SEATTLE — The subsequent wave of pitching expertise from the Mariners’ pipeline is right here, because the membership known as up high pitching prospect Emerson Hancock to the Majors on Wednesday. The 24-year-old will begin towards the Padres tonight in his massive league debut.
As a corresponding transfer, right-hander Devin Sweet was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma, and to make room on the 40-man roster, left-hander Zach Muckenhirn was designated for task.
To put together for Hancock’s callup, Seattle made 4 roster strikes on Tuesday, headlined with Bryan Woo being positioned on the 15-day injured checklist with proper forearm irritation, retroactive to Aug. 5. The membership additionally recalled reliever Ryder Ryan from Triple-A Tacoma, claimed righty Ryan Jensen off waivers from the Cubs and designated Matt Festa for task.
Woo skilled soreness popping out of a bullpen session over the weekend at Angel Stadium, a couple of days after he threw six robust innings and allowed simply two runs on Thursday. Mariners normal supervisor Justin Hollander mentioned Tuesday that there are “no real concerns” with Woo’s state of affairs and that it was extra out of “an abundance of caution.”
“We basically took it out of Bryan’s hands,” Hollander mentioned. “If it were purely up to him, he would keep pitching and tough through it. We don’t think that’s a responsible thing to do, so we made an organizational decision.”
Woo, who had an MRI deliberate for Wednesday, would first be eligible to return on Aug. 20, which in a best-case state of affairs and with two off-days on this stretch would solely drive him to overlook two begins.
“He’s testing strong,” Hollander mentioned. “He has no real symptoms of a significant injury, but he’s sore, and we want to be smart. So we don’t anticipate, like I said, an IL stint longer, much longer than 15 days.”
Hancock, Seattle’s No. 4 prospect in response to MLB Pipeline, joins Bryce Miller and Woo because the third starter known as up from Arkansas this season.
Over 98 innings, Hancock has compiled an 11-5 document, a 4.32 ERA and a career-best 26.0% strikeout fee whereas holding hitters to a slash line of .230/.313/.374 (.687 OPS). He’s been vulnerable to runaway begins, with two outings of 9 earned runs allowed and one other two with six or extra. But he’s additionally registered a top quality begin in 9 of his 20 outings. He’s been notably good over his previous 10 begins, with a 2.97 ERA and 57 strikeouts over 57 2/3 innings.
“He’s definitely ready for this,” Hollander mentioned. “This was coming eventually, whether it was this week or next week or the week after.”
As for Miller and Woo, the Mariners had lengthy been getting ready for a late-season workload administration plan for these two as they attain new profession highs in innings pitched — Woo extra particularly, as he’s already reached 99 (together with the Minors) after throwing 57 final 12 months.
Miller is at 105 1/3 after reaching 133 2/3 final season. He skilled diminished velocity and inconsistency along with his secondary pitches two outings in the past earlier than rebounding in a giant approach on Sunday in Anaheim.
Hancock is at 98 innings and can move his 2022 whole (98 1/3) his subsequent day trip.
“I think Emerson will be fine the rest of the year, but we’ll monitor him just like everybody else,” Hollander mentioned.
Both Woo and Miller earned their promotions as a part of damage replacements to Marco Gonzales and Robbie Ray, respectively. Ray is out for the 12 months as a result of left flexor and Tommy John surgical procedures. Gonzales has been sidelined for 2 months with a left forearm pressure, and it’s unclear when he’ll return.
“I think the clock is ticking on that,” Hollander mentioned of Gonzales. “Just the amount of time — even if he felt great today, he would need a significant ramp up, having been out for a while … It’s becoming less likely by the day.”
That’s left two key rotation spots to fill, which the rookies have performed formidably. But there are nonetheless many innings to go round for a younger group, which have turn out to be all of the extra important because the Mariners have climbed again into the AL Wild Card race. Now, Hancock would be the newest to assist Seattle in its playoff pursuit.
Content Source: www.mlb.com