Notebook: Mariners could make a change in the rotation soon

We could soon see a change with the Mariners’ starting rotation.

In his pregame meeting Sunday with the media, manager Scott Servais said it was something that was being considered after Yovani Gallardo stumbled in his start Saturday night and Marco Gonzales worked four scoreless innings in relief.

“We’ll talk about it, where we are at going forward, what fits best,” said Servais. “I like the way Marco threw last night.”

Mariners sweep A’s after 10-2 win Sunday

Servais pointed to Gonzales’ ability to get the ball in on righties consistently as a big step forward. It was a different look from Gonzales on the hill as he threw exclusively out of the stretch coming in from the bullpen.

“It was really a game-time decision for me,” Gonzales explained when asked why he abandoned the windup. “I warmed up normally with some windup and I thought, ‘I am just going to keep it simple.’ It honestly was just a gut feeling I had. I was feeling good out of the windup, but I think coming in I knew I just wanted to throw strikes, that’s what we needed, so I didn’t want to mess around, make things too complicated.”

General manager Jerry Dipoto acquired Gonzales with the hope that he would be a piece of the rotation moving forward. To that end, starts now are valuable work. Gonzales showed something different Saturday which was a step in the right direction. Servais believes there will be more steps forward as he is further separated from elbow surgery he underwent last year.

“I know there are different pitches in his repertoire he is not using right now because he is coming off Tommy John surgery, as far as cutting the ball,” Servais said. “He’s such a good athlete, he can make adjustments and do some things. I definitely think there is more in the tank there as far as what he is able to do with his pitches.”

A flip-flop of Gallardo and Gonzales would be easy. Gallardo pitched out of the pen earlier this season and Gonzales can slide into that rotation spot on regular rest should he not pitch in the next couple of days.

Notes

• When Shae Simmons took the mound in the ninth inning of the Mariners’ 10-2 win over the A’s Sunday, he became the 40th player to throw a pitch for the team, tying the single-season record set by the Texas Rangers in 2014.

• The Mariners made progress on another list. With Simmons, Gordon Beckham and Mike Marjama all playing their first games with the team Sunday, that brought the total number of players used this year to 60, tied for second-most in MLB history. Texas holds the record with 64 players appearing on their roster in in 2014.

• Jarrod Dyson, who left Saturday’s game after feeling discomfort in his right groin, did not play Sunday and will be given Monday off as well. Servais called Dyson day-to-day for now, but was hopeful that he could play Tuesday.

• Probables for the series against the Astros: Monday, Erasmo Ramirez vs. Dallas Keuchel; Tuesday, Ariel Miranda vs. Justin Verlander; Wednesday, Mike Leake vs. Lance McCullers Jr.

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