Mariners notebook: Another roster move with more to come

A collection of Mariners notes before the opener of their four-game series with the Twins on Monday:

With the 17th pick… The amateur draft kicks off Monday afternoon and continues through Wednesday. The Mariners have the 17th pick in the first round, with many draft analysts believing they will go with a collegiate-level pitcher. This will be the first draft for the Mariners under new scouting director Scott Hunter.

Back in action. The Mariners’ 2016 top pick, outfielder Kyle Lewis, returned to game action for the first time Sunday. Lewis, who tore his ACL a year ago this week, played four innings, walked in his one plate appearance and was caught stealing.

Bullpen-go-round continues. Emilio Pagan was sent down to Triple-A Tacoma following his four scoreless, five-strikeout performance against the Blue Jays on Sunday. Pagan would not have been able to pitch for a few days and the Mariners are taking no chances in the long-relief department. Casey Lawrence has been recalled to take his spot in the pen.

Which comes first? General manager Jerry Dipoto gave us a surprise on the Sunday Mariners Magazine Show, telling us that Hisashi Iwakuma is very close to rejoining the rotation. Iwakuma is scheduled make a rehab start with the High-A Modesto club on Wednesday. While the thinking of many was that he would make at least one more rehab start, Dipoto said it was likely that Kuma would rejoin the team after just one. If you do the math, that would put him on schedule to start June 19, the first game on the upcoming homestand. The word all along has been that Iwakuma’s return would most likely follow that of Felix Hernandez. That could still happen if Felix gets his way. After pitching five innings of one-run ball for the Rainiers Sunday, Felix told reporters that he would talk to the Mariners about perhaps canceling his recently scheduled third rehab start and returning to the Mariners instead.

Don’t look now but … Lawrence will be joining the hottest bullpen in baseball. Oh yes, the Mariners have picked up Bullpen of the Week honors from MLB.com after putting up a 1.29 ERA since May 22, the best in baseball. During that stretch, Mariners relievers have allowed just two earned runs on 16 hits over 20 2/3 innings while striking out 22 and walking four.

Twinsies. If you are on Twitter – and you should be – you most likely saw this:

 

Dress-Up Day 2017 is in the books. #GoMariners pic.twitter.com/Zmd89f2O9G

— Mariners (@Mariners) June 12, 2017

The Mariners had their first dress-up flight of the year and Twins was the theme. Players were paired with other teammates or staff by drawing names out of the hat and then given the assignment to dress as twins, hopefully with some story behind the costumes. Got questions about the photo? Well, I spent a flight to Minnesota with this crew and might have some answers. Hit me up on Twitter @shannondrayer and I will be happy to explain what I can.

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