Mariners reliever Gregory Santos will miss opening day due to injury setback
PEORIA, Ariz. – Scott Servais wouldn’t allow himself to project Gregory Santos as part of his opening day bullpen.
As much as he wanted to have the hard-throwing right-hander to use in late-inning leverage situations in that opening homestand, he knew that Santos’ progression to full health after some early discomfort in the back of his shoulder would have to be “perfect.”
It was not.
As he was throwing long toss in preparation for a bullpen session on Monday morning, Santos felt a “pinch” in the back of his shoulder after a throw.
He was immediately shut down by Mariners training staff, according to an update from general manager Justin Hollander.
“When he felt that, he alerted the training staff and the pitching coaches, he said, ‘I just felt something,’ and they immediately pulled the plug,” Hollander said. “It was very smart on his part. There’s obviously a balance. They’re professional athletes. They’re tough and they’re competitive. But saying something immediately probably saved him from a more substantial injury.”
An MRI revealed mild inflammation in the latissmus dorsi near the shoulder, but no significant tears or structural damage.
“We think it is not serious and with some anti-inflammatories, he will not be out very long,” Hollander said. “That being said, he will be down probably more in weeks than days and we will need to restart at that point. We obviously want to be careful because as you know with lat strains, if they go south, they go south for months. You will not see him out throwing bullpens in the immediate future and it also means he’s not going to be ready on opening day.”
Santos and right-hander Matt Brash, another important late-inning reliever, will both start the season on the 15-day injured list. Brash is working his way back from elbow inflammation and is in the early stages of his throwing program. He was playing catch out to 90 feet. Right-hander Jackson Kowar, who was expected to fill a middle innings role, will have Tommy John surgery on Friday and is out for the season.
Santos suffered a severe lat strain in 2019 while pitching in the Giants minor league system. He made just eight appearances that season.
“This is nowhere near that,” Hollander said. “That said, we don’t want to push it.”
Since Servais didn’t anticipate Santos being ready by opening day, he was anticipating to have fill his and Brash’s spot along with possibly one more opening in the bullpen.
The recent signing of right-handed reliever Ryne Stanek, who is experienced in pitching late-inning situations, becomes more prescient.
As of Tuesday, the relievers locked into spot in the opening day bulllpen are Stanek, Andres Munoz, Trent Thornton, Austin Voth along with lefites Gabe Speier and Tayler Saucedo.
“I would say there are a couple of spots open,” Servais said.