It hasn’t quite hit May yet, but the injuries have been piling up for the Seattle Mariners.
Injury to Seattle Mariners’ Gilbert has a reason for concern
Luke Raley, Dylan Moore and Logan Gilbert all went on the injured list over the past week, joining an already robust group of key contributors on the shelf. Matt Brash, George Kirby, Victor Robles, Ryan Bliss and Gregory Santos are all on the IL as well.
“Obviously we’re really beat up right now, but the league stops for no one,” Mariners general manager Justin Hollander said Wednesday. “There is a game almost every day, and no one is going to feel sorry for us. So we’ll do everything we can to give these guys the best chance.”
Hollander shared updates on several injured players before the team’s series finale against the Los Angeles, which also included the plan for top M’s prospect who returned to minor league action Tuesday night.
• Kirby threw a live batting practice Monday at T-Mobile Park and could begin a rehab assignment as soon as this weekend. The right-handed starting pitcher was shut down during spring training with right shoulder inflammation.
“I would agree with his assessment that he was nasty the other day,” Hollander said. “I had some COVID-summer flashbacks sitting up there in the seats. He was awesome, he looked fantastic.”
Hollander said the length of Kirby’s rehab stint will depend on how the 2023 All-Star feels after each start, and that he would need to reach around 75 to 80 pitches in a minor league start before rejoining the big league club.
• Brash pitched Tuesday night with Tacoma, marking the first time he’s taken the mound twice in three days during his rehab assignment. The M’s are monitoring how the hard-throwing right-hander comes out of his two-games-in-three-days stretch and will soon make a decision on if he’s ready to be activated to the MLB roster. Brash is working his way back from Tommy John surgery.
“(He’s) very close, getting very close,” Hollander said.
• Raley suffered a Grade 1 right oblique strain during batting practice Tuesday and will need at least six weeks before he can begin a rehab assignment. The left-handed-hitting outfielder was originally in the lineup Tuesday but was scratched due to the injury. The Mariners selected the contract of outfielder Rhylan Thomas from Triple-A Tacoma on Wednesday to fill Raley’s spot on the roster.
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“I know Rales will fight through it as best as he can. He’s probably one of the toughest players I’ve ever been around, but you can’t out-tough a Grade 1 oblique strain,” Hollander said. “So we’ll shut him down, we’ll hopefully get him back as soon as possible. But you do have to be careful with these, and six weeks is kind of the minimum at this point.”
Hollander said Raley wasn’t having any issues with the oblique before the swing.
“It stinks for him, it stinks for us,” he said, “but we will find a way to grind through it and we will make it work.”
• Moore, who went on the IL Tuesday (retroactive to Saturday) with right hip inflammation, is expected to return to the roster as soon as his 10 days are up. That would put him on track to rejoin the club next Tuesday in Sacramento against the Athletics.
• Santos underwent a procedure on his knee Tuesday, but Hollander did not have an update. Santos was moved to the 60-day IL on Tuesday.
• Hollander did not have an update on Gilbert.
• Outfielder Jonny Farmelo made his return from an ACL tear and homered in his season debut for the High-A Everett AquaSox on Tuesday night. Hollander said the 2023 first-round pick will play four games per week with at least one day at designated hitter before progressing to five and then six games per week. Farmelo is the organization’s sixth-ranked prospect and No. 92 in all of baseball, per MLB Pipeline.
“We will be cautious and there will be a game progression for him,” Hollander said.
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