Mariners Update

Opponent: Oakland A’s

When: 7:05 p.m.

Where: Safeco Field

TV: Fox Sports Net

Radio: KOMO (1000 AM)

Pitchers: Seattle right-hander Ryan Franklin (1-1, 2.18 earned run average) vs. right-hander Rich Harden (1-0, 0.68).

Ah, Choo

Shin-Soo Choo was taking a shower Wednesday morning when an unexpected visitor knocked on his apartment door in Tacoma.

Tacoma Rainiers manager Dan Rohn had come visiting and Choo, having scrambled out of the shower, let him in and thought the news could only be bad.

“Maybe I was released. Maybe I was traded,” he said.

Neither.

Rohn, on his way to Cheney Stadium for a few hours of work before Wednesday night’s Rainiers game, stopped off at Choo’s place to deliver a pleasant message. The Mariners had decided to call him up to the big-leagues.

With utility player Scott Spiezio going on the disabled list because of a strained left oblique muscle, the Mariners brought up Choo, a left-handed-hitting outfielder.

Choo was hitting .304 with one home run and seven RBI in seven games for the Rainiers.

The Mariners had considered outfielder Chris Snelling, also a left-handed hitter, but he has played less than a week for the Rainiers after coming back from knee surgery in February.

“We felt Snelling needed time on the field to gain confidence in the health of his knee,” Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said.

Choo batted .350 with one homer and four RBI in spring training, but misplayed a few balls in the outfield.

“He showed us good power and he showed he needed to work on his outfield defense a little but, but he’s done that,” Hargrove said. “He played well defensively by the end of spring training.”

Choo’s first day as a major leaguer remained an adventure long after Rohn had given him the happy news. On his way to Safeco Field, he took a wrong turn off I-5 and had to ask for directions, but he made it to the ballpark in plenty of time for pregame work.

Miserable Madritsch: While pitcher Bobby Madritsch continues to keep his left arm in a sling as he deals with an injured left shoulder, his head is hurting worse than his arm.

“It’s killing me mentally because I can’t do anything,” he said. “I’m not running, not throwing, no weights. That’s the most aggravating thing.”

Madritsch came out of the Mariners game April 6 against the Twins after feeling pain in his left shoulder. An initial magnetic resonance imaging exam didn’t show any tissue damage, although an augmented MRI, in which dye is injected into the shoulder, revealed a tear.

Madritsch will remain in a sling about two more weeks, then have another augmented MRI.

In the meantime, the well-decorated lefty – he has 20 tattoos – has an idea of what to do with his free time.

“I have been thinking of getting more tattoos,” Madritsch said. “That will give me something to do.”

Spitting image? The newest Ichiro Suzuki bobblehead appeared in the Mariners’ dugout Wednesday afternoon just as its real-life image showed up before batting practice.

“Hey Ichiro, does that look like you?” a reporter asked.

Suzuki took his hat off, like the statue, and asked back, “What do you think?”

Then he tapped the head of his bobblehead and let it answer the question.

“It says, ‘No, no, no, no, no,’” Suzuki said.

The bobblehead, commemorating Suzuki’s record 262-hit season in 2004, will be given Friday to the first 25,000 fans through the gates.

Of note: Injured shortstop Pokey Reese began his minor league rehab assignment Tuesday with the Mariners’ Class A Inland Empire team in San Bernardino, Calif., going 2-for-4. Reese, who went on the 15-day DL on April 2 because of a strained right shoulder, will play four games with Inland Empire and four with the Class AA San Antonio Missions. “I think after 25 or 35 at-bats he’ll be ready, but he’ll let us know,” Hargrove said. “It’s more a case of his shoulder being healthy and his timing being down and getting back into game shape.” … Richie Sexson, still battling remnants of the flu, was the designated hitter for the second straight day.

Kirby Arnold, Herald Writer