Relief Pitcher Tom Wilhelmsen #54
28 years old; Experience: one year
Tom Wilhelmsen is one of those nice stories of baseball that only the sport of baseball can have. A once top pitching prospect who falls out of favor before finding his way back into a farm system of a team. The Mariners were that team and Wilhelmsen is that man. Even though the Mariners brought in some veteran relief pitchers to pad the bullpen, because Wilhelmsen still has upside, he will probably be the one that hands the ball to Brandon League every 9th inning. I guess technically the umpire is handing League that ball....but yeah, Wilhelmsen should find himself the setup man for the Mariners.
Wilhelmsen comes in with a solid fastball that dances around the low to mid 90s and he has what looks like a stellar curveball most of the time. Last year, Wilhelmsen was pretty decent in his limited stint with the Mariners. He only notched 32 innings through 25 games, but he was looking good with 8.27 strikeouts per nine innings. He still is prone to a bit of wildness but he strikes the zone pretty well and pretty hard.
The key thing with Wilhelmsen is that as long as he stays healthy, he should be in line to add a bit of value to his repertoire and close out a few games when Brandon League isn't available. Or in the case of a mid-season League trade, it should be expected that barring a meltdown that Wilhelmsen gets to choose his entrance music. Lets hope he goes with silence. Because nothing is more intimidating than a closer with no music.