Mariners notebook: Venditte traded to Philadelphia Phillies
Published 1:30 am Sunday, March 12, 2017
By Bob Dutton
Staff Writer
PEORIA, Ariz. —
Switch-pitcher Pat Venditte won’t be returning to the Mariners when he completes his time with Italy in the World Baseball Classic.
The Mariners traded Venditte to Philadelphia on Sunday morning for minor-league outfielder Joey Curletta, who will report to minor-league camp. Full-squad drills begin Monday for the Mariners’ minor-league clubs.
Curletta, 23, batted .251 with 17 home runs and 67 RBI in 106 games last season in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ organization at Hi-A Rancho Cucamonga and Double-A Tulsa. He was the Dodgers’ sixth-round pick in the 2012 MLB Draft.
Los Angeles traded Curletta to the Phillies on Sept. 15, 2016, as the player to be named later in an Aug. 25 deal for catcher Carlos Ruiz, whom the Mariners acquired Nov. 7 for pitcher Vidal Nuno.
The Phillies also received catcher A.J. Ellis and minor-league pitcher Tommy Bergjans in the deal for Ruiz.
Sunday’s trade reduces the Mariners’ big-league camp roster to 62 players.
Venditte, 31, allowed 10 runs and 13 hits last season in 13 1/3 innings for the Mariners, who acquired him in an Aug. 6 trade from Toronto. He allowed one run in 8 1/3 innings for Triple-A Tacoma prior to an Aug. 27 recall to the big leagues.
The Mariners removed Venditte from their 40-man roster on Nov. 23 by designating him for assignment. When he cleared waivers, he was assigned outright to Tacoma.
Simmons to undergo an MRI
Right-handed relief pitcher Shae Simmons will undergo a precautionary examination of his elbow after leaving Saturday’s game when he experienced stiffness in his forearm after throwing a fastball.
Simmons, 26, missed much of the past two seasons while recovering from reconstructive surgery — commonly called Tommy John surgery — on the same elbow.
“I’m not too concerned about it,” he said. “I think it’s more muscle (soreness). If it’s more muscle, we can do the necessary steps to rehab it, strengthen it and get it back to where it was.”
Plans called for Simmons to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam.
“The doctor is going to see him (later Sunday),” manager Scott Servais said. “He’s going to have a precautionary MRI. He has that history-of-Tommy-John thing. We’re very cautious on this one.
“We think it’s something (minor) in the forearm, but we want to make sure.”
The Mariners acquired Simmons in a Jan. 11 trade from Atlanta in an effort to add a power arm to their bullpen mix. His velocity returned last year to the upper-90s, and he appeared positioned to win a spot in the Mariners’ bullpen.
Simmons said he had experienced no prior problems this spring.
“Everything’s been good,” he said. “Coming in (Saturday), I felt strong. As far as I know, everything is normal. Then that first pitch to the last hitter, I just felt something … it just stiffened up on me.
“Everything’s been fine and normal. I thought it was going to be a normal spring training. Maybe this is just a little bump in the road, and everything will be fine.”
Simmons entered Saturday’s game against Cincinnati in the seventh inning at Peoria Stadium and gave up a game-tying homer to the first hitter, Brandon Dixon.
That in itself was odd.
Simmons has allowed only one homer in 140 appearances in his professional career. He then recorded a ground out and allowed a single before the elbow stiffness surfaced in throwing two fastball strikes to Seth Mejias-Brean.
When Simmons began flexing his arm after a pickoff throw to first base, Servais and trainer Rob Nodine came to the mound. Simmons left the game.
Flipping out
Utilityman Taylor Motter hasn’t yet clinched a spot on the Mariners’ roster, although he’s created a stir over the past few days with seven hits in 18 at-bats and some sparkling defensive plays.
The next step will be to see how Motter looks at first base and in the outfield.
One thing is already established …
“He’s certainly got tremendous hair flip,” Servais said. “In Seattle, I can (already) hear the crowd holding their breath until he flips it back up again.
“I’m sure (marketing vice president Kevin) Martinez has T-shirts coming. I can see the whole thing (unfolding). We’ll see.”
The Mariners acquired Motter, 27, from Tampa Bay in a Nov. 18 trade. He is looking to rebound from a tough year in which he batted .229 in 88 games at Triple-A Durham and .188 in 33 games for the Rays.
