- Lefty Ariel Miranda will remain the Mariners’ fifth starter for the time being, tweets Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. He’ll take the ball on April 17 when the fifth spot in the rotation next comes up, Divish notes, rather than right-hander Erasmo Ramirez, who is working his way back from a lat strain. However, the team doesn’t want to rush Ramirez back and will keep him on a slower progression while entrusting Miranda with a larger role. The 29-year-old Miranda is no stranger to the Seattle rotation, having made 39 starts for the M’s over the past two seasons after being acquired in a one-for-one swap that sent Wade Miley to Baltimore.
Mariners Rumors
Mariners Expect Cruz, Zunino, Gamel Back Shortly
- Likewise, the Mariners are seeing positive signs from a variety of key players, as Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports (Twitter links). DH Nelson Cruz, catcher, Mike Zunino, and outfielder Ben Gamel could also be on the active roster by the end of the coming weekend, with the former seemingly furthest along. That’s certainly good news for the M’s, who have watched the division-rival Astros and Angels set a fast pace to open the new season.
Mariners Place Ryon Healy On DL, Recall Chasen Bradford
The Mariners announced today that they’ve placed first baseman Ryon Healy on the 10-day disabled list due to a sprained right ankle. The move is retroactive to yesterday, so Healy will be eligible to return from the DL in nine days’ time, though no specific timeline was given for his rehab. Right-hander Chasen Bradford, an offseason waiver claim from the Mets, has been recalled from Triple-A Tacoma to take his place on the roster.
Healy, 26, is off to just a 2-for-22 start to his Mariners career and has now been dealt a pair of injuries early in his Seattle tenure, as he also missed several weeks of Spring Training following surgery on his right hand. He did knock in three runs with a double on Saturday, though he’ll now have to wait more than a week (at least) to try to build on that momentum. In his absence, the Mariners can turn to Daniel Vogelbach to line up at first base or go with utility options such as Taylor Motter or Andrew Romine at first base, leaving Vogelbach to DH in place of the also-injured Nelson Cruz.
Injury Notes: Healy, Sheriff, Rizzo, J.C. Ramirez
Mariners first baseman Ryon Healy showed up to the team’s clubhouse today in a walking boot; he twisted his ankle in a postgame workout, says Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. It’s been described as a “pretty bad sprain”, and Healy will have an MRI soon. The expectation seems to be that he will require a DL stint, though the severity of the injury is unclear at this time. Healy provided the heroics in last night’s win; it seems likely that Dan Vogelbach will receive everyday at-bats in his absence.
More injury items from around the league…
- Cardinals left-hander Ryan Sheriff has been placed on the DL with a toe injury; the team has recalled right-hander John Brebbia from Triple-A Memphis in a related move. Sheriff was added to the roster with the news that Brett Cecil would be out for an extended period of time; he allowed one earned run in his 2 2/3 innings of work this season. Sheriff also managed a 3.14 ERA last season in 14 1/3 innings of work for the Cardinals.
- Anthony Rizzo has missed a couple of games for the Cubs due to back tightness, says Carrie Muskat of MLB.com. The first baseman’s back has evidently been bothering him ever since the club’s trip to Cincinnati. Rizzo has just three hits (including one home run) in 32 plate appearances to begin the season.
- J.C. Ramirez is officially headed to the DL with forearm issues, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times tweets. We noted earlier that the righty had been experiencing forearm tightness; he now joins fellow Angels starters Matt Shoemaker and Andrew Heaney on the disabled list, leaving the club incredibly thin in the rotation beyond Garrett Richards, Shohei Ohtani and Tyler Skaggs. Parker Bridwell and Nick Tropeano seem to be the likeliest candidates to get rotation attention, but for the time being the club has recalled relievers Felix Pena and Eduardo Paredes (righty reliever Akeel Morris was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake).
Mariners Sign Chris Herrmann To Minors Deal
The Mariners have signed catcher/outfielder Chris Herrmann to a minor league contract, Tacoma Rainiers broadcaster Mike Curto reports. Curto broke the news yesterday that Herrmann was working out with the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate, and it may be a couple of days before Herrmann is officially activated in order to give him time to get fully ramped up.
Herrmann will take over from the just-released Tuffy Gosewisch as the primary Triple-A depth catcher for the Mariners, as Curto notes. The M’s are thin at the position at the big league level, with Mike Marjama and David Freitas handling duties behind the plate while Mike Zunino is on the DL with an oblique injury, so there’s a chance Herrmann could get a promotion sooner rather than later. (Especially since Seattle is being cautious with Zunino’s recovery.)
The Diamondbacks designated Herrmann for assignment and ultimately released him prior to Opening Day, thus saving themselves three-quarters of the $1.3MM owed to Herrmann in an arbitration-avoiding deal over the winter. Herrmann is coming off a rough .181/.273/.345 performance over 256 plate appearances with Arizona last season, a major dropoff from the impressive .284/.352/.493 slash line he posted over 166 PA in 2016. Herrmann can also fill in at first base and in the corner outfield, giving him more versatility than the average backup catcher.
Mariners Notes: Catchers, Injuries, Cano, Diaz
The Mariners cut ties with veteran catcher Tuffy Gosewisch on Thursday, but Rainiers broadcaster Mike Curto noted after reporting the move that the decision is tied to the fact that the organization is likely to bring another veteran catcher on board. It’s not immediately clear whether the Mariners are in talks with a free agent or chatting with other clubs about a possible minor swap, though it’s worth noting that the Angels (Juan Graterol) recently designated a catcher for assignment. The free-agent market is thin but includes the likes of Chris Herrmann, Ryan Hanigan, Derek Norris, Geovany Soto and former Mariner Carlos Ruiz.
