2 days agoSeattle Mariners relief pitcher Andres Munoz should be viewed as an elite closer heading into the 2025 despite his injury concerns. Last summer, Munoz tallied a career-high 22 saves with a strong 2.12 ERA and a stellar 0.96 WHIP over 59 1/3 innings of work. Munoz loved pitching at T-Mobile Park as he held a near-perfect 0.28 ERA and a 0.53 WHIP across 32 innings. Under the hood, the hard-throwing right-hander generated elite metrics that placed him among the top pitchers last season. Munoz generated a 2.94 xERA, .178 xBA, 39.8% whiff rate and a 33.2% K rate which were all within the 90th percentile among qualified pitchers. He also generated ground balls at a strong 54.0% rate. However, he did allow barrels at a hefty 8.7% rate. The one concern about Munoz is his injury history. Munoz battled a back injury and elbow soreness at different times of the 2024 campaign. In addition, he has only surpassed 60.0 innings pitched once during his five-year major league career. Despite these concerns, Munoz sits as the clear ninth-inning option on a Seattle team that will have ample save opportunities given their elite starting rotation. Fantasy managers who opt to wait to take their first relief pitcher should feel confident drafting Munoz at his current 74.81 ADP on the NFBC as a solid RP1 given his elite ratios. However, given his injury history he may have trouble reaching 30+ save territory.--Andy Smith - RotoBaller