Starters have throw 8674 pitches (the second most in the AL), relievers have thrown 2898 pitches (!!)...the next closest team (Rays) have thrown 500 more pitches than that...and the rest of baseball sees no team below 3625 pitches. In terms of IP, pitch count efficiency, and workload, the Mariner rotation is remarkable and it's not obvious until you see the results for the Mariner bullpen.
This bullpen is quilted together from old flour sacks, no doubts there, and yet it has performed very well.
The 2011 Mariners are the reductio ad absurdum for the old baseball saw, have your starters go deep and your relievers will be fine.
If there were ever a post-1973 team that could use a 6-man pen, this is it, and as it is Jeff Gray never sees the light of day... they are using 4.5 relievers and that is appropriate for this club...