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Mariners Claim Andrew Moore, Designate Nick Rumbelow

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The Mariners announced that they’ve claimed right-hander Andrew Moore off waivers from the Giants and designated right-hander Nick Rumbelow for assignment in order to open space on the 40-man roster.

Moore, 24, returns to the organization that selected him in the second round of the 2015 draft. He’d been traded to Tampa Bay as part of last season’s Denard Span/Alex Colome deal, but the Rays designated him for assignment last month after some considerable early-season struggles. The Giants claimed him two weeks ago but were apparently hoping to pass him through waivers in order to retain him without committing a 40-man roster spot.

Moore made just one appearance in the Giants organization and was torched for five runs in 1 2/3 innings for the club’s Double-A affiliate — a continuation of a disastrous start to the year in the Rays organization. With Tampa Bay, Moore served up 25 runs on 29 hits (none homers) and 10 walks in just 17 1/3 innings of work. His season ERA at the moment is 14.21, and he’s walked nearly as many batters (11) as he’s managed to strike out.

That said, Moore isn’t far removed from being a reasonably interesting pitching prospect. Prior to his arrival at the MLB level in 2017, he’d been touted as a potential fourth or fifth starter who relied on plus control and an above-average-to-plus changeup to compensate for his rather average fastball velocity. He turned in a 3.04 ERA with 8.1 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 in a combined 109 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A with the Mariners during that 2017 season as well.

The 27-year-old Rumbelow has allowed 16 runs in 15 2/3 Triple-A frames this season and another four runs in 1 1/3 innings at the MLB level. He showed some promise in the Mariners’ minor league ranks last year, notching a 1.83 ERA and a 26-to-8 K/BB ratio in 19 2/3 innings, but he’s yet to find any success in the Majors to this point in his career.

Mariners Recall Mallex Smith, Option Shed Long

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Mallex Smith’s time in the minors didn’t last long. Less than two weeks after being optioned to Triple-A Tacoma, Smith has been recalled by the Mariners. In his place, infield prospect Shed Long was optioned to Tacoma.

It was a brief but perhaps much-needed respite for Smith, who got out to an awful .165/.255/.247 start to the season as Seattle’s regular center fielder. The slow start likely hasn’t done much to sway the organization’s hope that Smith can be a long-term option in center field, and it’s possible that his 10-game run in Tacoma provided just the reset he needed. In 48 Triple-A plate appearances, Smith hit .333/.375/.467 with a homer, three doubles and a perfect seven steals in seven tries. Most encouraging of all, he struck out just four times after punching out at an alarming 30 percent rate through his first 110 MLB plate appearances.

The 23-year-old Long, meanwhile, will go back to Tacoma and continue to receive the type of regular reps that weren’t available to him on the big league roster. Recalled as an injury replacement last week, Long appeared in just three games with the Mariners and went hitless in 11 plate appearances. He’s far too important to their long-term outlook to be languishing in a seldom-used bench role, so the decision to send him back to Tacoma, where he hit .276/.350/.504 in 32 games prior to his promotion, makes perfect sense. He’ll quite likely be back later this season and is will at some point have the opportunity to win an everyday role with the Mariners — likely at second base.

Felix Hernandez Expected To Miss 4-6 Weeks Due To Lat Strain

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Mariners right-hander Felix Hernandez is expected to miss four to six weeks after an MRI revealed a Grade 1 lat strain, per Corey Brock of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The injury to Hernandez comes as the Mariners were on the verge of getting left-hander Wade LeBlanc back into the rotation after a stay in the injured list. Instead, they’ll continue to operate without one member of their season-opening rotation, meaning young righty Erik Swanson could get an extended look in the rotation alongside Yusei Kikuchi, Marco Gonzales and Mike Leake. LeBlanc pitched in a rehab game in Triple-A yesterday and is seemingly close to a return.

