Mariners injury update: Matt Brash has Tommy John surgery

May 10, 2024, 4:17 PM | Updated: 5:28 pm

Mariners pitcher Matt Brash reacts during the a game against the Royals on April 23, 2022. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

(Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

BY ZAC HERETH

Seattle Sports

The Seattle Mariners will be tasked with navigating the 2024 season without one of their best relievers.

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General manager Justin Hollander said Friday that hard-throwing right-hander Matt Brash underwent Tommy John surgery Wednesday to repair a small tear in his Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) in his right elbow. Brash is expected to be out for 12 months.

“Hopefully (around June) next year he’s back and ready to go,” Hollander said before Friday’s game against the Oakland Athletics. “It’s a tough one.”

Brash was shut down early in spring training with right elbow inflammation and suffered a setback in late April that caused the team to shut down the 25 year old again after he wasn’t fully bouncing back from throwing sessions. The Mariners sent Brash to orthopedic surgeon Dr. Keith Meister, and they concluded Brash needed the surgery.

“They feel really good about how the procedure went and his ability to rehab from it successfully,” Hollander said.

Brash came to Seattle as a starter in a trade that sent right-hander Taylor Williams to the San Diego Padres in 2020. The Mainers converted Brash to a reliever in 2022 after he struggled early on in a starting role. He appeared an MLB-high 78 games last season and posted a 9-4 record with a 3.09 ERA and 107 strikeouts in 70 2/3 innings.

“What he did for us last year was unbelievable how many times he came through for us,” Hollander said. “He (had) horrible batted ball luck the start of the year, didn’t get down on himself and was rapidly turning himself into the best or one of the best relievers in the American League, and to have his season just go away like this stinks for him, stinks for us. Probably one of the most popular players in our organization among his teammates, among staff members.”

Hollander also had injury updates on a number of other Mariners.

• Right-handed starter Bryan Woo was activated from in the injured list before Friday’s game and was set to make his season debut. Manager Scott Servais announced Woo would be the starter after Thursday’s game in Minnesota. Hollander said Woo wouldn’t have any restrictions. In three rehab appearances with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers, he pitched 11 1/3 scoreless innings and totaled 17 strikeouts, while allowing no walks and just five hits. Woo went on the IL with elbow inflammation in spring training.

“We’ll obviously monitor the pitch count,” Hollander said. “I wouldn’t anticipate him out there for like 110 tonight or something like that. Tough for him to build volume in Triple-A just because he was so efficient in every outing.”

• Outfielder Dom Canzone is heading to Reno, Nevada, to start a rehab appearance with the Rainiers on Saturday. Canzone suffered a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder making a highlight-reel catch crashing into the wall in left field against the Chicago Cubs on April 14. The left-hander led the team with three home runs at the time.

“The last week was a big positive in terms of his being him being able to take next steps, swinging the bat and everything,” Hollander said.

Hollander said Canzone will play at least four games with Tacoma and the team will reassess where his timing is at afterwards.

“I wouldn’t consider it a setback if he’s not ready on Wednesday,” Hollander said. “It’s been a while. We need to find out where his timings at and what his comfort level is at, but it is very possible that after four games he’s ready to go.”

• Shortstop J.P. Crawford was with the team Friday and being assessed for his readiness for a rehab assignment. Hollander said Crawford could be ready to start one as soon as this weekend or at least by early next week. He expects Crawford will need less time on assignment than Canzone.

“He’s making great progress. All the reports have been super positive,” Hollander said. “… We’ll see how long of a rehab assignment he needs, obviously probably less than Dom, but J.P. will tell us when he’s ready, basically.”

• There’s hope reliever Tayler Saucedo will need just the minimum 15 days on the IL after he suffered a hyperextended knee on a scary play when the left-hander fell awkwardly covering first base Tuesday night against the Twins. Hollander said the club was still waiting for soreness to go away before assessing where Saucedo is at.

“Right now we’re hopeful that is the minimum 15 days down for Sauce, which is a a huge relief given the way it looked on the field of the time,” Hollander said. “Obviously, I think all of us were scared that it was a knee or Achilles or something like that. Structurally, everything looked good in the knee, no Achilles issues or anything.”

• The Mariners are bringing right-handed reliever Gregory Santos to Seattle to be with the team and continue throwing, but he hasn’t gotten any closer to making his debut. Santos suffered a setback after an MRI and is back to throwing at 60 to 90 feet. Hollander said the team had hoped he’d be ready by late May or early June, but a more realistic window is now July.

“We just feel like having him spend some time around our big league team, be around (pitching strategist) Trent (Blank) and (pitching coach Pete Woodworth),” Hollander said. “Where he’s at in his rehab, there’s nothing that he needs in Arizona that we can’t give to him here.”