Griffey’s Return Delayed

Ken Griffey Jr., who broke his left wrist on May 26, won’t begin a rehabilitation assignment at Class AAA Tacoma this weekend as expected, the Seattle Mariners announced Thursday night.

Griffey was expected to start a rehab assignment with the Tacoma Rainiers on Friday night at Cheney Stadium.

On Thursday, Dr. Ed Almquist examined Griffey and recommended Griffey not play for a few more days.

So Griffey will rejoin the Mariners on Tuesday in Minnesota after taking batting practice and working out in Tacoma the next few days, the team said. The Mariners begin a seven-game road trip Friday night in Kansas City.

Griffey took batting practice with the Mariners on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights in Seattle before games with the Chicago White Sox.

“This is not a setback,” Mariners general manager Woody Woodward said in a statement. “Junior has made a tremendous recovery returning from a major injury, but Dr. Almquist feels that he needs a few more days before he sees live pitching.

“He is taking every precautionary measure with Junior, and I whole-heartedly support that approach,” Woodward said.

Griffey, 25, is a six-time American League All-Star who was last season’s American League home-run champion.

Before he got hurt crashing into the Kingdome’s center-field wall catching a Kevin Bass drive in a game against Baltimore, he was hitting .262 (26-for-99) with seven home runs and 15 RBIs.