Mariners place Graveman on 10-day IL, recall prospect Gerber
Aug 4, 2020, 3:01 PM | Updated: 3:03 pm
Mariners RHP Kendall Graveman was placed on the 10-day IL with a neck injury. (Getty)
(Getty)
After two starts for the Mariners this season, right-handed starting pitcher Kendall Graveman has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a neck spasm that was bugging him during his start against the Oakland Athletics.
Moore: The good, bad and ugly through Mariners’ first 11 games
Along with Graveman’s placement on the IL, the Mariners optioned right-handed reliever Zac Grotz and recalled left-handed reliever Taylor Guillbeau and right-handed reliever Joey Gerber, who, when he enters a game, will be making his major league debut.
Graveman, 29, made his first MLB appearance in over two years due to Tommy John surgery during Seattle’s opening series against the Houston Astros where he gave up seven runs (six earned) in four innings while striking out seven. He started again against his old team, the A’s, and went 4 2/3 innings and gave up two runs while striking out three. It was soon revealed that Graveman was dealing with a sore neck during the start.
The Mariners have been using a six-man rotation in 2020, so an option could be to have each other starting pitcher move up one day and go to a five-man rotation until Graveman is healthy. His placement on the injured list is retroactive to Monday, Aug. 3, so he will miss at least one start and potentially two.
Meet Joey Gerber
Gerber is one of a handful of young, well-regarded reliever prospects that the Mariners have on their extended roster this season.
The 23-year-old pitcher is 6-foot-4 and weighs 215 pounds and is Seattle’s No. 19 prospect per MLB Pipeline. He was an eight-round draft pick by the Mariners in 2018 out of Illinois and has a fastball that sits 95-97 mph with a lot of action and spin that gets a lot of swings and misses and he pairs that with a slider.
Between High-A Modesto and Double-A Arkansas in 2019, Gerber made 44 appearances and pitched 48 2/3 innings and struck out 69 while walking 19. His ERA between the two levels was 2.59, his walks and hits per inning was 1.17 and his opponent batting average was .215. He also gave up just two home runs. He was a midseason All Star while with Modesto, where he recorded eight saves.
During five appearances in spring training, he threw five innings and struck out seven, walked one and didn’t give up a run. Gerber also made four intrasquad games during summer camp.
Follow 710Sports.com’s Brandon Gustafson on Twitter.
Energetic M’s show glimpse of ‘uncomfortable’ team they want to be