Hernandez, 33, is off to an ugly start for the second consecutive season, having pitched to a 6.52 ERA with 7.9 K/9, 1.9 BB/9, 2.09 HR/9 and a 50 percent ground-ball rate. While Hernandez has improved upon last season’s strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates, he’s also been exorbitantly homer-prone so far in 2019.

A full return to form shouldn’t be expected after the struggles he’s endured and the velocity he’s lost in recent seasons, but there’s still reason to believe that Hernandez could turn the tide a bit once he returns this summer. Hernandez’s velocity is up about half mile per hour over last year, and he’s also seen improvements in his swinging-strike and opponents’ chase rates. If he can manage to curtail the home run woes a bit, he could perhaps function as a back-of-the-rotation arm over the final few months of the five-year, $135.5MM contract extension he signed back in February 2013.

Mariners Place Felix Hernandez On IL, Select Parker Markel

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As part of a series of roster moves, the Mariners announced that they’ve placed right-hander Felix Hernandez on the 10-day injured list with a strained pitching shoulder and selected the contract of righty Parker Markel from Triple-A Tacoma. The team has also recalled righty Dan Altavilla from Tacoma and optioned outfielder Braden Bishop.

The severity of Hernandez’s strain is unknown, but it’s the latest sign of deteriorating durability for the longtime workhorse, once a perennial 200-inning ace who hasn’t approached that mark since 2015. Hernandez devolved into a back-end starter the next season and hasn’t rebounded yet. After recording a career-worst 5.55 ERA/5.18 FIP in 2018, he’s at 6.52 and 5.30 in those categories through 38 2/3 innings this year – which could prove to be his last with the Mariners.

Hernandez’s injury created an opening for Markel, a 28-year-old who’s finally in position to make his major league debut eight years after the Rays selected him in the 39th round of the 2010 draft. Markel stuck with the Tampa Bay organization through 2016 and then signed with the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization entering the 2017 campaign, though he asked the club to terminate his contract before he ever pitched for them.

Markel returned to action stateside last year at the Double-A level, where he pitched for independent Sioux City, before signing with the Mariners in the fall. He got off to a dominant start this season across the minors’ top two levels, combining for 35 strikeouts against seven walks and giving up just one earned run in 17 1/3 innings, to earn a big league promotion.

Mariners Promote J.P. Crawford, Shed Long

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2:33pm: The move is now official. Moore was placed on the 10-day IL and righty Chasen Bradford was optioned to create roster space.

10:49am: The Mariners are promoting young infielders J.P. Crawford and Shed Long in advance of this weekend’s series against the Red Sox, per Corey Brock of The Athletic (Twitter link). Both players are on their way to Boston to join the club. The pair of promotions comes after Dee Gordon exited Thursday’s game against the Yankees after taking a fastball to the wrist. Infielder Dylan Moore, too, is being hampered by a wrist injury and had been slated to undergo testing to determine the root of the issue.

Both Crawford and Long are considered potential long-term pieces in the Seattle infield. Each arrived in the organization this winter as part of general manger Jerry Dipoto’s whirlwind of trades to “re-imagine” the roster moving forward. Crawford, the 16th pick in the 2013 draft, was long considered to be the Phillies’ shortstop of the future and for years ranked among the game’s top 20 overall prospects. However, he was the key piece acquired by Seattle in the trade that sent Jean Segura to Philadelphia, and it’s now the Mariners who hope that Crawford can lock down the shortstop position for the foreseeable future. He’s not ranked among the organization’s top prospects due to the fact that he has too much big league service time to technically be considered a prospect anymore, but the organization nevertheless views him as a vital long-term cog.

Long, meanwhile, will be making his MLB debut the first time he gets into a game and is widely considered to be one of Seattle’s best farmhands. The Mariners thought highly enough of Long to trade last season’s second-round pick, outfielder Josh Stowers, to the Yankees in a straight-up swap for him back in January — barely seven months after the draft. The Yankees had just acquired Long as part of the trade that sent Sonny Gray to Cincinnati, though the Mariners’ interest in Long predated that three-team swap. He’s played second base, third base and left field with the Mariners organization this season, though second base or left field seems to be his likeliest long-term home. Long draws praise for above-average power and speed, and he has a track record of drawing walks at a healthy clip to help offset a strikeout rate in the 22 to 23 percent range.

