Hisashi Iwakuma pitches to Ichiro ... and he’s still hoping to play for Mariners this season
Remember Hisashi Iwakuma? The 31-year-old from Japan who threw a no-hitter just over three seasons ago and was third in the American League Cy Young voting in 2013?
He was on Safeco Field’s mound again on Tuesday afternoon, pitching to Ichiro.
Iwakuma has endured so many progression and setbacks this season that it’s hard to keep track anymore after he underwent offseason arthroscopic debridement surgery on his right throwing shoulder and missed all but six starts last season dealing with it. But Tuesday he threw 20 pitches of live batting practice after a bullpen session in front of Mariners’ pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. and insisted he hasn’t mailed in a chance to pitch in a game sometime this year.
“I’m still looking forward to coming back as soon as I can,” Iwakuma said through translator Antony Suzuki. “I’m not thinking of the future now, it’s more about what I can get out of where I’m at right now. I’m not even thinking about next year – I’m thinking about how I can recover and come back soon.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hisashi Iwakuma just finished a live BP session at Safeco Field with Ichiro batting. Pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre talking to him now. <a href="https://t.co/XFayVQ2BAG">pic.twitter.com/XFayVQ2BAG</a></p>— TJ Cotterill (@TJCotterill) <a href="https://twitter.com/TJCotterill/status/1032027160075153408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 21, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
It’s not like the Mariners couldn’t use some help in their starting rotation about now. Mike Leake was scratched from his Tuesday start with an illness, James Paxton is on the disabled list, the Mariners skipped Marco Gonzales’ start, Wade LeBlanc is coming off maybe his worst start of the season and Felix Hernandez was moved to the bullpen for a while.
The Mariners were adamant in spring training that they believed Iwakuma could be their “secret weapon” by about June, and Mariners manager Scott Servais knows Iwakuma’s doctor who performed the shoulder surgery, and every indication he received is that Iwakuma could pitch this year.
He’s been close to rehab assignments before, but had to be shut down. This, though, he said is the best he’s felt in a while.
“I feel like I’m making bigger steps now,” Iwakuma said. “It’s been a stage of trials and errors, going up and down. Two steps forward, five steps backward.
“But now I feel like I’m recovering and bouncing back better, which is a good sign for myself because I haven’t shown that in the past. That said, I feel a lot more comfortable now.”
He’s frequently seen throwing long toss on flat ground before the Mariners take the field for batting practice. But this sight on Tuesday, him throwing off the mound, Stottlemyre observing intently and Ichiro stepping into the batter’s box to take a few hacks was much different.
“I’m starting to feel more hope and a light in the tunnel,” he said. “I think it shows from just looking at my body. It’s bouncing back and as long as it bounces back I know that my stuff is still there. I just need to turn it up a few more notches and hopefully I’ll be ready to go.”
As has been the past two seasons, even with Iwakuma signing a minor league deal this past offseason, the Mariners continue to wait and see.