Bad news on two fronts today in Mariners camp.
Ryan Feierabend, who’d hoped to compete for the left-handed specialist job in the bullpen, has a ligament injury and likely will have elbow surgery next week. He’s scheduled to be examined by Dr. Lewis Yocum on Tuesday in California and, if he undergoes Tommy John surgery, will miss the rest of the season.
Outfielder Freddy Guzman also will have surgery next week on a fractured hamate bone in his right wrist. He’ll probably miss 4-6 weeks.
It’s a huge blow to Feierabend, who came back from elbow problems last year at Class AAA Tacoma and made eight starts late in the season with the Mariners. He spent more than two months on the disabled list because of a strained elbow but came back and won three straight starts for the Rainiers before being called up to the Mariners.
Feierabend says this injury isn’t related to last year’s probems, which were in the flexor tendon. He said he felt a slight pop while throwing a bullpen early in camp and, when the elbow didn’t improve, he had an MRI on Monday. Tuesday, he learned there was a ligament tear.
Guzman said he felt a pop in his right hand on his next-to-last swing in Tuesday’s intrasquad game.
Other notes this morning as the Mariners prepare to play the Padres in their first exhibition:
-Manager Don Wakamatsu said Ken Griffey Jr. probably would make his exhibition debut “in the next couple of games” as the DH.
-Second baseman Jose Lopez (back stiffness) and shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt (hamstring) also may be playing before the weekend is out.
-The Mariners still aren’t sure when outfielder Wladimir Balentien, held up by visa problems, will be in camp.
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