To this point in the season, the 24-year-old Crawford is hitting .319/.420/.457 with three homers, seven doubles, three steals and nearly as many walks (19) as strikeouts (25) through 138 plate appearances in Triple-A Tacoma. The 23-year-old Long, meanwhile, is hitting .276/.350/.504 with five homers, 10 doubles and four triples while posting 14 walks against 31 strikeouts (also in 138 plate appearances).

The arrival of both well-regarded young infielders likely signals a trip to the injured list for Gordon and/or Moore, and given how important they are to the Mariners’ future, both will probably be afforded everyday at-bats. That’ll likely cut into the playing time of Tim Beckham, although the veteran infielder’s bat has predictably cooled after a torrid start to the season. Beckham hit .410/.477/.846 through his first 10 games but has turned in just a .206/.260/.361 batting line with a 35.5 percent strikeout rate in 104 plate appearances since.

From a service-time vantage point, even if both infielders stay in the Majors from this point forth, the Mariners will control Crawford for five years beyond the 2019 campaign and control Long for six. Crawford came into the season with a year and 20 days of MLB service under his belt, but there are only 144 days remaining in the 2019 campaign, so he can’t reach the 172-day mark he’d need to cross the threshold into two full years of Major League service time. The promotion could very well put both players on track for Super Two status, which would make them both eligible for arbitration four times rather than three — Crawford beginning after the 2020 season and Long beginning after the 2021 campaign. All of that, of course, could change depending on whether either is optioned back to Tacoma.

Dee Gordon Leaves Game After Being Hit In Wrist

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Mariners second baseman Dee Gordon was hit in the right wrist by a J.A. Happ fastball during the third inning of tonight’s 3-1 loss to the Yankees, causing Gordon to be removed from the game.  Seattle manager Scott Servais told reporters (including Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times and MLB.com’s Greg Johns) after the game that Gordon would receive more tests on his wrist tomorrow, as initial x-rays weren’t conclusive.  Speaking to Divish, Johns, and other media after the game, Gordon said his wrist was “very sore,” and had some harsh words about Happ’s pitch location.

After a disappointing first season in Seattle that included an ill-advised position switch to center field, Gordon seemed to be back on track in 2019 after returning to his original second base position.  Gordon entered Thursday’s action hitting .304/.327/.406 through 149 plate appearances, plus 10 steals in 11 attempts.  Gordon has also already hit three home runs, a startling figure for a player who has never hit more than four long balls over an entire season.

Servais intimated that some type of roster move would need to be made before tomorrow’s game in Boston, as backup infielder Dylan Moore is also battling a wrist injury and will undergo his own set of tests.  Moore replaced Gordon on Thursday, though had to be himself removed for pinch-hitter Jay Bruce since Moore was feeling pain while swinging the bat.  The chain reaction of position switches led to Edwin Encarnacion making his first career appearance as a second baseman, and then getting an injury scare himself after Encarnacion made a diving attempt at a ground ball.

With Gordon and Moore each hurting, it stands to reason that one or both of J.P. Crawford or Shed Long could get the call from Triple-A Tacoma to fill the holes in Seattle’s infield.  Crawford already may be the choice, as Lauren Smith of the Tacoma News Tribune reported that Crawford was scratched from tonight’s Rainiers’ lineup.

Crawford would be making his Mariners debut after being the young centerpiece of the five-player trade between the M’s and Phillies last December that saw Jean Segura go to Philadelphia and Carlos Santana (temporarily) come to Seattle.  Crawford has thus far acquitted himself well in his new organization, with a .319/.420/.457 slash line through 138 Triple-A plate appearances.  Long, ranked by MLB.com as the 12th-best prospect in the Mariners’ farm system, has also been hitting well at Triple-A this season and would be making his Major League debut if a promotion is indeed in the cards.

