HOUSTON — An MRI that Bryan Woo underwent Saturday morning revealed he has “minor irritation” in his proper pectoral muscle, Mariners supervisor Dan Wilson stated earlier than Seattle’s second sport vs. the Astros at Daikin Park.
However the membership believes that its All-Star pitcher will keep away from the injured listing.
The Mariners will take the following few days to see how Woo responds to remedy earlier than assessing the standing of his subsequent scheduled begin, which if they continue to be on flip, could be Thursday in opposition to the Rockies. The membership may additionally use its ultimate off-day on Monday to re-slot its rotation and push Woo again.
“It’s actually simply sort of a day-to-day factor,” Wilson stated. “We’ll proceed to evaluate it every day. We’ll know just a little bit extra within the subsequent 24-48 hours relying on how he responds. And that is actually what we all know at this level.”
If Woo have been positioned on the IL — which is 15 days for a pitcher — he could be down for that full allotment, even together with the postseason, as IL stints should not re-set on the finish of the common season. If the membership have been to backdate a possible stint to Saturday, the earliest that Woo may return could be on Sunday, Oct. 5, which might be past the Wild Card Sequence and the identical day as Sport 2 of each American League Division Sequence.
However once more, the Mariners don’t anticipate that Woo will probably be positioned on the IL.
“We’ll let the trainers determine the most effective, greatest plan of action at this level,” Wilson stated. “However I feel in the present day was, in a variety of methods, excellent news. And we’ll simply proceed to evaluate it. They’re going to put collectively a great plan for him.”
If they continue to be on flip, the Mariners may deploy a bullpen sport on Thursday vs. Colorado, as all their reduction arms could be coming off Monday’s off-day, and the Rockies have MLB’s worst report. In the event that they achieve this — or use a spot-starter then wanted a contemporary arm at any level — the identical transaction guidelines of optioning a participant to the Minors additionally apply as these for the IL, which means any pitcher despatched down would must be down for 15 days until there’s an harm.
If the Mariners re-slot, they might conceivably push again Woo’s flip to Saturday vs. the Dodgers, which might be the penultimate day of the common season.
It’s potential that, by then, they’d have clarification on their postseason destiny, which might make that sport inconsequential. However it’s simply as potential that they might nonetheless be battling for the division title, a Wild Card spot and even the No. 2 seed within the AL, which they at the moment maintain and would include a bye into the ALDS, the place they’d even have home-field benefit.
Seattle entered Saturday with a one-game lead within the AL West over Houston, which was clinging to a one-game lead over hard-charging Cleveland for the third and ultimate AL Wild Card spot.
All of those elements are why the Mariners will stay in a holding sample on Woo for now.
“He’ll clearly need to get out [there] as quickly as potential,” Wilson stated. “However that is what we all know at this level.”
Past subsequent week, Woo would simply be the Mariners’ Sport 1 postseason starter, no matter the place they’d start the playoffs and when. Making certain that he’s prepared for what the membership hopes is a deep October run is paramount.
“He has put collectively an unimaginable season by way of his well being and being wholesome all season lengthy,” Wilson stated.
Woo first skilled what he described as pectoral “tightness” throughout his fifth and ultimate inning in Friday’s 4-0 win, through which he carved by 17 batters with only one hit and one stroll to go together with seven strikeouts. He alerted Wilson and Seattle’s athletic coaching workers instantly, then tried a number of warmup tosses earlier than the sixth earlier than finally exiting.
Woo was an All-Star this 12 months and has been one of many sport’s most sturdy starters, with a team- and career-high 186 2/3 innings, over which he’s compiled a 2.94 ERA. The Mariners have gone 17-13 in his begins.
