Brandon Maurer struggled again Tuesday, giving up five earned runs in the Mariners’ 6-1 loss to San Diego, and now it appears the rookie could be heading to Tacoma to work things out after falling to 2-7 this season.
Manager Eric Wedge wouldn’t say that a move was pending, but he certainly said nothing to make you think the idea wasn’t being considered.
“We’ll continue talking about it,” Wedge said of Maurer’s immediate future. “When we feel like it gets to the point where we have to do something, then we’ll do something. We’ll sit down and talk about today, then we’ll go from there.”
Wedge noted that Maurer looked better early in the game before getting in trouble, and said, “I don’t think he’s that far. It’s just a matter of, what’s the best path for him to get to that consistently… We’ll sit down and talk about it, you weigh out everything and evaluate what he’s been doing in the time he’s been here and go from there.”
Asked if it was time to make a decision on Maurer, Wedge answered, “We’re not going to talk about that right now, obviously we’ve got to talk about that internally first. You take the time to do that, then you go from there.”
And after mentioning over and over that they’ll talk about it, Wedge went to his office where GM Jack Zduriencik and pitching coach Carl Willis were both waiting for him.
A rough outing for Maurer and a loss weren’t the only bad news for the Mariners Tuesday. Outfielder Michael Morse, who leads the team with 11 home runs, left in the fourth inning with a quad strain that, while not believed to be serious, could keep him out a few games.
“We’ll get him looked at further tomorrow,” Wedge said. “We don’t think it’s anything too serious, but he’s going to miss a couple of days probably.”
Add to Morse’s injury and Maurer’s continued struggles the fact that Justin Smoak is dealing with an oblique injury, and the Mariners may have to make more moves after a weekend full of them.
“It’s fair to say we’ve got a lot to talk about here after I get done talking to you guys,” Wedge said.
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