Wednesday, June 18

SEATTLE -- When Andrés Muñoz visited a local cat shelter this week, much of his motivation was about his love for animals. But it was also about further connecting with the local community, especially as his forward-facing profile continues to grow.

“Seattle, I love everything,” the Mexico native said. “That is why it feels like my second home. It's really far from home, too. We’re kind of right way up in the corner, but I don't know. I just feel so comfortable here. Hopefully we can do something so I can stay here all the time, because I would love to spend all of my career here.”

Muñoz has been a clubhouse favorite with the Mariners for a while now, and watching his comfort -- and confidence -- grow, both on the mound and among everyone he crosses paths with, has been one of the organization’s feel-good developments since his first full season in 2022. 

He’s always had the elite arm, with the 100 mph fastball and the slider that has made even the sport’s best hitters look silly. And off to the best start of his career, Muñoz is likely going to be the American League Reliever of the Month for March/April, after he posted a 0.00 ERA and led the AL with 11 saves. It should have him on a fast track to earning his second straight All-Star selection. 

His continued rise has also drawn more attention. Two weeks ago, Muñoz made his first ever appearance as a guest on MLB Network, and it wound up being a must-watch, largely for seeing hosts Mark DeRosa, Lauren Shehadi and Robert Flores marvel at Muñoz’s gentle personality -- and its stark contrast against his cutthroat persona on the mound.

“How are you so kind?” Shehadi asked. 

“You can’t close games and be this nice,” DeRosa said. “You’ve got to be breathing fire!”

“I feel like I am a completely different person outside baseball,” Muñoz responded. “When I am on the mound, I feel like I am a completely different person. But I don’t know, I considered myself a good person. And I love animals.”

The highlight of that segment was Muñoz speaking about his 14-year-old Persian cat, Matilda, whom he rescued a few years ago in his hometown of Los Mochis, Mexico. 

Matilda has regularly tagged along on Mariners road trips, and the pictures that Muñoz posts of her are peak wholesome content. But his love for her is far deeper, and the story of how she came into his life is why he wanted to get involved in helping other cats in need. 

Which led to Monday’s visit with Seattle Area Feline Rescue (SAFR) in Shoreline, Wash. Beyond getting a glimpse of all the hard work that goes into caring for cats at a shelter, Muñoz also put together an experience package that the rescue center is auctioning off, which includes tickets to a game, passes to batting practice and a meet-and-greet with Muñoz.

The auction runs through Monday.

“Going up there, I feel like all the things that they do, the things that we don't see before a cat can get adopted,” Muñoz said, “it’s a lot of things that they have to do -- vaccines, the microchip, all the exams that they have to do before they can put them together with the other cats. All the tools that they have over there to check that all the cats are good to go before they can go to a new home. And those are things that nobody sees.”

As a nonprofit, SAFR operates on donations, fundraising and grants, making Muñoz’s financial efforts that much more helpful. 

“It was a good experience for me,” Muñoz said, “and something that I got to think about before going there. I now know how much work they put in.”

Alas, as badly as he wanted to adopt another cat on Monday, Muñoz said that it’ll have to wait, though perhaps it’ll be in the cards this offseason. Because it’s clear that this probably won’t be Muñoz’s only visit to SAFR, especially with his motivations to continue connecting with a community that’s become his home away from home.

The box score from Bryce Miller’s outing on Tuesday would suggest that he positioned the Mariners for a win. But a deeper dive -- and the frustration he expressed postgame -- said much more. 

Miller issued a career-high five walks, had many non-competitive misses and experienced a velocity dip by a half-tick on all of his pitches, topping out at 92.2 mph on his fastball -- continuing a trend that, despite his 3.52 ERA, has been going on for basically the entire season.

“I'm just looking forward to the day when everything feels good, and I can just go and let it rip like I'm used to,” Miller said.

Miller revealed that his back “locked up” on him during pregame warmups, to the point where he didn’t want to sit down between innings and risk worsening it. He also said after his April 11 start vs. Texas that he was experiencing arm soreness.

“It’s just been one thing after another that hasn't been major, but just been nagging,” said Miller, who was pushed back two days when the club added rookie Logan Evans to the rotation, putting Miller on six days’ rest for Tuesday.

The Mariners are already without All-Star starting pitchers Logan Gilbert and George Kirby, and while the way Miller speaks of these issues doesn’t sound alarming, it’s a situation that is worth continued monitoring.

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