Mariners notebook: Ketel Marte back, good news on James Paxton

Another day, another roster move for the Mariners. They activated shortstop Ketel Marte from the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday and optioned infielder Mike Freeman to Triple-A. Marte played nine innings Monday night in Tacoma with at-bats from both the left and right sides. While he checked out OK, manager Scott Servais will be cautious in his usage of Marte.

“He feels good,” Servais said. “I am going to try not to run him out there eight, nine, 10 consecutive days. It’s going to be play a couple, get a day off to keep him fresh going down the stretch.”

Marte missed 17 days with mononucleosis and is still eight pounds down from his previous weight, eight pounds he could not really afford to lose. It is very tough to put on weight while playing, so the Mariners will need to watch him carefully to make sure he does not fatigue. Servais has said all along that Marte will not play every day when he returns and will have to build back up to being able to do so physically.

Shawn O’Malley has had the bulk of the starts at shortstop since Marte went down, hitting .278 with nine runs, four doubles, two home runs and a .360 on-base percentage. The team is 15-6 in the 21 games O’Malley has started at shortstop since June 23.

Notes

• Left-hander James Paxton is making good progress with his throwing elbow, which was hit with a line drive Sunday. The swelling is minimal and it is actually tough to see where he got hit. He has near full mobility and is scheduled for a light catch Wednesday.

• The Mariners have won six of their last seven games at Safeco Field and are 21-11 there since May 30.

• Reliever Steve Cishek has responded well to the cortisone shot he received and should be able to throw a bullpen session this weekend.

• The bullpen has actually been running an arm short the last few days with the Mariners carrying an extra position player. That could change any day now. “It’s day to day. It really is,” Servais said. “I love what (Guillermo) Heredia has brought to our team: the flexibility to play defense late, to hit against left-handed pitching. I don’t know how long we will be able to carry that; it’s a luxury item. Eventually you do need to have the depth in your bullpen. As long as our starters are going deep we are OK, but eventually we will have to flip back to 12 pitchers.”

• The two pitchers the Mariners designated for assignment to clear roster space last week have been claimed off waivers. Donn Roach was claimed by the Tigers and Blake Parker was picked up by the Yankees.