Andrés Muñoz Reflects On Mariners Journey As Former Team Rolls Into Town
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - With his former team in town, as the San Diego Padres battle our Seattle Mariners in the second series of this year’s “Vedder Cup,” reliever Andrés Muñoz is reflecting on his journey to becoming a two time all-star closer here in the Pacific Northwest. A lot has changed for the Los Mochis, Mexico born right handed pitcher, whose full name is Andrés Clemente Muñoz Apodaca, and it’s safe to say that he’s grateful for everything that has come with the progress made since his Major League debut with San Diego on July 12th, 2019 when he had braces and shorter hair. 2025 has already net Andrés his second all-star appearance (and he actually got to pitch in the Midsummer Classic this time), American League Reliever of the Month honors for March/April, and important work in the Seattle community with Seattle Area Feline Rescue (SAFR). There’s more to come for Muñoz and the Mariners this season, hopefully a deep postseason run so that Andrés can improve upon his playoff ERA after pitching in all five games of Seattle’s 2022 run, but #75 in Navy Blue and Northwest Green certainly isn’t taking any moment for granted.
Reliever Andrés Muñoz during the Seattle Mariners home win over the Tampa Bay Rays on August 9th, 2025 at T-Mobile Park. (Photos by Liv Lyons for Circling Seattle Sports)
Muñoz is tracking for the best season of his career in a few different ways, whether it be WAR (fWAR currently at 1.5, bWAR currently at 2.4), saves (At 30 so far on the season, a career best, and set to pass David Aardsma for the fifth most saves in franchise history), as well as other statistics such as ERA and earned runs against. His dominant start to the year, in March/April saw him record eleven saves while not allowing a single run across 15 innings. That blazing beginning of the campaign, which featured a WHIP of 0.73 and an opponents batting average of .106, saw the Mariners go 13-2 in games he appeared in to solidify his Reliever of the Month credentials. His strong season has carried on as Seattle’s 2025 team displays the potential for that aforementioned deep postseason run, providing the Mariners with scoreless appearances in all but ten of the 52 games he’s pitched in. Of those ten games where he surrendered a run, all but two of them are instances of just one run.
His consistent performances and strong growth during his time in the Emerald City has proven Muñoz to be a gem, as he already ranks in the Mariners franchises top five amongst relievers in ERA, FIP, fWAR, K/9, WHIP, SIERA, shutdowns while sitting just outside of the top five in saves, WPA, and strikeouts with all statistics coming from FanGraphs. When it comes to the season being put together this year, Muñoz’s numbers have him ranked fourth in saves and second in ERA amongst all qualified relievers in baseball. Seattle’s closer, firing on all cylinders thanks to a clean bill of health this season, has been scratching and clawing through opposing hitters all year long as the Mariners are primed for their best chance at October baseball since 2022. If Seattle will get where they want to be in a little over a month, Muñoz will have to continue pitching well in big spots. Becoming a cool cat on the mound in high leverage situations isn’t easy, but through experience and support, Muñoz is purring along just fine.
“Obviously, I was younger, different situations that happened. I didn’t have the “Tommy John” surgery. I didn’t have to use a back brace every time I throw, no ankle surgery. A lot of things have changed, but in a good way.”
Seattle Mariners reliever Andrés Muñoz during the teams June 13th, 2024 game against the Chicago White Sox on T-Mobile Park. (Photos by Rio Giancarlo for Circling Seattle Sports)
Pitching in high stress moments in the biggest baseball league in the world comes with intensity and plenty of pressure. Muñoz has worked carefully since the trade from San Diego to Seattle to strengthen his mental game, which has taken time. That time has challenged him with different experiences that spurred growth, whether it’s handling emotions better in ballgames or generally working to improve upon the mindset of a player that represents the last obstacle for an opposing hitter trying to help his team comeback. Finding an inner peace has been critical for Andrés, and part of finding that peace has come with his beloved wife, Wendy Almodovar. The two got married back on July 18th, 2022, and their marriage is a space that Muñoz looks to for peace, after good and bad outings at the ballpark. Andrés credits Wendy and her support as being a critical factor in how he’s able to be his best self day in and day out, both at home and in how he prepares for his time at the ballpark. Fans may not know that his wife Wendy and his close family will help him as much as they can with his performance on the diamond, including giving their ideas and notes on scouting reports.
