SEATTLE — With right-hander Felix Hernandez and outfielder Mitch Haniger beginning rehab assignments Tuesday at Triple-A Tacoma, it begs the question: What about the other Seattle Mariners on the disabled list?
It’s mostly good news.
— Shortstop Jean Segura should be able to start baseball-related activities later this week in his recovery from a high right ankle sprain suffered June 1 on a slide at second base.
“Segura got rid of the boot,” manager Scott Servais said. “He won’t be limping around in that. There’s a normal gait to his walk. He’s not running or anything like that yet.
“He’ll probably pick up the intensity of his workout in the pool and doing some other stuff in the weight room in the next day or two … I would think, starting later this week, he’ll start doing some more baseball-related activities.”
While Servais is “optimistic” that Segura will beat the initial prognosis of missing one month or more, he also urged caution.
“Sometimes the last part (of rehab) on a high-ankle sprain can be the most difficult,” he said. “The cutting, the lateral movement and stuff like that. But he’s ahead of schedule, if you can say that, when it’s only been four or five days.”
— Right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma is slotted to pitch another simulated game Thursday in his recovery from shoulder inflammation, which surfaced after a May 3 start against the Los Angeles Angels.
If all goes well, Iwakuma could be ready to begin a rehab assignment next week, which would put him in line for a late June return to active duty.
— Left-hander Drew Smyly, while progressing in his throwing program, still has yet to get on a mound in his recovery from a flexor strain in his elbow, which surfaced late in spring training.
“Until he gets on a mound in a bullpen,” Servais said, “you really can’t project (a return date). The longer it goes (before he gets on the mound), the more you start looking at the All-Star break.”
Cruz still the DH leader in All-Star balloting
Mariners cleanup hitter Nelson Cruz remains on track to be the American League’s starting designated hitter on July 11 at the All-Star Game in Miami.
Cruz holds a lead of 155,600 votes over Matt Holliday of the New York Yankees in the the latest balloting update released Tuesday by Major League Baseball. Cruz is a four-time All-Star who was voted as a starter in 2014 and 2015.
Balloting continues through 8:59 p.m. on June 29. All balloting is conducted online at www.MLB.com and all 30 club websites, including www.mariners.com. Voting updates are released each week.
Two other Mariners, Robinson Cano and Jean Segura, remain among the leaders at their positions, but each faces increasingly long odds at being voted into the starting lineup.
Cano is fourth among second basemen but trails Houston’s Jose Altuve, the leader, by 749,368 votes. Segura is fifth among shortstops but is 591,501 votes by first-place Francisco Lindor of Cleveland.
MLB only releases vote totals for the top 15 outfielders and the top five at other positions in its weekly updates. Updated National League results were released Monday.
Minnesota’s Miguel Sano is the leader at third base by 97,912 votes over Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez. The Twins open a three-game series Tuesday night against the Mariners at Safeco Field.
Hey, Canada: Want to see the Jays play at Safeco? Fine. But it’ll cost you
That not-so-little price hike next weekend at Safeco Field hasn’t gone unnoticed north of the border.
Toronto fans are crying foul, according to the CBC.
It’s a common practice throughout Major League Baseball to adjust ticket prices based on demand, and the Mariners chose to push the envelope for their upcoming three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays.
It’s called dynamic pricing.
For example, a ticket for seating in the main level (lower bowl) ranges from $29-75 for the three-game series against Minnesota, which runs Tuesday through Thursday.
When the Blue Jays arrive Friday for the weekend, the price range jumps to $66-175. The range then recedes for upcoming games against Detroit (June 20-22) to $29-72, and first-place Houston (June 23-25) to $33-90.
Ticket prices in other areas of the stadium show similar increases for the three games against Toronto.
The Mariners grumbled last season at seeing their home park turn into a western version of the Rogers Centre when Toronto fans flocked to Safeco and pushed attendance to to 34,807, 33,598 and 39,614 for a three-game series in September.
Those were the Mariners’ three biggest crowds in the season’s final month.
Those fans are welcome to return this weekend.
For a price.
Looking back
It was six years ago Tuesday — June 6, 2011 — that the Mariners selected Virginia left-hander Danny Hultzen with the second overall pick in the MLB Draft.
The Mariners had been strongly linked to Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon before opting for Hultzen, who was widely viewed as the surest thing in a pitching-rich draft.
Hultzen initially validated that assessment before encountering shoulder problems in 2013. He never really recovered.
Washington took Rendon with the sixth overall pick, and he became a fixture in the Nationals’ lineup midway through the 2013 season. He is batting .288 this season with 10 homers and 35 RBI in 52 games.
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