Injury/Rehab Notes: Steckenrider, Davis, Strickland, Middleton

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The Marlins placed righty Drew Steckenrider on the 10-day injured list due to inflammation in his right elbow last night, and Andre Fernandez of The Athletic tweets that the 28-year-old righty is undergoing further testing in Miami today. Entering the season, Steckenrider looked poised to hold down a significant role in the Miami relief corps. The offseason addition of Sergio Romo to the bullpen gave him some immediate competition for saves, but Steckenrider was in line for a prominent late-inning gig regardless of what inning he pitched most frequently. Through the first 99 1/3 innings of his big league career in 2017-18, Steckenrider posted a 3.35 ERA with 11.6 K/9, 4.1 BB/9 and 1.0 HR/9. Steckenrider, though, struggled through a rough second half last year and hasn’t looked right this season, pitching to a 6.28 ERA in 14 1/3 frames. After allowing seven homers all of last season and just 11 dating back to 2017, he’s served up six long balls already. His velocity has held up, and he isn’t necessarily having trouble throwing strikes (3.1 BB/9). However, Steckenrider is falling behind hitters more than he has in the past and seems to be struggling to locate within the zone.

Some more injury updates of note…

  • Slugger Khris Davis departed last night’s game due to “lingering effects from the left hip contusion he suffered on Sunday in Pittsburgh,” the Athletics announced. There’s no word on whether Davis will require any additional absence at this point, though he already sat out a pair of games with that issue before last night’s early exit. Last year’s home run leader is hitting .227/.306/.477 with 10 long balls on the season so far. His health status will be worth keeping an eye on, as his availability could directly impact Kendrys Morales’ place on the roster now that Matt Olson has returned from the injured list.
  • Mariners right-hander Hunter Strickland has been cleared to resume throwing, writes Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. Strickland opened the season as the closer in Seattle and picked up a pair of saves with two perfect outings in his first two appearances. He was torched for three runs in his third appearance of the season, though, and landed on the injured list due to a strained lat that’ll sideline him more than two months when all is said and done. As Divish notes, Strickland had to restart his entire throwing program, so there’s no guarantee that he’ll be ready for activation when his 60-day minimum window is met on June 5. The Mariners have tried out Anthony Swarzak in the ninth inning with Strickland on the shelf, but he’s blown three of his past four save opportunities. Lefty Roenis Elias, too, has been in the mix for saves and has thrown more effectively.
  • Angels righty Keynan Middleton had a minor setback in his rehab from Tommy John surgery last week but has resumed throwing, general manager Billy Eppler told reporters yesterday (link via Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times). Middleton ramped up his throwing a bit too aggressively and had to scale back his rehab for a week, but he’s still on track for a return for a midsummer return (late June or sometime in July). A healthy Middleton would only add to a relief corps that features plenty of quality arms even with Cody Allen struggling. Ty Buttrey has emerged as one of the American League’s most impressive young relievers, and he’s but one of four Halo relievers averaging at least 10.7 K/9 with a sub-3.00 ERA on the season. The flamethrowing Middleton averaged 96.7 mph on his heater and logged a 3.43 ERA with a 15 percent swinging-strike rate in 76 career innings before undergoing surgery last season.

Mariners Acquire Austin Adams From Nationals

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Per a team release, the Mariners have acquired righty Austin Adams from the Nationals for lefty Nick Wells and cash considerations.

Adams, 28 tomorrow, was designated for assignment earlier in the week by Washington. He’s spent much of the last three seasons with the team’s AAA affiliate (now in Fresno), where his sky-high strikeout rates (13.88 per nine in ’17, 15.15 per nine in ’18) ranked among the league’s best. His walk rate, too, was relatively low for an extreme bat-misser, so it’s a bit odd the reliever-starved Nationals couldn’t afford to give him a longer look.

Wells, 23, is repeating High-A Modesto as a 23-year-old. He didn’t rank among the team’s top 30 prospects at Baseball America’s last update.

