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Hisashi Iwakuma

Hisashi Iwakuma Dealing With Shoulder Discomfort

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Mariners right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma felt discomfort in his surgically repaired shoulder during a sim game on Sunday and will be temporarily shut down from throwing, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports on Twitter. The Mariners are hopeful it’s merely tendinitis, but regardless, it’ll delay Iwakuma’s attempt to return to the majors.

The 37-year-old Iwakuma’s latest problem is particularly alarming after shoulder troubles helped limit him to a career-low 31 innings of 4.35 ERA/6.42 FIP pitching in 2017. He ended up undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery in late September, just over a month before the Mariners declined his $10MM option for 2018. Iwakuma quickly returned to the Mariners on a minor league deal with the hope that he could work his way back to the majors by May. That may now be in serious jeopardy in light of Sunday’s developments.

Although Iwakuma scuffled through last season, his Mariners tenure has been a resounding success since he emigrated from Japan prior to the 2012 campaign. Iwakuma has recorded a 3.42 ERA/3.87 FIP in 883 2/3 innings, and the Mariners would certainly welcome that type of production from him this season if he makes it back to the mound.

Seattle, a prospective playoff contender, has gotten off to a quality 15-11 start without Iwakuma, though its rotation hasn’t been great in the aggregate. Entering Sunday, Mariners starters rank last in the majors in ERA (5.73) and fourth from the bottom in fWAR. The M’s top three starters – James Paxton, Felix Hernandez and Mike Leake – each figure to perform better as the year progresses, but the team’s rotation could still feature multiple question marks even if that happens.

Injury Notes: Kiermaier, Zunino, Iwakuma, Hosmer, Pomeranz

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Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier suffered a right thumb sprain during today’s game against the Phillies. He’ll get an MRI on Monday, says manager Kevin Cash (h/t Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). There’s no official word yet as to the severity, but Cash says that “he’s going to be out” and that “there’s a chance he’s going to miss a chunk of time.” On Sunday, Johnny Field replaced Kiermaier after his departure, and could get the lion’s share of the work in center field while the former Gold Glove winner is out.

More of the latest injury notes from around MLB…

  • Bob Dutton of MLB.com offers some insight into the return timetable of Mariners catcher Mike Zunino, who’s been sidelined the entire season thus far with an oblique strain. On Monday, he’ll begin a rehab assignment at the Class A Advanced level. “I’m really close,” said Zunino. “I think I’m ready now. I’ve had a couple of days of full swings in batting practice, but they’re just being really cautious.” As Dutton notes, that probably means the assignment will last at least two or three games. Meanwhile, 37-year-old right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma has been throwing bullpen sessions and could begin a rehab assignment himself in a few weeks. He had shoulder surgery on September 27th of last year after spending the bulk of the season on the DL.
  • Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer missed his second consecutive game today with what’s being described as lower back tightness, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports. A club spokesman has apparently called the injury “minor”. The Friars gave Hosmer an eight-year, $144MM contract that represents a significant investment in both their present and future, and he’s off to a solid start so far this season, hitting .288/.364/.458 in 15 games.
  • Lefty Drew Pomeranz of the Red Sox is scheduled to be activated for Friday’s tilt against Oakland, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports (via Ryan Hannable of the same publication). it’ll be his first start of the season. Pomeranz has been sidelined with a flexor tendon strain all season, and his return should further improve a Red Sox ballclub that’s currently 13-2 and sits high atop the AL East.

Mariners Re-Sign Hisashi Iwakuma To New Minor League Deal

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The Mariners released right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma from the minor league contract he signed over the winter and immediately re-signed him to a new one, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation tweets. The club made the move to avoid paying Iwakuma, an Article XX(B) free agent, a $100K retention bonus. As was the case with his previous pact, Iwakuma’s new deal comes with a $2.5MM salary if he makes the majors and a chance at $6MM in incentives.

The 36-year-old Iwakuma has spent his entire major league career with the Mariners since leaving his native Japan prior to the 2012 season. Iwakuma has enjoyed a terrific career in Seattle, where he has pitched to a 3.42 ERA/3.87 FIP across 883 2/3 innings, but whether he’ll continue to be effective is in question. Right shoulder problems limited Iwakuma to six starts in 2017, when he posted a 4.35 ERA/6.42 FIP in 31 innings, leading the Mariners to decline his $10MM club option in favor of a $1MM buyout early in the offseason.

