Pregame notes: Bradley will serve suspension, Aardsma shut down with forearm stiffness

All sorts of notes from today’s pregame talk with Eric Wedge…

Glad to see this. Instead of waiting for an appeal of his suspension Milton Bradley will serve it tonight. The possible distraction has been avoided. I asked Wedge if he spoke with Bradley before he made the decision and indeed he had.

“I talked to him,” Wedge said. “I think originally he was going to appeal it but then decided let’s just get it out of the way. That’s where the change of heart was.”

Moving on. As you must have heard by now Michael Pineda has been named Rookie of the Month. Michael gave a lot of credit to his teammates for helping him to feel more comfortable and to Miguel Olivo for helping him through games. He said the toughest hitters he has faced were Miguel Cabrera and Josh Hamilton. He also admitted to being a bit starstruck when he got to meet fellow Dominican David Ortiz in Boston.

David Aardsma has been shut down with forearm stiffness for a few days. “It happens,” Wedge said. “This is really nothing to be concerned about. It is just some normal soreness so we are going to be careful about it.”

The plan is to let it quiet down for a few days then play catch and throw a bullpen. If all goes well then he will be sent back out for rehab starts.

Franklin Gutierrez came through last night’s game in Tacoma well and will play again tonight this time getting five innings in centerfield. He will continue to alternate DH’ing and playing in the field for the rest of the week and then they will evaluate where they are with him over the weekend.