Mariners reinstate Kyle Seager from 60-day IL, Dylan Moore optioned
May 25, 2019, 10:43 AM | Updated: 10:45 am
Kyle Seager, a one-time Gold Glove winner, has rejoined the Mariners following hand surgery. (AP)
(AP)
Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager’s 2019 season is finally under way.
Stelton: Mariners’ stellar start turned into a bad thing for Seattle
As has been planned for weeks, the Mariners reinstated Seager from the 60-day injured list ahead of Saturday’s game in Oakland against the Athletics. The 31-year-old Seager’s first-ever trip to the injured list, the result of surgery to repair an injury to the extensor tendon in his left hand suffered late in spring training, ends on the initial day he was eligible to be activated.
To make room for Seager on the active roster, utility man Dylan Moore has been optioned to Triple-A Tacoma. The Mariners also moved relief pitcher Sam Tuivailala from the 10-day IL to the 60-day list to open up a spot on the 40-man roster, though Tuivailala is currently on a rehab assignment and nearing his own return, in which case the Mariners will have to create another spot on the 40-man to bring him aboard.
Seager is in the lineup for Saturday’s 1:07 p.m. game with the A’s, which will air on 710 ESPN Seattle, hitting sixth and playing third base.
Lineups! Welcome back Kyle Seager. pic.twitter.com/uWI3kRwXhu
— Shannon Drayer (@shannondrayer) May 25, 2019
Seager hit .256 (10 for 39) with two doubles and seven RBIs in nine games with Triple-A Tacoma on a rehab assignment. He arrived at spring training this year with a svelte new physique and improved flexibility with the idea it would help him both stay healthy and beat the shift opposing teams used against him last season as he struggled to a career-low .221 average in 2018. Now he and the Mariners will finally get to see if it works.
If nothing else, Seager’s presence on the field should help Seattle, which could certainly use a former Gold Glove winner at the hot corner in a defense that currently has the most errors in the majors at 57 – 15 more than the next team.
Moore, 26, recently came off the 10-day IL himself for a wrist injury, and he appeared in just one game with Seattle after his May 21 reinstatement. For the year the rookie is hitting .212 (11 for 52) with two home runs, three doubles, five RBIs, seven runs scored and two stolen bases in 29 games for the Mariners.
Tuivailala, 26, has appeared in two games with Tacoma, allowing an earned run over two innings pitched as he continues to work his way back from surgery to repair an Achilles tendon tear that ended his 2018 season last August shortly after coming to the Mariners from St. Louis in a trade. His rehab assignment started May 2 with Single-A Modesto, where he had a 1.50 ERA in six appearances.
More on Kyle Seager’s return: The big question M’s have to answer now
