Mariners notebook: Saunders returns, Ackley a question mark

Michael Saunders has been activated from the disabled list and is in the lineup tonight. His timing couldn’t be better as Dustin Ackley is scheduled for an MRI on his ankle later tonight.

Ackley still believes he is just a day or two from returning and said that the ankle feels much better today, but the club is taking no chances considering his history with that ankle. They want pictures to confirm that all is right with Ackley and that he is dealing with just a jammed ankle and nothing more.

As for Saunders, he said he is a full go after dealing with an oblique injury and virus that caused him to lose 12 pounds.

“I wouldn’t be activated if I wasn’t ready,” he said. “I’m ready to go. When I was down in Arizona I wasn’t going through the motions, it was more about pushing me, to make sure I was ready. I worked out hard down there, proved to myself I was ready to go.”

Saunders knows that this time of year “ready to go” is different than earlier in the year. He needs to not only be healthy but up to par with what he was before he was injured.

“It wouldn’t be fair to the team just to shove me back out there,” he said. “Right now, going for the playoffs, it’s playoffs or bust. It would be unfair for the guys if I wasn’t ready to put me back out there.”

Lineup!

Austin Jackson, 8
Endy Chavez, 7
Robinson Cano, 4
Kendrys Morales, DH
Kyle Seager, 5
Logan Morrison, 3
Mike Zunino, 2
Michael Saunders, 9
Brad Miller, 6

Felix Hernandez

Notes

• If you missed it, the Mariners have released their tentative schedule for 2015. It is much friendlier than this year’s schedule. In 2014 the Mariners will travel 51,540 miles. Next year, 43,200. Details and the schedule itself can be found in my previous post.

• Pushing Felix Hernandez back two days before his last start against Oakland put him in line to start the first game after the end of the regular season. Keeping him on regular rest through the off day this week puts him on schedule to start the last game of the season, if needed. An even better spot to have him in. If the Mariners have clinched a playoff spot they can skip him and start him in that playoff game. If they need to win that game to make the postseason, they will have the best pitcher in baseball on the mound, on regular rest, to do so.

• An interesting tidbit from Saunders: While in Arizona he stepped in on one of Danny Hultzen’s bullpen sessions. Hultzen has been throwing bullpens for over a month now and the hope is he will be able to get into a few instructional-league games later this month. Saunders stepped in against him to see pitches (he did not swing) and said the session was beneficial for both of them.

“I sat in on a bullpen and he’s looking real good,” Saunders said. “Ball’s coming out well, stuff looked good, the ball is jumping. He seems to be healthy.”

A very welcome scouting report.

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