“I feel like I’ve been a lot better in finding the peace that I have outside the field. I think that is really important for us, and I feel that my wife has been a huge part of that, because all the time when I get home, I just feel that peace. She supports me all the time, in my good outings, and in my bad outings, and in my really bad outings. Just having that feeling of support from her has been huge for me. Without taking credit from my family too, my parents, my brothers, everybody, we’ve been together. I feel like we’re a team, and we are together in everything. When I have my bad outings, everybody will be trying to help me, and I think that has been really important for me.”
Pitching runs in Muñoz’s family, starting back when his grandfather, Damazo Apodaca Bernal, introduced an eleven year old Andrés to the game of baseball. Things took off for him in a span of about four years, signing with the Mexico City Red Devils at the age of 15 before the Padres signed him for $700K at the early age of 16. During the 2018 campaign, when Muñoz split time between Low-A Tri City and AA Amarillo, was when his brothers Helmer and Miguel began to pull information off the internet to create their own scouting reports to give Andrés. Even his wife Wendy has given him advice or notes from her vantage point from time to time. While acknowledging the work that Helmer and Miguel have done to support their brother, this doesn’t mean that Andrés doesn’t use the reports and information that the Mariners pitching lab provides him with currently or what the Padres offered him when he was in San Diego’s organization. The curly haired reliever is well noted for taking in all there is to see on the special color coded, specially curated files that the Mariners provide for their pitching staff ahead of each series, but what Andrés says helps him the most about the additional reports that his family provides him with is the simplicity of them.
All Helmer and Miguel use when compiling their reports is screenshots of publicly accessible services such as Baseball Savant and the statistics on MLB.Com, but the younger of the brothers (Helmer) will typically attach a hand-written note with greater details for what he thinks the youngest of the brothers should do when attacking hitters. This information is much easier to find since Andrés has been in the big leagues, as the statistics and tracking was and still is a lot harder to find compared to when the two brothers started doing this when their brother was in AA, but the basic/simplified information has helped slow the game down. The close family of their mother, Maria Apodaca, the two brothers, and his wife Wendy have played a critical role in the human being and professional athlete that Andrés has become. As he continues to climb to new heights and push to the postseason once again, it’s apparently clear that the support deeply rooted in kindness and care for their son/brother/husband is a driving force for #75.
“I pour a lot of attention in the reports here. But they are used to helping me in a way that makes it simple, ‘don’t think too much about it.’ As soon as I get out on the mound, you don’t want too much information in my head, just make it simple. That is what they do. They’re like, ‘you know what? This guy, you can throw sinkers at him, that’s it.’ I don’t need more information than that. I think that has been really good for me.”
Seattle Mariners reliever Andrés Muñoz during the teams win over the Athletics on August 22nd, 2025 at T-Mobile Park. (Photos by Kevin Ng for Circling Seattle Sports)
Of course, we can’t leave out the four legged friend that’s become a fan favorite in her own right alongside Muñoz. Andrés and Wendy rescued their cat Matilda in his hometown of Los Mochis, Mexico, and she’s become a star as she regularly goes on the Mariners road trips with Wendy, keeping their family together through the twists and turns of the 162 game MLB season. The love for animals is in Muñoz’s blood, passed down to him from his grandfather, just as pitching was from the very same man. Andrés has told stories about one point in time when his grandfather had 26 dogs on his property, and currently his family’s property back home in Mexico oversees eight cats and ten dogs. There’s a dream to one day open up a facility like Seattle Area Feline Rescue (SAFR), the organization he’s worked with in recent years to help raise money and awareness for the health of cats and kittens. It goes back to the heart of gold that Andrés has, saying that we should care for animals just as we do ourselves. Matilda has played a big role in Muñoz’s overall wellbeing, and he wishes to do the same for her plus as many animals as he can lend a helping hand to.
