M’s Hernandez to disabled list; Saturday’s game postponed
Published 1:30 am Saturday, August 5, 2017
Long-time Mariners ace Felix Hernandez is back on the disabled list.
The ailment this time is tendinitis in his right biceps. Club officials announced the move Saturday morning, which is retroactive to Aug. 2. Hernandez missed two months earlier this season because of bursitis in his right shoulder.
The Mariners replaced Hernandez by recalling left-hander Marco Gonzales from Triple-A Tacoma. Gonzales was scheduled to start Saturday night, in Hernandez’s place, against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium, but the game was postponed due to rain. The teams will play a doubleheader Sunday.
Worth noting: The Mariners had MLB’s longest active streak without a postponement at 572 games, which dates to a rainout on April 30, 2014 at Yankee Stadium in New York.
Gonzales, 25, won two starts at Tacoma after being acquired from St. Louis in a July 21 trade for minor-league outfielder Tyler O’Neill. Gonzales was 4-2 with a 5.53 earned-run average in 12 games over parts of three big-league seasons with the Cardinals.
Hernandez, 31, is 5-4 with a 4.28 ERA this season in 13 starts, including 3-2 and 4.02 ERA in eight starts after returning from the disabled list.
Gonzales was a first-round pick in 2013 and reached the big leagues a year later. He missed all of last season while recovering from reconstructive-elbow surgery (Tommy John surgery).
Club officials previously indicated Gonzales was likely to be promoted in the near future, which suggested he would replace either Erasmo Ramirez or Yovani Gallardo in the rotation.
Hernandez’s injury means Ramirez and Gallardo will each remain in the rotation for now.
Even before Hernandez returned to the disabled list, the storyline for the Mariners and Royals heading into Sunday’s games centered on injuries.
Mariners designated hitter Nelson Cruz was a late scratch Friday after suffering neck spasms on a pre-game swing in the batting cage. Even after the game, Cruz was moving gingerly.
“It just hurts to move up and down,” he said. “I had something like it two years ago in Cleveland, with a huge bump in my back. This isn’t as bad, but it’s a different spot. It’s close to my lat (back muscle).”
Cruz leads the American League with 80 RBIs and, as Seattle manager Scott Servais understated: “When he’s not in our lineup, it’s a different-looking lineup.”
The Royals are bracing for bad news after All-Star catcher Salvador Perez left Friday’s game wincing from pain in his right ribcage after a swinging strikeout in the sixth inning against James Paxton.
Results are pending from a magnetic resonance imaging exam, but Perez previously battled ribcage tightness this season on both sides. Royals manager Ned Yost said: “It’s a different spot. It’s a little more concerning.”
The Mariners took advantage of Perez’s absence Friday by stealing three bases against backup catcher Drew Butera in a three-run seventh inning that propelled them to a 5-2 victory.
