Iwakuma’s start for AquaSox generating much interest

Published 11:21 pm Friday, June 19, 2015

EVERETT — Saturday evening the fans at Everett Memorial Stadium get the rare opportunity to catch a glimpse of the major leagues.

Seattle Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma will start on the mound for the Everett AquaSox as he works himself back from a strained lat muscle in his back.

“It’ll be exciting,” Everett manager Rob Mummau said. “It will be great for the kids to see an established big leaguer out there, and it will be good for our fan base. But the main thing for him is just getting in a couple innings.”

The game starts at 6:05 p.m. at Everett Memorial Stadium.

Iwakuma, a right-hander from Japan who was an American League all-star in 2013 and expected to be a mainstay toward the top of Seattle’s rotation this season, hasn’t pitched since April 23 because of the injury. He was 0-1 with a 6.61 earned-run average in three starts when he was shut down. Saturday’s appearance with Everett will be his first official outing since being put on the shelf.

Iwakuma’s rehab start has generated a large amount of interest. There have been a substantial number of media requests for Saturday’s game, which is just the third of Everett’s Northwest League season, and AquaSox general manager Danny Tetzlaff said there’s also been a bump in ticket sales.

“That’s the beauty of being 25 miles away from your major-league affiliate,” Tetzlaff said. “It’s great, it’s a great opportunity for people to see one of the big-league stars right here in Everett.

“Just to have that in the first series, to help us start out with a bang, you can’t beat it,” Tetzlaff added. “We’re just very fortunate. I’d love to have a rehab start every homestand, but to get one this early is great because we could go all year and not get any. So we’re very happy to get this one.”

Iwakuma took his first step back Monday when he threw a 40-pitch simulated game at Safeco Field in Seattle. Members of the AquaSox, who arrived from Seattle’s extended training in Peoria, Ariz., on Monday morning, served as the batters for the simulated game. Iwakuma reportedly emerged from the simulated game in good shape.

Mummau said he didn’t know the exact plan for Iwakuma, though he believed Iwakuma would pitch more than one inning. It’s believed Iwakuma will head to Triple-A Tacoma for any successive rehab outings.

If Iwakuma suffers no setbacks, the Mariners are hoping he can return to the rotation in early July.