“When we decided to do work with the Seattle Area Feline Rescue, we were all in on that because it’s something that we love to do, we love animals. I feel like that is really important for us, to take care of that too. The more opportunities that I have to do stuff like that, I will do it again, and again, and again, because we are here to do something good for the people, something good for the animals. We are here to do good things. We are here not only for playing [baseball], but also to be the best that you can be off the field. We don’t do it just because we have to... It’s our responsibility to do something good for the city and for the Mariners. Anytime the time I have the opportunity to do that, I will do it every single time.”
Seattle Mariners reliever Andrés Muñoz on an off-day visit to the Seattle Area Feline Rescue (SAFR) on April 29th, 2025. (Photos via the Seattle Mariners)
Proving pivotal to the Mariners ability to win close ballgames obviously has made Muñoz a key piece of this roster, and if Andrés has his say in things, he’ll be playing in Seattle for the entirety of his career. The Mariners closer made it apparent that he’s very happy in the Pacific Northwest and is more than ready to sign long term with the club, and that’s ultimately up for Seattle to decide. Muñoz’s contract, a four-year extension he signed with the Mariners back on December 1st, 2021, runs through this season before there are club options the next three years. If Seattle were to pick up those options, Andrés’ payroll hit would be $6 million in 2026, $8 million in 2027, and $10 million in 2028 per Spotrac. Muñoz is certainly in line for a pay bump, with his payroll hit in the first year of the extension sitting at $937,500 and then gradually increasing to where it sits this season at $2,687,500. Spotrac’s market value has Muñoz at $16,207,403, a notable increase in salary for the Mexican-born reliever who has become the teams best arm out of the bullpen since Edwin Díaz. Comparable contracts to the market value Spotrac has Muñoz at are Kirby Yates, Tanner Scott, Carlos Estevez, and Josh Hader, who all signed those respective deals at ages past where Andrés currently is. Muñoz is just 26-years-old, is a proven commodity, and has made his desire to stay in a Mariners uniform clear.
“The city for me, is awesome. I just love this city. I wish that I can stay here forever, all my career. Obviously I can’t decide that, I can’t control that, but I’m just happy here. I’m just happy here, and I happy to help all that I can.”
Seattle Mariners reliever Andrés Muñoz throughout the course of the 2025 season so far. (Photos by Eric Hiller for Circling Seattle Sports)
Through his reflection of his 2025 campaign to this point, it was abundantly clear how humble Muñoz is and how much he appreciates the love that Mariners fans show him, from supporting his cat Matilda’s Instagram account (Just over 6,100 followers currently), the #75 jerseys in the stands, and their general support through the ups and downs of his career so far. Andrés has dealt with a handful of injuries, including “Tommy John” surgery early into his career that he got through with the help of his brother Helmer, and obviously the life of a back end reliever can be stressful considering the game hinges on your ability to execute. Muñoz feels the love from the fiery fanbase in Seattle that craves so desperately for the success of their seafaring ballclub, making it a point to interact with them as much as he can. Through everything, the all-star appearances, the clutch saves to win ballgames, the injuries the sideline him and question if he’ll ever throw again, and the rough outings, Andrés stays rooted in what got him here: his family, his belief in himself, and his desire to give back to those who have supported him along the way.
“I am really surprised about everything, We’ve been through a lot. We’ve been through a lot of injuries, a lot of things happening. We got to a point when I was in my rehab, when I thought that I wasn’t going to throw again, I was in a really tough spot. To be here, I just feel really proud of myself. Obviously, I always have idols. Growing up, I was watching Aroldis Chapman all the time. To be able to meet him, at the all-star game, he gave me a lot advice. It’s a dream come true, a dream come true for me. I am happy that I can be an idol for somebody, and maybe motivate him to be here one day. I feel like that is our purpose here, and just be here for the fans all the time. I don’t know if you ever pay attention to that, but I always try to interact with them, with the fans, because I feel like sometimes we forget that we are here for the fans. If we have no fans, we are not here. downs, so we have to be ready for that.”
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