Notes: Updates on Paxton, Misiewicz

James Paxton received a second opinion on his left forearm strain on Monday, and Mariners manager Scott Servais said the club is still awaiting the assessment from that evaluation. Also, left-handed reliever Anthony Misiewicz was placed on the injured list with an undisclosed issue and righty Erik Swanson was recalled from the alternate training site.

Servais couldn’t comment further on the particulars of Misiewicz’s situation, but because the left-hander was not placed on the 10-day IL, he could return as soon as he’s deemed healthy. Misiewicz has been one of Seattle’s top relievers since the start of last season -- with a 3.28 ERA and 128 ERA+ in 25 outings -- and he was off to a scoreless start over his first four outings in 2021, pitching most recently in Wednesday’s 8-4 win over the White Sox in Seattle.

Swanson has been traveling with the club as part of the five-man taxi squad, and he’s stretched out for multiple innings out of the bullpen if needed, having seen considerable action in Spring Training and at the alternate training site over the first two weeks of the regular season.

The former starter was among a small list of candidates vying for the final spots in the bullpen, which ultimately went to Rule 5 Draft pick Will Vest, who must remain on the team for the season or be offered back to the Tigers, and Drew Steckenrider, who entered the season with 123 games of big league experience.

Swanson allowed one run and four hits with no walks and five strikeouts over seven Cactus League outings, and for his big league career, he has a 6.58 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 2.7 homers per nine innings and 8.4 strikeouts per nine in 65 2/3 innings, including just nine outings in 2020, when he pitched exclusively in relief and compiled a 12.91 ERA.

Also of note, Evan White has healed enough from the left quad strain to reassume his starting role at first base on Monday in Baltimore. White missed each of the club’s three games in Minnesota that began the road trip.

Sneak peek at Minors assignments?
The Mariners’ Minor Leaguers began their spring slate on Monday in Peoria, Ariz., with Double-A Arkansas, Class A Advanced Everett and Class A Modesto in action. Because most Triple-A rosters are comprised of players at Major League alternate training sites, those teams aren’t playing in Arizona.

• Mariners’ Top 30 Prospects list

Much can change between now and the Minors’ regular season in the first week of May, but the lineups provided an early glimpse of possible assignments. Again, some of this will hinge on how Triple-A Tacoma’s roster looks when it opens its regular season on May 6.

Jarred Kelenic led off for Double-A and played center field, with catcher Cal Raleigh batting third. Julio Rodríguez batted cleanup and played right field for Class A Advanced, with three of Seattle’s five 2020 Draft picks -- left fielder Zach DeLoach, second baseman Kaden Polcovich and first baseman Austin Shenton -- hitting ahead of him in the order. Shortstop Noelvi Marte, who just cracked MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects list, hit third for Class A.

Among those in Minors camp, Kelenic and Raleigh are closest to MLB-ready, and the club anticipates both contributing sooner than later in 2021. For each, if they were to break camp with Arkansas, it’s likely that the Mariners would want them to make a stop at Tacoma. But Kyle Lewis and White each graduated to the Majors straight from Arkansas, so it wouldn’t be unprecedented for Kelenic and Raleigh to follow a similar trajectory.

More tickets available
The Mariners will make tickets available to 20 additional games at T-Mobile Park, from April 30-June 2. They will first be offered to Mariners season-ticket members on Thursday, then to Mariners Mail subscribers on April 22. After that, single-game tickets will be available to the general public on Friday, April 23, beginning at 10 a.m. Tickets are digital only and are available at mariners.com/tickets and at Mariners Team Stores

Health and safety protocols from the season-opening homestand remain in place, meaning that tickets are grouped in physically-distanced pods of one to six fans who are part of the same household. The entire pod must be purchased and cannot be split up for resale.