SEATTLE — Bryan Woo could rejoin the Seattle Mariners‘ rotation sometime next week after an MRI on his right arm came back clean, general manager Justin Hollander said Wednesday.
Woo was scratched ahead of his scheduled start on Tuesday due to discomfort in his right forearm. Woo did not throw his bullpen session this week and “didn’t feel great,” the day before his scheduled start.
Hollander said that with the MRI confirming there’s no major issues, Woo will resume his throwing program with an eye on being reinserted into the Mariners’ rotation sometime next week during their road trip.
“Brian is [a] really unique story. He just doesn’t have the volume that major league pitchers have usually established in their careers,” Hollander said. “So we went and did an MRI to make sure that we weren’t missing anything. But we don’t anticipate a shutdown period.”
Woo has been on a limited pitch count this year because of what manager Scott Servais called “arm stuff” after Woo’s start against the Los Angeles Angels on May 31.
Woo spent the first month of the season on the injured list with elbow inflammation. He returned on May 10 and went 3-0 with a 1.07 ERA in his first six starts. Woo has just 121⅓ innings at the major league level and 112⅓ innings in the minors in his professional career.
“He just hasn’t been through the things that typical starting pitchers have been through. He didn’t pitch a lot in college. He didn’t pitch a lot in the minor leagues,” Hollander said. “For us, the No. 1 thing is he’s healthy. He’s so good. He’s so unique. We want to make sure he’s healthy. Now that we’ve checked that box, it’s about working … to build a routine that works for him.”
While Woo will likely be back next week, closer Andrés Muñoz should return sometime this weekend after being slowed by some lower back discomfort. Muñoz has pitched just once since June 4 and had an injection in his back earlier this week in the hope of relieving some of his discomfort.
Servais said he’s aiming for Muñoz to potentially be available this weekend against Texas.
Seattle is also getting closer to seeing first baseman Ty France and second baseman Jorge Polanco return. France is on the 10-day injured list with a hairline fracture in his right heel, while Polanco has been out with a hamstring injury.
France should be back soon after his required time on the injured list ends, Hollander said, but will probably be dealing with some level of discomfort still in the heel. Polanco is likely to be sent out on a rehab assignment should he make it through some running tests this week.