Snell leaves M’s after death in family; today’s lineups

Aside from handling the expected questions about Milton Bradley, Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu spoke mostly this morning about starting pitcher Ian Snell, who has left the team.

Wakamatsu said Snell went back home to Florida after a death in his family. No more details, other than the funeral is scheduled for Wednesday and that Snell isn’t expected to miss his next start, scheduled for Saturday.

Snell was aware of a family crisis over the weekend and, while he didn’t learn of the death until after Sunday’s game, Wakamatsu said he believed it affected his poor performance against the Rangers.

“I took a trip (to the mound) wondering on the velocities and I do think it did have an effect on him,” Wakamatsu said.

As for Bradley, he’s back in the lineup today after a day off Sunday and a flip-off Friday. That’s when cameras captured Bradley showing his middle finger in what many reported to be a gesture toward fans at Texas who were heckling him.

Wakamatsu spoke with Bradley about the incident, essentially telling the controversial outfielder that the team wants to help him through any issues, whether they’re about hitting problems or struggles to contain his emotions.

“He opened up and talked about the pressure,” Wakamatsu said. “We talked a lot about relying on us to alleviate some of that and he doesn’t have to carry this club by himself. So, he responded to it and was open.”

One other note:

Outfielder Ryan Langerhans has cleared waivers and was outrighted to Class AAA Tacoma. Langerhans made the opening-day roster but was designated for asssignment Thursday after the Mariners quickly aborted their plan to carry an 11-man pitching staff.

Here are today’s lineups:

A’S

Rajai Davis, center field

Daric Barton, first base

Ryan Sweeney, right field

Kevin Kouzmanoff, third base

Kurt Suzuki, catcher

Adam Rosales, second base

Jake Fox, DH

Gabe Gross, left field

Cliff Pennington, shortstop

Right-hander Justin Duchscherer, starting pitcher