Notes: Nola to return soon; Hirano update

The Mariners avoided another serious blow to their catching situation.

Austin Nola, who was scratched from Tuesday’s lineup against the Angels about 90 minutes before the start of the game because of a sore right knee, is expected to be ready to return to the lineup for Friday’s home opener against the A’s. Nola originally injured the knee sliding into second base in the second inning against the Astros on Monday.

“He had some tests run today and they came back pretty good,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “He’s got some swelling in there, but nothing structural wrong with the knee at all, which is really good news. Anytime you are going to get an MRI on a catcher’s knee, you get a little nervous.”

The club is already without catcher Tom Murphy, who started the season on the 10-day injured list with a broken bone in his left foot. Murphy is currently receiving treatment in Tacoma, the manager said. There is no timetable for his return.

“I would love to see him back here with us as soon as we can, but we want to be smart,” Servais said. “We don't want to rush out there before he feels like he could go and you don’t want to have a setback where you come back, play two or three games and it flares up on you, now you got to go right back to the IL. So we got to be smart about that.”

In Nola’s absence, rookie catcher Joseph Odom was activated off of the three-man taxi squad and went 0-for-2 with a walk in his big league debut Tuesday. He was also in the starting lineup against the Angels on Wednesday. It’s uncertain if Odom will make his third consecutive start in Thursday’s series finale or the club will use backup Joe Hudson.

“I know [Nola’s] relieved the results came back OK and fingers crossed, we can get him back in there soon,” Servais said.

Hirano on track
Yoshihisa Hirano, who is currently on the injured list, continues to build up his arm strength and is expected to throw his first full full-fledged bullpen Thursday in Arizona.

“We’ll see how that goes, but so far so good,” Servais said. “Hirano is another guy we desperately need and looking forward to getting him back."

Hirano posted a 3.47 ERA in 137 games for the D-backs over the previous two seasons and signed a one-year, $1.6 million deal with the Mariners in January to be one of the club’s late-inning relievers. However, he arrived at camp late and is behind schedule.

Hirano is the only Mariners player to be placed on the injured list for an unspecified reason. He told the Japan Times and other Japanese reporters that he tested positive for COVID-19 on June 25 and was running a 102-degree fever and unable to train for about two weeks.

He cleared MLB protocols and joined camp July 18. He’ll eventually pitch in intrasquad games in Tacoma before rejoining the big league club.

Up next
Marco Gonzales will make is second start off the season in Thursday’s 7:10 p.m. PT series finale in Anaheim, live on MLB.TV. The left-hander is 5-1 with a 4.17 ERA in 12 career starts against the Angels, which includes a 3-0 record and 3.12 ERA in six starts in Anaheim.