September 20: Woo’s MRI revealed “minor” inflammation in his pectoral muscle, manager Dan Wilson told reporters (including Adam Jude of The Seattle Times) today. Wilson added that the team won’t know for another 24-48 hours whether or not Woo will require a trip to the injured list due to the issue.
September 19: Mariners right-hander Bryan Woo made an early exit from tonight’s start, as Woo left the mound after a few warm-up pitches prior to the start of his sixth inning of work. Following the game, M’s manager Dan Wilson told the Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish that Woo was dealing with “a little pec tightness” and would undergo an MRI on Saturday to explore the extent of the injury.
Wilson said that Woo initially told him about the discomfort after the previous inning, so the warm-up pitches were just a precautionary way of testing things before the decision was made to pull Woo from the game. Catching any possible injury early left Wilson hopeful that Woo has avoided something more serious, though more will be known once the tests are complete.
Woo hadn’t shown any indication anything was wrong, as he was masterful in limiting the Astros to just one hit and one walk over five shutout innings. The bullpen kept up the good work in finishing off Seattle’s 4-0 shutout win, which put the Mariners a game ahead of Houston in the AL West standings. The M’s also moved into position for a first-round bye, by dint of winning their season series with the AL Central-leading Tigers. With the playoff push in full swing and the Seattle fans dreaming of October success, losing Woo to the injured list would be a huge setback for the streaking Mariners.
The usually dominant M’s rotation took an overall step backwards this season, but Woo has been a stabilizing force in what has been the best of his three big league seasons. Even before tonight’s gem, Woo had a 3.02 ERA and 26.8% strikeout rate over 181 2/3 innings. A .238 BABIP has certainly added to Woo’s success and helped counter his hard-contact issues, but Woo has helped his own cause with an elite 4.9% walk rate that sits among the league’s best.
Amidst all of the impressive stats, the 186 2/3 innings Woo has now logged may be the most noteworthy, given the injury concerns that plagued the early stages of his career. He was recovering from a Tommy John surgery in his college days when the Mariners made him a sixth-round selection in the 2021 draft, and Woo missed time due to arm injuries in both 2022 and 2023, though he was able to make his MLB debut in the latter season. Elbow inflammation delayed his 2024 debut until May 10, and between that IL stint and a hamstring strain, Woo was limited to 121 1/3 big league frames last year.
This guy would be our game 1 starter in a playoff series i hope to god it’s nothing torn
Don’t worry, it’s just minor “information”.
Okay I am no human anatomy expert obviously, so this has to do with an upper chest muscle of some kind ?? Thank the baseball gods it’s not an arm issue, but can anyone with more knowledge of the mechanics of pitching explain what this could be, and it’s severity? I mean, it’s not one you hear about every day.
The big ones at the front that the chicks love.
Tearing them is bad. Especially if torn away from the bone. Can be long term. Like 8 months or so. Common one with rugby league players. Fans dread the torn pec.
I have no idea how the pecs are used for a pitcher but it’s really easy to aggravate whenever you do a chest workout like bench press or chest flys
I would be surprised if it’s torn for Woo but it might be a lower grade strain
Me either. The league tears come from hyper extension. So trying to do a fly with too much weight and having that arm drop beyond its limit.
I wish Gorilla Monsoon were still alive just so I could hear him explain what muscles are effected when a player goes on the injured list.
I’m a former D1 pitcher and my wife is an Athletic Trainer. In talking with her this is a unique injury. The pectoral is not a major contributor to the acceleration of the arm or even deceleration. It does get stretched a bit during the throwing motion (think like a chest fly) could be the tendons connected to the pec. Hopefully it’s just a precaution and he did the right thing. Skip a start and be ready for playoffs in Seattle!
I was at the game tonight and thought it was weird when they pulled him. He was dealing to that point. Really hope it’s nothing serious and he’s good to go for the playoffs.
Yeah he’s been solid all year for the Ms- and my fantasy rotation. Godspeed for the play downs
My fantasy rotation as well, I have him on 8 of 25 teams. With the 22 points tonight he has 479 and currently ranks 6th!!
You have 25 fantasy baseball teams??
His fantasy has become his reality, it would seem
I really, REALLY hope it’s nothing serious.
His next turn is game 3 against the Rockies. I’m guessing they’re going to let him skip that start out of “an abundance of caution,” and begin setting up the rotation for the playoffs. I mean, why make him waste precious arm bullets on that bunch of scrubs?
M’s need the wins and aren’t a lock for the playoffs yet.
They are winning games right now and assuming they take these next 2 games against the Astros they very well could have the west all locked up by the time Woo was supposed to make his next start. Baseball is gonna baseball of course but I like Seattle’s chances against the Rockies even if they have to call up a spot starter.
I don’t think they know what they’re going to do yet. If he does start, which I think is likely if he feels good/loose, maybe they’d keep him on a pitch-count.
It’s not serious enough of an injury to warrant an IL stint otherwise they would have put him there. Teams have guys skip starts all the time and they’re right back on the mound free to sling 100+ pitches like nothing happened in their next turn. No reason to think Woo can’t do that. Where they end up seeding wise depends on how the east/central divisions beat each other up and whether Houston can stop imploding, but all the Mariners really have to do is beat the Rockies/get to 90 wins and they’re in.
“Dint”? Really- who has used that word?
Someone reading the dictionary while in the can?
Sadly, he followed up that scholastic choice in wording with an update that included “Woo’s MRI revealed “minor” information in his pectoral muscle”.
What information exactly is considered minor and what information is considered major? Like, I assume if his chest contained the nuclear launch codes, that would be major information. So maybe his chest contains his mother’s recipe for split pea soup.
Or do they mean his chest contains information about minors? That would seem very dangerous, like if he used that information incorrectly, he may have to go to jail.
Dinty Moore makes some really good canned roast beef..
“Minor information.” Got it.
RIP Mariners world series championship.
I thought Wander Franco had the market cornered on Minor information.
Mostlikly skip his next start, and get a short start/outing vs Dodgers. As of right now, M’s get a bye first round- which would help in Woo’s case.
Joe: You went there?! Alright, it’s a little funny…