A bit more on the Mariners…
- Speaking of Seattle catchers, Mike Zunino’s 10-day minimum DL stint is up today but he won’t be immediately rejoining the team, as Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times writes. Zunino is on the DL with a mild oblique strain, though the organization expressed confidence at the time of the injury that Zunino wouldn’t require the type of month-long absence that is commonly associated with oblique issues. There had been some hope that he could be ready for the second game in Minnesota, but manager Scott Servais now says the team plans to “slow Zunino down a little.” The skipper was insistent that there’s been no setback for his catcher, though, characterizing the decision as largely cautious in nature. Meanwhile, Divish also notes that outfielder Ben Gamel is set to embark on a minor league rehab assignment for his own oblique strain, and he gives some positive news on slugger Nelson Cruz as well.
- After seeing how veteran players struggled to find long-term contracts in free agency this winter, Robinson Cano is relieved to have his future spoken for, the second baseman told the New York Times’ Tyler Kepner during Spring Training. Cano’s ten-year, $240MM deal runs through the 2023 season, giving him both security but also added motivation to keep living up to that hefty salary. “I want to earn every penny that I get here. I don’t want to be like those guys that, two or three years into their contract, they do really good and then they don’t care. I do care,” Cano said. “I love this game so much, this is what I dreamed when I was a kid….If you keep working hard, you tell your body that you’re ready to go — not like guys that start sitting down, they’re gaining weight, they don’t care. I have fans out there, I have my son, I have to be a good example. I feel comfortable now because I got the money, but money’s not everything.” It remains to be seen if Cano can successfully fend off the normal decline process as he enters his age-35 season, though it’s hard to argue that he hasn’t delivered for the M’s, hitting .295/.351/.472 with 97 homers over his first four years in Seattle.
- Despite Edwin Diaz’s early-career success, he is still something of a work in progress, TJ Cotterill of the Tacoma News Tribune writes. To this end, Juan Nicasio has already become a veteran mentor to the M’s closer. “He knows how to pitch,” Diaz said. “So I talk to him a lot, how he can teach me how to pitch, too, how to attack hitters to get an out.” Mariners pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. believes Nicasio’s influence will further help Diaz “train his thought process and his mindset,” which is a particularly key facet to the game for Diaz considering that “slowing the game down” helps him better control his mechanics.
Minor MLB Transactions: 4/5/18
Here are Thursday’s minor moves from around the game…
- The Braves outrighted reliever Miguel Socolovich to Triple-A Gwinnett following his recent DFA, and David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets that he accepted the assignment. As a player who’d previously been outrighted off a 40-man roster, Socolovich could’ve rejected the assignment in favor of free agency but will instead remain with the club. Socolovich appeared in one game with the Braves, during which he tossed two perfect innings with a pair of punchouts. Prior to this abbreviated Atlanta stint, the 31-year-old spent three seasons in the Cardinals organization, totaling 66 1/3 innings of relief. With the Cards, Socolovich logged a 3.80 ERA with 7.7 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and a 44.1 percent ground-ball rate.
- The Mariners released veteran backstop Tuffy Gosewisch from their roster at Triple-A Tacoma, as Rainiers broadcaster Mike Curto reports (Twitter link). The 34-year-old Gosewisch went just 2-for-28 with the Mariners last season, though one of those two hits was a homer. He’s a career .190/.228/.271 hitter in 447 MLB plate appearances, though he’s also slashed a drastically superior .258/.318/.406 in his Triple-A career.
Mariners Place Cruz On 10-Day DL; Zunino Ahead Of Schedule
- The Mariners have placed slugger Nelson Cruz on the 10-day DL with an ankle sprain, the club announced. The move was backdated to April 1st. As Ryan Divish of the Seattle notes (links to Twitter), with two upcoming tilts with National League foes, it was fairly painless for the team to put Cruz on the shelf for a bit. And manager Scott Servais believes Cruz won’t miss more than the minimum, if that. Clearly, the M’s can ill afford any kind of extended absence from Cruz, who has raked since coming to the club on a four-year deal that expires after the present season. In other M’s news, Mike Zunino could be headed in the other direction, as Servais says his top catcher isn’t likely to require an extended absence for his oblique strain (also via Divish, on Twitter). Indeed, the skipper indicated that he believes Zunino will be ready to join the team at some point during its eight-game road swing.
Mariners Mulling DL Stint For Cruz
- The Mariners are leaning toward placing Nelson Cruz on the 10-day disabled list so they can have a full bench for their upcoming interleague series, manager Scott Servais said today in an appearance on Brock & Salk on 710 ESPN in Seattle (Twitter link via 710’s Brent Stecker). Cruz suffered an ankle injury when slipping on the dugout steps after a two-run homer over the weekend and had an MRI, though the results of that test haven’t been announced yet.
Mariners Outright Cameron Perkins
The Mariners announced on Monday that outfielder Cameron Perkins has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Tacoma, thus reducing the team’s 40-man roster count to a total of 38 players.
Seattle claimed the 27-year-old Perkins off waivers from the Phillies back in December. A former sixth-round pick in Philadelphia (2012), Perkins made his big league debut in 2017 but struggled through 97 plate appearances, hitting .182/.237/.273 with a homer, five doubles and 23 strikeouts against five walks. Perkins is a career .270/.323/.393 hitter in parts of three Triple-A seasons, and he has nearly 900 innings of experience in center field — in addition to more than 1300 innings at each corner slot.
