Mariners scratch Bryan Woo from start against White Sox
Jun 11, 2024, 4:52 PM | Updated: 5:08 pm
(Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
SEATTLE – The health saga of Seattle Mariners starter Bryan Woo continued with the team announcing the right-hander will miss his scheduled start Tuesday night against the Chicago White Sox.
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The club selected the minor-league contract of left-hander Jhonathan Diaz, who was scheduled to take the bump in place of Woo.
Mariners manager Scott Servais said pregame that Woo didn’t throw his typical bullpen between starts, as was the case two weeks ago before he pitched six shutout innings against the Los Angels Angels. Servais said Woo was dealing with a “similar issue” as the last time he missed his between-starts bullpen, which was previously vaguely described as “arm stuff.” Woo underwent an MRI and the team is awaiting the results.
“It’s unfortunate,” Servais said. “Where does this go with Bryan? We’ll just have to wait and see. He’s getting some tests done, doctors (will) look at it. Hoping to stay away from an IL stint, but we’ll know more here in the next day or so. So I don’t know when he’s going to get injected back into the rotation. I have no timeline, anything like that. We’re just trying to put it together and figure out a way to win the ballgame tonight.”
Woo blew past his career-high workload by throwing 131 2/3 innings between the major and minor leagues in 2023. That came after tossing just 57 innings in the minors in 2022.
The 24 year old missed the first six weeks of the season with a sore elbow that flared up in spring training, but he’s been nails since returning to the mound. In six starts this season, Woo sports a 3-0 record with a sparkling 1.07 ERA, 0.53 WHIP, 24 strikeouts and just two walks over 33 2/3 innings pitched.
“We’re always concerned when guys can’t make a start, but he has gone through things like this before and come out just fine with it,” Servais said. “So I know he’s a little frustrated and wants to get out there and pitch. He’s off to such a great start start. The six starts he’s had this year have just been awesome. So again, I don’t want to get out ahead of ourselves, we’ve just got to wait until we have more information and see where it goes from there.”
Who is Jhonathan Diaz?
Diaz’s appearance will be his first since last season with the Angels. The left-hander appeared in 11 games with six starts over parts of three seasons with Los Angeles. He has a career 3-1 record with 4.84 ERA and 1.73 WHIP over 35 1/3 innings.
The 27 year old has had a stellar start to the season with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers. In 66 1/3 innings over 12 games (11 starts), Diaz has a 7-1 record with a 2.98 ERA, 67 strikeouts and 16 walks in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
“You see all the different pitches from all the different arm angles,” Servais said of Diaz. “He’s not a power arm. He’s a finesse left-hander, has a good breaking ball and will throw the changeup. He’s got a cutter. He’s got all the pitches to get you out, and he’s not going to get you out the same way two times in a row. He’s constantly mixing it up but, he’s got a great feel to pitch.”
Servais noted that availability factored in to the decision to promote Diaz. Emerson Hancock, who was with the team to open the season in place of the injured Woo, made his last start Friday. Servais also pointed out one interesting quirk Diaz has, which is that he’s capable of throwing right-handed. Don’t expect to see him pitch with the right hand, but he could make a play like the one below.
Additional roster moves
Seattle announced another trio of roster moves in addition to selection of Diaz. The Mariners recalled right-handed reliever Eduard Bazardo from Tacoma and designated relievers Kirby Snead and Matt Bowman for assignment.
Bazardo made five appearance with the Mariners earlier this season with a 1-0 record and 5.87 ERA over 7 2/3 innings. Snead had a 4.35 ERA over 10 1/13 innings in 11 appearances, and Bowman allowed a run over two-third of an inning Monday in his only appearance with the team.
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