SEATTLE — Along with a broken nose and a fracture below his left eye, Mariners first baseman Justin Smoak was dealt another blow to his tough season Saturday — a stint on the 15-day disabled list.
The Mariners placed him on the DL one day after he was hit in the face by a hard ground ball that took a high hop. The Mariners said he suffered a non-displaced fracture of his nose and also a hairline fracture of the maxilla bone in his left cheek.
Smoak can’t do any baseball-related activity for 3-5 days, and then will begin playing catch and taking batting practice.
“I was hopeful it was just the nose. But it’s a little bit more than that,” manager Eric Wedge said. “The good news is its nothing too serious, but we’ll still have to give him some time.”
Smoak is scheduled to be checked by another doctor, and Wedge said that would help the team have a better idea how much playing time he would miss.
The Mariners replaced him Saturday with an intriguing slugger — Wily Mo Pena.
Pena, a 29-year-old who has played 578 major league games with the Reds, Red Sox, Nationals, Diamondbacks and, now, Mariners, signed with the M’s after the Diamondbacks designated him for assignment on July 15. He entered the game Saturday, when he started at DH, with 82 major league home runs and a reputation as a player not to miss during batting practice.
During pregame work Saturday, he hit a ball three rows from the top of the second deck in left field.
“I think this is my best year,” said Pena, who batted .363 with 21 homers and 63 RBI at Class AAA Reno, then .333 with four homers and 10 RBI in 13 games at Tacoma. “I’m getting old, I think I’ve learned how to hit. It feels so good. This year, I’m hitting like I never have in my life. I was impressed with myself. I just have to do the same thing I was doing down there. Keep doing it here. Like I was helping the teams down there, do the same thing up here.”
Wedge said Pena would get plenty of at-bats at the DH spot, and that Mike Carp would start most of the games at first base while Smoak is out. Adam Kennedy, who has stared 18 games this year at first base, probably wouldn’t play there a lot, Wedge said, because he’s dealing with a bruised heel suffered last week.
Mariners designate lefty French
Left-hander Luke French, the 2010 pitcher of the year at Class AAA Tacoma after he went 11-3 with a 2.94 ERA, was designated for assignment on Saturday.
French, acquired along with minor league left-handed pitcher Mauricio Robles in a 2009 trade that sent pitcher Jarrod Washburn to the Tigers, was 8-8 with a 6.12 ERA in 23 starts this season with Tacoma.
The Mariners have 10 days to trade, re-assign or release French.
Of note
The Mariners announced they have signed their fifth-round draft pick, catcher Tyler Marlette from Hagerty High School in Oviedo, Fla. Marlette, who had committed to play at Central Florida, will report to the Mariners’ rookie-level team in Pulaski, Va. The Mariners have signed six of their top 10 picks and 39 of the 51, although the first three — pitcher Danny Hultzen, shortstop Brad Miller and first baseman Kevin Cron — remain unsigned. … Jack Wilson started at shortstop Saturday night after suffering from fatigue during the road series last week at Texas. “Hopefully he doesn’t have any more issues,” Wedge said. … Wedge said third baseman Chone Figgins (hip flexor) and shortstop Brendan Ryan (sprained shoulder) are “coming along” with injuries that landed them on the disabled list.
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