Penn Murfee Fantasy Baseball Updates - Ben Rosener’s MLB Beat

Major League Baseball’s regular season is here, and with it comes the daily influx of baseball news that fantasy managers missed in the winter months. Lineup news, actual games happening, constant waiver wire moves, pitching assignments, and bullpen usage.

This column aims to cover any fantasy baseball news, big or small, and how it pertains to your fantasy team. Spring training or the regular season, it's covered here.

Has a player who's usually been hitting in the middle of a lineup suddenly batting eighth or ninth for an extended period? The fantasy implications will be covered here. The same goes for injuries and injured placements and whether or not you should consider picking up a player who was recently called up. Basically, any kernel of fantasy news and its relevance to fantasy managers could be covered here. Today, the news of the day is the fantasy impact of Seattle Mariners relief pitcher Penn Murfee reportedly needing to have UCL surgery.

• Fantasy baseball injury reports
• Fantasy baseball trade analyzer
• Daily MLB starting lineups for fantasy baseball
• Fantasy baseball BvP matchups data (Batter vs. Pitcher)
• Fantasy baseball PvB matchups data (Pitcher vs. Batter)
• Who should I start? Fantasy baseball player comparisons
• Fantasy baseball closer depth charts, bullpens, saves
• Fantasy Baseball live scoreboard, daily leaderboards

Penn Murfee Injury Update

Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Penn Murfee will reportedly have UCL surgery, according to a tweet from The Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish on Tuesday afternoon.

The right-hander enjoyed a breakout season for the M’s in 2022, appearing in 64 games as a rookie and logging 69.1 innings for the American League West club. In those 69.1 innings, Murfee pitched to a 2.99 ERA and a 3.10 FIP while adding 76 strikeouts compared to 18 walks allowed to go along with four pitcher wins.

Additionally, the reliever added seven holds for Seattle, serving as a late-inning option for manager Scott Servais. Limited by injury to 14 innings this year, Murfee allowed 10 walks, five hits, two earned runs, and a home run in 14 innings, logging a pitcher win, a hold, and a blown save in the process. If you’re doing the math at home, that’s a 1.29 ER and a 4.27 FIP.

Fantasy managers in saves+holds leagues looking for a replacement should look further than the rest of the Seattle bullpen.

So far this season, Seattle’s bullpen ranks second in the league in both fWAR (second-best at 3.4) and FIP (second-lowest at 3.54). With Murfee out for an extended period due to reportedly needing UCL surgery, Justin Topa and Gabe Speier both figure to continue to see extensive late-inning action alongside the likes of Andres Munoz, Matt Brash, and closer Paul Sewald.

Topa and Speier have been key relievers for Seattle so far, with both arguably having career years. As of the beginning of play on Tuesday, Topa paced the team with 13 holds this season and has logged a 3.34 ERA, a 3.30 FIP, 26 strikeouts, and nine walks in 29.2 innings. In addition to the 13 holds, he’s also added a save and has registered a pitcher win.

Meanwhile, Speier is sporting a 2.63 ERA and a 2.75 FIP in 27.1 innings. He’s struck out 26 batters in those 27.1 innings while scattering 20 hits, just three walks, and a pair of home runs.

More Fantasy Baseball Analysis