Iwakuma’s still on the mend from the arthroscopic shoulder surgery he underwent in September, so there’s no chance he’ll make it back to a big league mound during the first month of the season. When the Mariners re-signed Iwakuma in late November, the hope was that he’d be healthy enough to return to the majors by May or June. He’s seemingly on track to do that, as TJ Cotterill of the Tacoma News Tribune wrote over the weekend.

“This guy is far from done,” pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre told Cotterill.

If Iwakuma ultimately does rejoin the Mariners and perform well, it would be a significant gain for a team with some question marks in its rotation. Ace James Paxton, former ace Felix Hernandez and the steady Mike Leake represent a capable trio (though durability issues have beset Paxton and Hernandez in recent years), but the M’s don’t have any other proven MLB starters on their 40-man roster.

AL West Notes: Iwakuma, Bassitt, Altuve

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Some notes from around the AL West…

  • Mariners manager Scott Servais is hopeful that Hisashi Iwakuma can throw a bullpen session before the end of Spring Training, Servais told MLB.com’s Greg Johns (Twitter link) and other reporters.  Iwakuma is roughly expected to return by late May or early June, as the veteran righty continues his recovery from undergoing shoulder surgery last September.  Iwakuma re-signed with Seattle on a minor league deal, giving the M’s a potential extra bit of rotation depth once he is fully healthy.
  • The Athletics optioned right-hander Chris Bassitt to Triple-A today in the wake of a rough Spring Training, though Bassitt told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that he believes a lack of communication about his role contributed to his 7.11 ERA over 6 1/3 IP.  According to Bassitt, “I was told coming into camp I was going to compete for a starting spot and never got a single chance…It’s hard to prepare when you don’t know what you’re preparing for. Anyone just wants to know what they’re expecting out of you and so far no one can really answer that yet.”  Bassitt said he was willing to pitch in whatever role the A’s wanted, except he just wanted more notice and more clarity about that role.  “The way my mechanics are, I pretty much have to go out of the stretch when I come out of the bullpen, and I wasn’t prepared to be a reliever, I really wasn’t. It’s frustrating all around that wasn’t relayed to me all offseason,” he said.  Oakland manager Bob Melvin said he felt the team “tried to intimate that to” Bassitt that he would be deployed in an undefined role as a swingman, long reliever, or starter depending on the situation.  Bassitt last pitched in the majors in April 2016, as he was sidelined for much of that season due to Tommy John surgery, and he tossed 50 2/3 innings in the minors in 2017.
  • Though Jose Altuve’s five-year, $151MM extension doesn’t begin until the 2020 season, Fangraphs’ Craig Edwards believes the Astros aren’t facing too much risk in locking up the star second baseman.  Comparing the Altuve deal to other extensions of five-plus years for players who were at least two seasons away from free agency, Altuve is younger than three of the names cited (Miguel Cabrera, Dustin Pedroia, Ryan Howard) and is coming off a much better platform year than Ryan Zimmerman when he inked his six-year, $100MM pact with the Nationals.  The best comp might actually be Joey Votto’s ten-year, $225MM extension from the Reds, though Houston’s commitment to Altuve was only half as long.  Since Altuve still projects to be an excellent player going forward, the extension also shouldn’t be considered a “gift” — as in, the Astros weren’t simply giving him a make-good deal since his original extension proved to be such an incredible bargain for the team.

AL Notes: Yankees, Tigers, Mariners, Pompey

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The Yankees would like to set aside roughly $10MM of payroll space to save for in-season promotions and additions at the non-waiver trade deadline, per MLB.com’s Jon Morosi. As such, the actual amount of money they have left to spend this offseason is less than it would appear on the surface. (Morosi suggests that New York has $15MM to spend, though they’re currently at about $176MM in luxury tax considerations, and subtracting the $10MM figure he mentions would leave them closer to $11MM to spend.) Rather than a significant splash like jumping back into the Yu Darvish mix, then, the Yankees are likelier to add some veteran complements either to their rotation or their infield; the Yankees have been oft-connected to free-agent second basemen in recent weeks as the team eyes a bridge to prospect Gleyber Torres, who is returning from Tommy John surgery on his non-throwing elbow.

