The Mariners’ starting rotation won’t be at full strength during the American League Division Series.
Seattle left Bryan Woo off their roster for the series against the Tigers as the right-hander deals with pectoral tightness, according to the Seattle Times.
The All-Star is arguably the ace in a Mariners rotation full of strong starters.
Woo went 15-7 with a 2.94 ERA and 198 strikeouts over 30 starts this season.
The team is “optimistic” that Woo could pitch in the ALCS after he threw a 15-pitch bullpen on Thursday at “80% to 90% intensity.”, per the Times.
“Obviously, you don’t want to take huge, huge jumps [with intensity]. You’ve got to be smart with it,” Woo said. “Hopefully we just keep progressing like we have been.”
Woo hasn’t pitched in a big league game since exiting a start early on Sept. 19.
“In terms of my job, it’s just control what I can control every day,” Woo said. “I’ll do my stuff from when I get to the field early and get everything done before the game starts. And then, I have all the faith in the world with all of our pitchers — starters, relievers, whoever it is — that they’re more than capable of doing the job like they have been all year. And especially come playoff time, everybody just seems to take a little bit of the next step up.”
With Woo sidelined, the Mariners will turn to Logan Gilbert in Game 1 of the series on Saturday night.
Three-time All-Star Luis Castillo will get the ball in Game 2.
The Mariners went 90-72 during the regular season en route to an AL West division title and first round bye.