Mariners cautious with Marco Gonzales. Will skip his next start, add Felix Hernandez back to rotation

With left-hander James Paxton on the 10-day disabled list after taking a 96-mph comebacker off his left forearm in Oakland, Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais confirmed a few changes.

First off, right-hander Felix Hernandez is returning to the starting rotation and will start Monday in the series opener against the Houston Astros.

But Servais also said they’ll skip left-hander Marco Gonzales’ next turn in the rotation, which was scheduled for Sunday in the series finale against the Dodgers. He’ll pitch Wednesday against the Astros, instead.

Servais didn’t say who would start in Gonzales’ place on Sunday, but general manager Jerry Dipoto later said during the game broadcast on Root Sports that they’ll likely start left-hander Roenis Elias and activate him off of the disabled list. They also have right-hander Christian Bergman still on the 25-man from Triple-A Tacoma.

The Mariners indicated they might do this with Gonzales all along. He’s already pitched a career-high 142 2/3 innings and is two years removed from Tommy John surgery. His previous career high for innings pitched in a season was 126 1/3 last year between the Mariners, Cardinals and minor leagues.

Dipoto had said they would really focus on Gonzales’ innings once he got between 150-160 innings.

But his past five starts, Gonzales is 2-3 with a 5.83 ERA. In the 11 starts before that he was 7-2 with a 2.35 ERA.

Did he think he needed this break?

“No,” he said.

But it does give the Mariners a chance to give him an extended break, especially with two off days between when he’d likely make another start after Wednesday.

“I feel like I’ve been able to stay pretty consistent with my workload,” Gonzales said. “And, as you guys know, I try to stay diligent and I think I feel better than I even anticipated at this point of the year. So I’ve surprised myself. But if this gives me a chance to take a couple of days off my feet and come back for a stronger start, then I’m all for it.”

He said his past two starts (allowing 11 runs in 10 innings) had less to do with physical fatigue and more about rhythm.

“Lack of fastball command has been my downfall,” he said. “Like I told (pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr.) and Skip, there were a couple starts I was a couple at-bats away from being pretty decent starts.”

But he didn’t complain about missing the start, either.

“I think it’s in all of our best interests,” Gonzales said. “I’m not upset. I’m not mad about it. If it gives me a chance to have fresh legs and a fresh arm then I’m all for it.

“The main objective behind it is to have a strong finish and not be where I’m crawling across the finish line at the end of the year. So in that aspect and that lens I’m taking it as a positive and obviously I’m a competitor. So I take it as a challenge to go out there and have a strong start on Wednesday.”

On tap

Right-hander Erasmo Ramirez (0-2, 6.75 ERA) will make his second start off of the disabled list in the 7:10 p.m. Saturday game at Safeco Field against the Los Angeles Dodgers, who will start left-hander Rich Hill (5-4, 3.57 ERA). It will broadcast on Root Sports, and 770-AM and 570-AM radio.

This story was originally published August 17, 2018 at 6:18 PM.