Woo goes from IL to Seattle record books in historic sophomore season

SEATTLE -- Bryan Woo threw five scoreless innings to cap a stellar second season in the Majors and was backed by solo homers from Cal Raleigh and Mitch Garver, as the Mariners held on to a 2-0 win over the A’s on Friday night at T-Mobile Park.

With eight strikeouts, Woo came one shy of his single-game career high while blanking the A’s over five innings with just three hits and one walk, finishing the year with a 2.89 ERA in 121 2/3 innings across 22 starts. His 0.90 WHIP is the lowest in franchise history (min. 100 innings), leads all MLB pitchers this year and is tied for 18th in the Divisional Era (since 1969).

Above all, Woo finished a season on an upward trajectory, after beginning the year on the injured list with right elbow inflammation, then returning there with a mild right hamstring strain in late June.

“I think most of all is just that I can be an elite starter at this level, and the trust and the confidence that comes with that,” Woo said. “But I also know what it takes throughout the year, what it demands of your body, your mind, all those things.”

Woo’s biggest step forward this year has been learning the rigors of pitching deep into games in a six-month MLB season. He essentially held his velocity at his season averages on Friday, a tick under 95 mph on both his fastballs. And after not pitching into the seventh inning at any point in his career until an Aug. 2 outing vs. the Phillies, he did so in each of his five outings after.

“I'm still ultimately trying to get stronger and throw harder and be able to move better, whatever it is,” Woo said. “But yeah, understanding where my body's at and what I need to be able to be ready for start days. It's kind of an art for starting pitchers and what works for you. So I think I'm always learning, but I definitely learned a lot this year of what works for me.”

A case could be made that Woo was among MLB’s most fascinating pitchers this year, given the limited workload he’d had dating all the way back to his college days at Cal Poly, to flashing top-of-the-rotation stuff when he was on. The Mariners diligently monitored him early in the year, and Woo astutely altered his routine between starts to allow him to finish strong.

He’ll take those learnings into what could be, given all that he’s been through to this point, a pivotal offseason.

“It's a little bit of everything,” Woo said. “You take some confidence, you take some learning points, you take some things that you want to improve on. So for me, I try to take a little bit of time off. You kind of clear your head, and then you're able to kind of come back to it all a little bit better, a little bit clearer.”

On Friday, he was backed by a pair of solo homers from his backstops.

Raleigh crushed his 32nd homer as he seeks to lead all catchers in the category for the third straight year, though he was serving as the designated hitter on Friday. Garver also went deep for his 15th, looking to finish what’s been a disappointing debut season in Seattle on a high note.

The Mariners (83-77) took the field without postseason implications after officially being eliminated during Thursday’s off-day. The Tigers and Royals, who Seattle had been chasing, each locked up the final two American League Wild Card spots with wins on Friday.