ortiz, one of the Mariners’ early moves this winter. I’m not sure that today’s move of bringing in Josh Simpson from Miami to take Logan Evans’ spot on the 40-man will make Doolittle feel like the Mariners Didmore to address their lefty bullpen issues, but there is now another lefty in the mix along with Speier, Ferrer, and Ortiz.
Simpson got dumped right before Valentine’s Day as the Marlins DFA’d him on Thursday, allowing the Mariners to swoop in and acquire the Columbia product, who has so far spent his entire career in the Marlins organization after being drafted in the 32nd round in 2019. Simpson has had some injury issues in his career, missing a year in between his sophomore and junior seasons at Columbia with TJ. After being drafted he made steady progress through the Marlins system, dominating at the lower levels; but in 2023, he struggled with both injury (shoulder impingement) and throwing strikes at Double-A. 2024 wasn’t kinder on the injury front, as Simpson missed most of the season with “left elbow ulnar neuritis,” also known as cubital tunnel syndrome; you might recognize that as the thing that sidelined flamethrowing Angels pitcher Ben Joyce.
Simpson’s fastball comes in about ten miles slower than Joyce’s, so that’s not the concern with him; it’s more keeping him on the field, which he was able to do in 2025, and throwing strikes, which he was not as able to do. Simpson has enormous strikeout potential thanks to a deep repertoire and ability to spin a breaking ball; his sweeper is a whiff-machine, especially effective against lefties, and when he has a feel for his changeup, it’s deadly:
But there is a troubling amount of his highlight film titled “Josh Simpson escapes a jam,” because he often found himself in jams due to poor command.
There is a lot of raw material to work with for the 28-year-old, who might benefit from a different set of developmental eyes on him. He doesn’t have an overpowering fastball, coming in around 94 and depending more on weak contact than whiffs, and he pairs that with a sinker that is supposed to be a weapon against lefties but winds up in the middle of the plate too often. The Mariners, despite popular perception, don’t tend to make a ton of mechanical adjustments with their pitchers, but just from watching a couple pitches our John Trupin suggested there’s a lack of front-side consistency with Simpson that could be addressed. Then there’s the issue of being able to consistently land his curveball, sweeper, and changeup, which seems like a big ask for a pitcher who’s struggling to throw strikes, so perhaps some selective arsenal editing could be helpful. There’s also the injury aspect to consider, although Simpson is coming off a healthy 2025.
The question in Doolittle’s article still stands; if Ferrer and Ortiz don’t merit much mention, Simpson, at this stage at least, is a tick down from either of those two. But there are a lot of interesting components here that hearken back to the previous lefty duo of Speier and Tayler Saucedo, with Speier raining down hellfire and Saucedo—when he was on—coaxing ugly swings and weak contact. It’s a good lefty one-two punch, in theory; the Mariners’ job this spring will be to find Speier the right sparring partner, and now a new contender has entered the ring.
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