Notebook: Felix Hernandez, Mike Leake done for 2017 as Mariners scramble the rotation one last time
Sep 26, 2017, 10:32 PM | Updated: Sep 27, 2017, 11:01 am
Felix Hernandez's injury-plagued 2017 season is over as the Mariners will skip him in the rotation this weekend. (AP)
(AP)
OAKLAND – With the Mariners’ playoff hopes put to rest last weekend, the team has decided that enough is enough for two veteran starters and could do the same for a third. Scott Servais announced Tuesday afternoon that Felix Hernandez and Mike Leake would not pitch again this season.
“He’s gone through a long year,” Servais said about Felix. “The shoulder has been barking for the majority of the year. He’s got kind of dead arm and he’s at the end of the year. I don’t know the benefit of running him out there right now and we’ve got young pitchers we want to take a look at.”
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Marco Gonzales is scheduled to start Friday in Anaheim with Andrew Moore following him Saturday. Felix finishes a largely disappointing year with a record of 6-5 and 4.36 ERA. He missed a total of 92 days split between two trips to the DL with shoulder bursitis. The team went 45-40 in his absence.
Servais is taking the opportunity to give a break to Leake, as well, as he has dealt with a lat injury this season. The Mariners could not have asked for much more after acquiring Leake from the Cardinals in late August. He pitched six or more innings in four of his five starts and put up a 2.53 ERA. He walked two batters in 32 innings while striking out 27 and allowing just one home run.
A decision on whether or not to give James Paxton one more start will be made on Wednesday.
Notes
• Outfielder Guillermo Heredia’s season has also come to an end. Heredia has been dealing with soreness in his right shoulder after aggravating an injury that originally occurred last year sliding into a base. He is headed back to Seattle to have the shoulder looked at.
• End-of-the-year meetings are a little different this year as the Mariners are on the road and the visiting managers offices in Oakland and Anaheim are anything but spacious. Servais is in the process of meeting with both coaches and players, some in the office, many in the outfield during batting practice. “With the players we get an idea of what their plans are in the offseason and kind of what the expectations are coming into next spring,” he said. “We’ve got to get better in a number of different areas and our spring training will probably be reflective of that. We’ll do some different things.”