Here’s more from around the American League…

  • Tigers GM Al Avila said this week that his team could still make some additions to the 40-man roster, MLB.com’s Jason Beck writes. The GM didn’t cite a specific area of need, indicating that he could have room to add a starter, a position player or a reliever. What’s clear, though, is that the Tigers don’t plan on making any kind of move that would come with long-term ramifications. “I’m not trying to come across as saying we’re going to try to pick up a pitcher here, a pitcher there and it’s going to make us so much better that we have a chance to win a championship,” Avila stated. “At this point, we might try to pick up a player here or there to, quite frankly, get us through the season, and hopefully have a guy have a bounceback and be able to make a trade later on and acquire a younger player, a piece here, a piece there, to make ourselves better little by little.” Comments like that, of course, make the MLBPA and agents alike bristle, as they’re the type of non-competitive remarks that have often been cited as a reason for the historically slow free-agent market. The Tigers have spent a bit of cash this offseason, signing Leonys Martin and Mike Fiers to Major League deals, but they won’t come anywhere near their previous levels of spending as they embark on what figures to be a lengthy rebuilding effort.
  • Right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma has been cleared to begin throwing as he rehabs from 2017 shoulder surgery, according to Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (all Twitter links). Divish was among the reporters on hand when Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto spoke to the media about a wide variety of topics, including health updates on a number of Mariners. In addition to Iwakuma setting out on a throwing program, righty David Phelps and outfielder Guillermo Heredia are expected to be at or very close to 100 percent when Spring Training opens. Dipoto also said that lefty Marco Gonzales, who is out of minor league options, “will be given every opportunity to make our club.” Dipoto has taken some heat from fans for trading prospect Tyler O’Neill to acquire Gonzales from the Cardinals, though O’Neill’s .254/.304/.548 slash and 27 percent strikeout rate in Triple-A following the trade raise questions of their own.
  • Blue Jays outfielder Dalton Pompey spoke with Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet about his lost 2017 season. The former top prospect was once heralded as the center fielder of the future in Toronto but struggled in his first exposure to the Majors and was scarcely able to play at all last season. Pompey suffered a concussion playing for Canada in the World Baseball Classic that effectively prevented him from any sense of normalcy for the first few months of the season. The outfielder explains that he had to wear sunglasses everywhere he went, wasn’t able to use his phone or watch television and, certainly, was not participating at baseball activities for several months. A knee injury in his first rehab game back from the concussion more or less ended his 2017 campaign entirely. Pompey still has a minor league option remaining, Zwelling notes, but he has a long way to go to prove he can still be a long-term piece for the Jays. The column is well worth a full look, as it features an in-depth look at concussion symptoms, featuring interviews with not only Pompey but also recently retired first baseman Justin Morneau, whose career trajectory was dramatically altered by a 2010 concussion.

Mariners Notes: Rotation, Gamel, Iwakuma, Moll

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The Mariners feel they need to bolster their rotation and are likely to increase their efforts to add a starter on the trade and free-agent markets if they miss out on right-hander Shohei Ohtani, Bob Dutton reports (Twitter links). If the Mariners are successful in luring Ohtani to Seattle, however, they’ll likely focus more on beefing up the bullpen and adding an outfielder to the mix. Certainly, the Mariners are doing everything in their power to be able to make the best offer possible to Ohtani, as they’ve now traded prospects Thyago Vieira (to the White Sox) and David Banuelos (to the Twins) to add an additional $1.5MM worth of international bonus allotments.

