Shoulder strain lands Felix on injured list
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BOSTON -- The Mariners placed right-hander Felix Hernandez on the 10-day injured list on Sunday with a right shoulder strain. He will be evaluated and undergo an MRI when the team returns to Seattle on Sunday night.
Hernandez moved to the IL the day after he reached the 2,500-strikeout milestone, but he allowed seven runs on six hits in 2 1/3 innings in the Mariners’ loss to the Red Sox. He threw 68 pitches, 42 for strikes.
Following Saturday’s game, acting manager Manny Acta said Hernandez “didn’t warm up very well.” Hernandez brushed off any injury worries, although he expressed something could be off to the staff. He attributed his pitching struggles to giving up walks (three), not his shoulder.
“I was fine yesterday,” Hernandez said following the Mariners’ 11-2 loss on Sunday. “I threw the last pitch of the third inning when I felt something, a little discomfort. But it wasn’t that bad. This morning, it was a little tight.”
Hernandez said he is not concerned about the injury, and that he will rest his shoulder. He is 1-4 with a 6.52 ERA in eight starts this season. The righty has given up 14 runs over 7 1/3 innings across his past two outings.
The Mariners made corresponding moves in Hernandez’s absence, recalling right-handed pitchers Dan Altavilla from Double-A Arkansas and Parker Markel from Triple-A Tacoma and optioning outfielder Braden Bishop to Triple-A.
It was the second round of moves this series. The team called up J.P. Crawford and Shed Long Jr. from Tacoma, optioned Chasen Bradford to Tacoma and placed Dylan Moore on the 10-day IL (right wrist contusion) on Friday.
“Our roster has shuffled quite a bit here in the last three to four days,” said Servais, who returned Sunday from attending his daughter’s college graduation. “And it’s going to happen when you’ve got injuries and you’re running through some bullpen at times. It’s nothing that’s all that shocking. We knew our roster was going to transition at some point throughout the season. Maybe just a little bit earlier than we thought.”
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Markel the latest in line for debut
The Mariners have seen their share of Major League debuts this season, and Markel’s on Sunday was a unique one. At 28, he has spent years and traveled thousands of miles pursuing this goal.
“This is my 10th season of pro ball, so I’ve been around a lot of different places,” Markel said. “But going from there to here, definitely is a big jump.”
This season, Markel pitched 17 1/3 innings in 13 relief appearances between Double-A and Triple-A. Leading up to his big league promotion, he spent part of eight seasons in the Minor Leagues, played for the Lotte Giants of the Korean Baseball Organization in 2017 and joined the Sioux City Explorers of the independent American Association in ‘18.
“For me, the older I got, it was just controlling what you can control,” Markel said, adding, “There was a couple times throughout my career where [my wife and I] were like, ‘Do you want to keep doing this?’ … It was one of those things, being 28 now, it was like, let’s keep grinding through it.”
Markel tossed one inning in his debut, yielding two runs on three hits with a walk in the Mariners loss.