Mariners notebook: Drew Smyly takes another big step toward return
Jun 24, 2017, 4:32 PM | Updated: 4:32 pm
Drew Smyly has been sidelined since suffering an elbow flexor strain in spring training. (AP)
(AP)
On Saturday afternoon, Mariners left-hander Drew Smyly did something he hasn’t done since the tail end of spring training – throw to live hitters.
Smyly took the mound at Safeco Field – something he’s yet to do in a Mariners uniform during a game – for a short live batting practice session, putting to test the left elbow that suffered a flexor strain just before the start of the regular season. Manager Scott Servais liked what he saw.
“I thought he looked pretty darn good,” Servais said. “He threw all of his pitches. I thought the command was very good at what he threw up there. Pretty free and easy.”
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Smyly was one of the more notable acquisitions general manager Jerry Dipoto made over the offseason, sending three players to Tampa Bay to get him. It appeared he was in line for a breakout season, too, as he wowed in the World Baseball Classic for Team USA in a duel against Mariners teammate Felix Hernandez and Venezuela. But just as Seattle had set its roster for the regular season, he came down with what Servais characterized as a “soggy arm,” and what followed was a long recovery.
The home stretch is here for Smyly, though. Now that’s he’s faced live hitters, he’ll continue to progress toward a rehab assignment in the minors, with a target date for return to the majors around the All-Star break, most likely shortly after it.
Servais commended the work ethic that the 28-year-old lefty has shown during his recovery.
“He’s worked his tail off trying to get to that point and now hopefully he continues to build upon it,” Servais said. “Very, very encouraged with what I saw today.”
Notes
• Saturday is Turn Back the Clock Night at Safeco Field, with the Mariners and Astros wearing throwback uniforms from 1977. That means that while the Mariners will sport the franchise’s original blue-and-gold trident logo, they very well could be upstaged by Houston’s infamous rainbow look.
For Turn Back the Clock Night, we're going back to when it all began—1977.
Be there June 24 for a happenin' night. https://t.co/r9I7dZ4wyl pic.twitter.com/gFqG1G7lfI
— Mariners (@Mariners) May 26, 2017
• Mike Zunino gets the night off as Carlos Ruiz will catch for the Mariners in Game 2 vs. Houston. You can see the full lineups in this post.
