Mariners’ Nick Franklin tweets he’s been sent down

By Shannon Drayer

Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon and general manager Jack Zduriencik spoke both after the team’s loss Tuesday night and again the next morning, but no roster moves were made prior to Wednesday’s game against Houston.

After the game appears to be a different story, however.

Las Vegas here I come!

— Nick Franklin (@NickFrank20) April 24, 2014

The Rainiers open a four-game series against the 51s (the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate) Thursday in Las Vegas. While there is no confirmation from the club, it would appear Franklin has been sent down. He had started four games and played in seven while with the Mariners, going 2 for 16 with a triple and two runs scored. He started his first-big league game in the outfield Wednesday afternoon.

Franklin was called up when Logan Morrison went on the disabled list with a strained hamstring. Franklin no doubt is a guy the organization would like to see playing every day and that just wasn’t happening at the big-league level.

The corresponding move has yet to be announced, but Cole Gillespie – who would be better suited for spot starts or pinch hitting duties and just so happens to be hitting .362/.456/.741/1.197 for the Rainiers right now – is expected to be called up. The Mariners have an open spot on the 40-man roster with Ji-Man Choi on the restricted list, so Gillespie can be put on the roster without having to designate anyone for assignment.

On another note, after Wednesday’s game I talked briefly with Taijuan Walker, who was happy to get the news from team Dr. Edward Khalfayan that he could resume throwing on Monday. Between now and then he will go through workouts to get him ready to throw after being completely shut down for eight days. After that he told me he expects to build back up quickly since he wasn’t down for long.