Mariners takeaways: Seattle rotation shuffles with 2 more starters placed on IL
The Mariners will have to continue to shuffle their rotation after sending two more starters to the injured list last week.
The club placed three in James Paxton, his replacement Nick Margevicius and then ace Marco Gonzales on the IL during the first month of the season.
Gonzales, who noted soreness and tightness in his throwing arm following Tuesday night’s start against the Astros, was placed on the 10-day IL on Thursday with a left forearm strain and is expected to miss “at least a couple starts,” manager Scott Servais said.
“He does have a mild strain in his forearm, so he’s going to miss at least a couple starts,” Servais said Thursday on his daily pregame video call with reporters. “Fortunately it’s not too serious, but it’s something we want to stay out ahead of.”
Gonzales was the club’s Opening Day starter for the third consecutive season last month, and paced the Mariners in starts (11) and innings (69-2/3) during the shortened 2020 season with a 7-2 record and career-best 3.10 ERA.
Through five starts in April, Gonzales was 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA, but he turned in quality outings in his past two appearances.
“Obviously it’s unfortunate,” Servais said. “Marco’s our guy. He’s so consistent. We love having him out there. But, we want to be smart here, not let this grow into anything bigger.”
The Mariners continue to monitor Gonzales, who was out playing catch on Sunday morning, Servais said.
Margevicius was placed on the 10-day IL on Monday with left shoulder inflammation, and is expected to undergo more tests this week.
The two left-handers join Paxton, who exited his first start of the season in the second inning on April 6, abruptly ending his reunion with the club that drafted him. He has since had season-ending Tommy John surgery.
Servais noted when Gonzales was sent to the IL the challenges losing three starters in the first month presents for the rotation.
“There’s no question about it,” he said. “You lean on starting pitching so heavily in this league and having the consistency of those guys making every turn, it gets challenging when they don’t.”
Four starters from Seattle’s Opening Day rotation remain active in Yusei Kikuchi, Chris Flexen, Justus Sheffield and Justin Dunn. Ljay Newsome has since slotted into Margevicius’ rotation spot.
The Mariners had not named a starter to take Gonzales’ turn in Monday’s series opener against the Orioles as of Sunday afternoon. Servais expected the club would likely make it a bullpen day.
Even with the series of injuries early, though, Servais reaffirmed Sunday the club is planning to stick with their six-man rotation — at least for now.
The Mariners have an off day Thursday after wrapping up their six-game homestand against the Orioles, and another off day scheduled next Monday, between road meetings with the Rangers and Dodgers.
“We do have a couple off days in there which will benefit our bullpen guys quite a bit,” Servais said. “We’re going to have to lean on our bullpen. … But as far as the rotation goes, and with those off days coming up, I’m very hopeful that Marco Gonzales is not out that long. Maybe just a couple starts missing him. But, we’ll have to wait and see how that comes along.
“But, as of right now, no, we are not looking at going to a five-man rotation.”
MILLS MAKES DEBUT
More than 600 days had passed since Mariners right-hander Wyatt Mills had pitched in a meaningful, regulation baseball game.
Back on Aug. 31, 2019, he pitched a scoreless inning for Double-A Arkansas, and struck out a batter in his final appearance of the season.
Mills pitched in four Mariners spring training games the past two seasons, but the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the minor league season in 2020, and he was not among Seattle’s prospects invited to the alternate site last summer.
He said Saturday on a video call with reporters when he wasn’t added to the Mariners’ summer camp roster last summer, it motivated him to continue to elevate his game.
“It really pushed me to find different avenues of my game that I needed to improve, whether that was the weight room, arm care in the training room, and then the mental game,” Mills said . “I just know I’m an incredibly different pitcher now than I was then.”
His next outing after that August appearance two years ago? Saturday evening in T-Mobile Park, when he made his major league debut.
Against an Angels lineup that had already rung up 10 runs against the Mariners through the first seven innings, Mills pitched a scoreless eighth, working a grounder and a pair of lineouts.
Mills told reporters postgame he was focused on continuing to pitch the way he had been as one of the players at the club’s alternate site.
“It’s just trying to simplify things,” he said. “I know my job. Keep it as simple as possible and it worked.”
Mills, who the Mariners placed on the 40-man roster during the offseason to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft, was expecting to open the season with Triple-A Tacoma this week before he was recalled ahead of game time.
The Spokane native, who the Mariners drafted in the third round in 2017 out of Gonzaga, became the 37th player born or raised in Washington to appear in a game for Seattle.
MINOR DETAILS
Minor league baseball finally returns this week after the entirety of the 2020 season was canceled by the pandemic.
The Mariners announced the rosters for their four minor league affiliates — which include Triple-A Tacoma, Double-A Arkansas, High-A Everett and Low-A Modesto — Friday afternoon.
Three of Seattle’s top 10 prospects, per MLB Pipeline, in outfielder Jarred Kelenic (No. 1), right-hander Logan Gilbert (No. 4) and catcher Cal Raleigh (No. 8), will open the season with Tacoma.
Five more of the club’s top prospects in outfielder Julio Rodriguez (No. 2), right-handers Emerson Hancock (No. 3), George Kirby (No. 5) and Juan Then (No. 9) and left-hander Brandon Williamson (No. 10) will join Everett, while infielder Noelvi Marte (No. 7) will start at Modesto.
ON DECK
The Mariners begin the second leg of this homestand Monday evening, when they open a three-game series against an Orioles team they nearly swept in Baltimore last month.
They begin a five-game road trip Friday in Arlington, meeting the Rangers for three games for the first time this season, before a two-game series against the defending World Series champion Dodgers.
This story was originally published May 3, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Mariners takeaways: Seattle rotation shuffles with 2 more starters placed on IL."