AL West Notes: Bolt, Rangers, Seager

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The Athletics are promoting outfield prospect Skye Bolt for his big league debut this weekend, as first reported by AthleticsFarm.com (on Twitter). He’ll step into the roster spot of Ryan Dull, who was optioned to Triple-A following yesterday’s game. Oakland spent its recent series against the Red Sox operating with a two-man bench, so the addition of Bolt will give the club some much needed flexibility on the position-player side of the roster. A fourth-round pick in 2015, the switch-hitting Bolt is batting .325/.400/.675 with six homers and three steals through 90 plate appearances in Triple-A  Las Vegas so far in the season. Despite his 80-grade name and strong start to the year, Bolt is regarded as more of a fourth outfield type than a potential outfield cornerstone in Oakland. He ranks 17th among A’s prospects at Fangraphs and 19th at both MLB.com and Baseball America. The aptly named Bolt draws praise for his above above-average speed and arm strength, which allow him to capably handle all three outfield slots.

Here’s more from the AL West..

  • Rangers 2018 second-round pick Owen White will miss the remainder of the 2019 season due to Tommy John surgery, writes Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The right-hander joins 2018 fourth-rounder Mason Englert as the second Rangers prospect from last year’s draft to undergo the procedure in recent weeks. The pair of injuries comes in spite of the Rangers organization keeping both White and Englert from pitching last summer in an effort to help manage the workloads of young, recent draftees. Both White and Englert were slated to start the season in short-season Class-A and were already years from being options at the big league level, but the loss of a pair of high-upside teenagers for a full season before either even pitches for a minor league affiliate is undoubtedly maddening for a club that has already been snakebit by pitching injuries in recent years.
  • Kyle Seager tells Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times that his surgically repaired finger is back up to full strength and he feels ready to play, but the Mariners third baseman will still miss just over three more weeks by virtue of the fact that he’s on the 60-day injured list. Seager’s recovery is well ahead of schedule, and the 31-year-old figures to head out on a rehab assignment at some point between now and his May 25 return date in order to get him some in-game reps after sitting out since tearing a tendon in his finger on March 8. As Divish notes, his eventual return will create a crunch at the corner infield spots and designated hitter. Seager will join Ryon Healy as a third base option, while Healy, Daniel Vogelbach, Edwin Encarnacion and Jay Bruce are all options at first base and DH. A trade can ever be ruled out with ever-active GM Jerry Dipoto at the helm, though certainly Seager wouldn’t be the player to be moved; he’s owed $15.4MM through season’s end, plus another $19MM in 2020 and $18MM in 2021. His contract also contains a $15MM club option that is converted to a player option if he is traded. Divish suggests that Healy had previously been a candidate to be optioned to Triple-A, though he’s off to a .235/.301/.471 start (110 OPS+) with five homers and a league-leading 13 doubles in 2019.

Ichiro Suzuki To Serve As Instructor For Mariners

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Ichiro Suzuki’s role with the Mariners has expanded, as the team announced Tuesday that the future Hall of Famer will work as an instructor with the Major League and Triple-A clubs — beginning tonight.

Ichiro will have a particular focus on outfield work and baserunning, and he’ll work in conjunction with hitting coach Tim Laker as well. Per the Mariners’ release, he’ll work the majority of the team’s home games, and he’ll also continue his role as a special assistant — although he’ll now be reporting to GM Jerry Dipoto rather than chairman John Stanton.

Ichiro’s legendary career officially came to an end earlier this season when he announced his retirement as a player following the Mariners’ two-game series against the Athletics in Tokyo. The former AL Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player was a 10-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove winner during his career in the United States. One of the game’s all-time great hitter, Ichiro spent parts of 19 seasons in the Majors — 14 with the Mariners — and finished with a cumulative .311/.355/.402 line (on the heels of a nine-year career with Japan’s Orix Blue Wave, for whom he batted .353/.421/.522 in 4098 plate appearances).

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