A few more notes out of Seattle…

  • General manager Jerry Dipoto has spoken recently about his team’s desire for versatility on the roster, and to that end, the Mariners are asking Ben Gamel to work out at first base this offseason and in Spring Training, tweets Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. Gamel, 25, turned in a solid .275/.322/.413 batting line with 11 homers last year and is capable of handling all three outfield spots already. Seattle picked up Ryon Healy to serve as its primary first baseman in 2018 and beyond, though certainly the ability to give Gamel some reps at first would give manager Scott Servais additional flexibility when filling out the lineup card.
  • Dipoto joined Aaron Goldsmith on the third installment of the Mariners’ new “Wheelhouse” podcast and, as he has in the previous two episodes, discussed a host of topics that Mariners fans will want to hear. Notably, Dipoto tells Goldsmith that Hisashi Iwakuma (who recently signed a minor league deal with the Mariners) will be in Spring Training on a throwing program and, if all goes well, will be ready to pitch by mid-May. Dipoto gushes about Iwakuma’s work ethic and ability to sequence pitches to deceive hitters and says that he hopes the remainder of Iwakuma’s days as a player are spent in a Mariners uniform.
  • Also of note, Dipoto explains that the Mariners are going to try to convert waiver claim Sam Moll from a reliever back into a starter. Dipoto notes that Moll has a solid riding fastball in the 90-94 mph range and a changeup that helps him generate grounders, as well as a breaking pitch that trails behind his other two offerings somewhat in quality. Moll has only started six games as a professional but was a starter in college and intrigues the Mariners in that role. At minimum, Dipoto says the Mariners view Moll as a multi-inning relief candidate with a pair of minor league options, giving them some nice flexibility next year.

AL West Notes: Astros, Iwakuma, Angels

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A few notes from the American League West:

  • With the unreliable Tony Sipp representing their only established left-handed reliever, there’s an argument that the Astros could stand to add another southpaw to their bullpen. But, as he looks to improve the reigning champions’ relief corps, general manager Jeff Luhnow isn’t discriminating based on handedness (Twitter links via Brian McTaggart of MLB.com). “It’s really about finding the best upgrades to our pitching staff we can find to give us depth and quality we need to get through long season,” said Luhnow, whose team’s righty-heavy bullpen actually held its own against lefty-swingers in 2017. Luhnow noted, though, that the market is currently “stalled,” which suggests nothing is imminent on Houston’s end.
  • Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto told KJR-AM this week that right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma won’t be ready to pitch again until late May or early June, per Greg Johns of MLB.com (Twitter link). Iwakuma, who re-signed with the Mariners on a minor league contract on Wednesday, threw just 31 innings in 2017 as he dealt with shoulder problems. The 36-year-old underwent surgery in late September.
  • Angels left-handed pitching prospect Nate Smith will miss the 2018 season after undergoing anterior capsule surgery in September, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports. The 26-year-old Smith is now facing a 12- to 14-month recovery period, which is particularly unfortunate for a pitcher whom injuries limited to a mere 15 innings in 2017. For now, MLB.com ranks Smith as the Angels’ ninth-best prospect.

Mariners Sign Hisashi Iwakuma To Minor League Contract

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Dec. 1: FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweets that Iwakuma’s contract comes with a $2.5MM base salary upon making the big league roster as well as a hefty $6MM worth of incentives based on games started. Heyman also notes that Iwakuma’s deal contains a separate incentives package based on potential work out of the bullpen.

Nov. 27: The Mariners announced that they’ve re-signed right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma to a minor league contract with an invitation to Major League Spring Training.

Iwakuma, 37 in April, has spent his entire big league career with the Mariners, for whom he debuted back in 2012. Seattle bought out the 2018 club option on his contract after an injury-ruined 2017 season in which a right shoulder injury limited Iwakuma to just 31 innings. However, the veteran told reporters in Japan recently that he was weighing an offer to return to the Mariners. He’ll now head to big league camp with the M’s and try to earn a spot on the roster for what would be his seventh season in the Emerald City.

While the 2017 season wasn’t pretty for Iwakuma, he’s largely been an effective mid-rotation starter in Seattle — and quite a bit more in his best seasons. From 2012-16, Iwakuma turned in 852 2/3 innings of 3.39 ERA ball, averaging 7.4 K/9 against an outstanding 1.8 BB/9 mark while routinely turning in yearly ground-ball rates right around the 50 percent mark. His best campaign by virtually any measure came in 2013, when the then-32-year-old made his lone All-Star team and finished third in American League Cy Young voting on the heels of a 2.66 ERA over the life of 219 2/3 innings.

It’s obviously not reasonable to expect Iwakuma to return to his peak form, but even his 2016 season was a solid effort — one that the Mariners would be happy to see replicated in 2018. That year saw Iwakuma produce 199 innings of 4.12 ERA ball with averages of 6.7 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 against a 40.8 percent ground-ball rate.

