Seattle Mariners remove reliever Shae Simmons from game as precaution
PEORIA, Ariz. – The Seattle Mariners hope it’s a precaution and not a problem for Shae Simmons.
On Saturday, the hard-throwing right-hander was removed from Seattle’s Cactus League game against the Cincinnati Reds in the middle of the seventh inning after meeting with the assistant athletic trainer Rob Nodine, pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre and manager Scott Servais.
“He felt a little something forearm-wise,” Servais said. “It’s just precautionary, just get him out of there. Our trainer noticed it right away. Now is not the time to take any chances. There are no heroes at this time of the year. We’ll take a look at him and see how he is.”
The initial signs of the forearm issues were noticed upon replay after throwing a 0-1 fastball to Seth Mejias-Brean. Simmons lifted his arm and began flexing his hand over and over. He threw over to first base on a pickoff play and continued to flex the hand. It was at that point that Nodine came out of the dugout to check on him. After a quick meeting, Servais signaled for the bullpen to begin throwing and Simmons was removed walked off the mound. .
Simmons had thrown 12 pitches in the outing. He gave up a solo homer to Brandon Dixon to start the inning, got a groundball out and gave up an infield single to Rob Brantly. The two fastballs he threw to Mejias-Brean were slightly lower than his average velocity at 94 mph and 92 mph.
Another added aspect of concern is the past injury history of Simmons. He tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow with the Braves during spring training in 2015. He missed all of the 2015 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery and was planning on midseason return for the Braves in 2016. He was slowed by lat strain in his rehab work. He returned to pitch in August for the Braves and made seven appearances, but was shut down in late September with forearm issues.
“He’s been fine all camp and feeling good,” Servais said. “We don’t want to get out ahead of ourselves. We’ll see how it feels tomorrow and what the doctors say.”
While the Mariners hope it’s just something minor, it’s a concerning issue. Simmons was projected to be a set-up man in the Mariners’ bullpen. With right-hander Steve Cishek recovering from offseason hip surgery and uncertain to be ready for opening day, Simmons looked as though he would be one of five right-handers in the bullpen for the season opener in Houston – joining closer Edwin Diaz, veterans Nick Vincent and Evan Scribner and hard-throwing rookie Dan Altavilla.
The best fit would likely be right-hander Casey Fien, who the Mariners signed in the offseason. Fien has 293 career MLB relief appearances, most coming with the Twins. He doesn’t have the power arm that Simmons has in terms of fastball velocity. But Fien has been outstanding this spring, making four appearances and not allowing a run in four innings pitched. Fien has yielded just two hits and struck out seven batters.
Beyond Fien, the other options on the 40-man roster are flame-throwing right-hander Thyago Vieira and the equally hard-throwing Tony Zych. Vieira has struggled in his past two outings in Cactus League play, showing his inexperience and the need for a little more seasoning in the minor leagues. Zych is returning from offseason shoulder surgery. He’s been throwing bullpen sessions, but hasn’t thrown in a Cactus League game this spring