After an epic 15-inning win over the Tigers in Game Five of the ALDS, the Mariners are advancing to their first AL Championship Series since 2001. The club’s hard-worked pitching staff will likely be getting some major reinforcements, as M’s president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto told reporters (including the Seattle Times’ Adam Jude) that right-hander Bryan Woo is expected to added to the Mariners’ roster for the next round.
Woo probably won’t pitch until closer to the midpoint of the series, Dipoto said. This means Woo is being lined up for a start when the ALCS shifts to Seattle for Games 3-4 and (if necessary) 5. It also leaves open the question of who exactly will be starting for the Mariners in the first two games in Toronto, as the M’s used starters Logan Gilbert and Luis Castillo out of the bullpen during last night’s 15-inning marathon. Gilbert threw 34 pitches over two innings of relief, and Castillo threw 15 pitches over 1 1/3 frames.
Dipoto told Shannon Drayer of Seattle Sports 710 radio last night that “probably Bryce [Miller] and friends” would be the plan for Game 1, “but for a couple of days we may have to be creative…simply because so many guys had to pitch in today.” Miller would be working on three days’ rest if he started Game 1, so as Dipoto implied, the bullpen may be leaned on again in what would probably be a limited start for the righty. Castillo is probably the favorite to go in Game 2 with Gilbert’s availability also a question, and in theory, this could line up Gilbert for Game 3, George Kirby in Game 4, and Woo in Game if the M’s chose to deploy their full rotation. This assumes that Woo will be used in a normal starting capacity, and holding him off until the middle of the series would give the right-hander more time to fully ramp up.
Woo posted a 2.94 ERA over 186 2/3 innings during the regular season, but he developed pectoral tightness in a start on September 19 that forced him out of the game after five shutout innings. Woo hasn’t pitched since, though he wasn’t placed on the 15-day injured list, and he was able to throw a bullpen session and a simulated inning prior to the start of the ALDS. Jude wrote prior to Game 5 that Woo threw close to 30 pitches during a bullpen session on Friday, and “appeared to be throwing at roughly 75 percent effort” before kicking things up “closer to 100 percent” for the final few pitches of the session.
Seattle and Toronto don’t have to reveal their ALCS rosters until tomorrow, so we’ll get the final word then on Woo’s involvement and whose spot he’ll be taking on the 26-man. The move to a seven-game series likely means the Mariners will carry an extra pitcher after using 14 position players and 12 pitchers in the ALDS, so a rookie like Ben Williamson or Harry Ford could be the odd man out.