Iwakuma won’t be guaranteed a rotation spot, as he has been in previous seasons with the Mariners, but he ought to have a legitimate chance to reclaim his place in manager Scott Servais’ starting five if he’s health come March. At present, the Mariners have James Paxton, Felix Hernandez and Mike Leake locked into rotation spots. Beyond that mix, however, there would appear to be two open spots. Iwakuma will join a race that includes Erasmo Ramirez, Andrew Moore, Marco Gonzales and Andrew Albers. Righties Chase De Jong, Max Povse, Rob Whalen and Seth Frankoff are all currently on the Mariners’ 40-man roster as well.

Quick Hits: Ohtani, Yanks, Sabathia, Mariners, Iwakuma

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A few notes from around the game:

  • Much could change during the highly anticipated courting process, but George A. King III of the New York Post reports that the Yankees are seen throughout the industry as the favorites to land soon-to-be free agent Shohei Ohtani. The Yankees are in an enviable position when it comes to available pool space, though it’s clear money isn’t Ohtani’s primary concern. Whether Ohtani goes to the Yankees may affect left-hander CC Sabathia’s future with the club, King posits, as they’d have a quintet of capable starters on hand with the newcomer joining Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, Sonny Gray and Jordan Montgomery. So, while Sabathia wants to re-sign with the Yankees, an answer on his future might not come until at least late December if he waits out the Ohtani derby.
  • If the Mariners bring back free agent righty Hisashi Iwakuma, it’ll likely be on a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training, Greg Johns of MLB.com suggests. The 36-year-old Iwakuma revealed this week that he’s weighing an offer to re-sign with Seattle, which declined his $10MM club option in favor of a $1MM buyout at season’s end, and Johns expects him to accept it.
  • Power is more prevalent than ever in baseball, but the ability to control the strike zone and make quality contract are less common, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet observes. While 117 players racked up 20 or more home runs last season, only 25 hit .300 or better, leading Nicholson-Smith to note that hitting ability may now be the toughest-to-find offensive skill. The piece, which is worth checking out in full, includes quotes from general managers David Forst (Athletics), A.J. Preller (Padres), Neal Huntington (Pirates), Mike Rizzo (Nationals) and Michael Girsch (Cardinals) about the current offensive landscape.

Hisashi Iwakuma Says He Is Weighing Offer To Return To Mariners

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Veteran righty Hisashi Iwakuma told reporters in his native Japan that he is weighing an offer to return to the Mariners, as the Japan Times reports (h/t MLB.com’s Greg Johns). The precise nature of the team’s proposal is not known.

The 36-year-old Iwakuma says that, while there’s nothing official at the moment, he may “be able to make a positive announcement soon.” He added that he hopes to rehab his surgically repaired shoulder “in time for the start of the new season.”

The 2017 campaign was more or less a total wash for Iwakuma, who turned in six mediocre starts before his shoulder put him on the shelf. He lost nearly three miles per hour on his average fastball while recording only 16 strikeouts and surrendering seven long balls in 31 frames.

Seattle recently made the easy call to decline a $10MM club option over Iwakuma, preferring instead to pay him a $1MM buyout. That decision wrapped up the contract — a one-year pact with consecutive vesting/club options — that brought the veteran hurler back to the M’s after a physical scuttled a deal with the Dodgers in the 2015-16 offseason.

As MLBTR’s Connor Byrne detailed in examining the Mariners’ offseason needs, the club has a variety of options on hand to fill out the staff. But while GM Jerry Dipoto has generally expressed satisfaction with the existing unit, there are plenty of questions — and opportunities — remaining in the rotation.

Taking a low-risk shot on the respected Iwakuma would certainly be one way for the team to open the door to finding some quality innings. In 2016, Iwakuma turned in 199 innings of 4.12 ERA pitching. And he was quite a bit more productive in the four seasons before that, working to a cumulative 3.17 ERA with 7.6 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 through 653 2/3 frames after moving to Seattle from Japan’s Rakuten Golden Eagles before the 2012 campaign. Regaining anything approaching that form, though, will obviously require a full return to health.

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