Mariners’ hope Marco Gonzales returns quickly from neck injury; Shawn Armstrong recalled from Triple-A

Mariners manager Scott Servais said their hope is that Marco Gonzales’ injury won’t keep him on the disabled list for more than the minimum 10 days, but this strain in his neck is something the left-hander has dealt with for at least the past few weeks.

Servais told reporters that Tuesday afternoon before the Mariners series opener against the Padres in San Diego and that Gonzales really started to feel what was listed as a cervical muscle strain in his neck during his most recent start last week at Safeco Field against the Houston Astros.

“He’s had tests and pictures taken of it. It’s nothing serious other than he can’t shake it,” Servais said. “We thought we would let him take time to let it calm down and we’ll get him back in the rotation. So his arms feels fine, no issues there at all. It’s the neck tightness and we don’t know if it’s a nerve issue or what it is.”

So in Gonzales’ place, Servais said they would start right-hander Erasmo Ramirez on Wednesday on normal four days rest thanks to Monday’s off day. But he wasn’t certain about when they’d activate James Paxton off the disabled list, only to say it will be sometime during the Thursday-Sunday four-game series in Oakland against the Athletics.

But it didn’t sound like Paxton would start Thursday’s series opener against the A’s.

“We’ll see how we come back with (Wade) LeBlanc and we’ll see Mike Leake and see where Pax goes from there.”

Armstrong recalled

The Mariners acquired right-handed reliever Shawn Armstrong from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for international slot dollars this past offseason thinking he was just overshadowed in a deep Indians bullpen.

On Tuesday they recalled the 27-year-old Armstrong from Triple-A Tacoma for his first stint in the big leagues this season, and they optioned right-hander Nick Rumbelow to Double-A Arkansas.

Armstrong struggled in spring because his velocity had decreased but he’s dominated for the Rainiers. He has a 1.77 ERA in 56 innings pitched with 82 strikeouts. His strikeout-throwing capabilities are what attracted general manager Jerry Dipoto to Armstrong in the first place.

And since June 14, Armstrong allowed just two earned runs over 27 1/3 innings (0.66 ERA). That was the best mark among Pacific Coast League relievers with at least 20 appearances in that span.

“He was on a preliminary list of guys we wanted to take a look at in September,” Servais said. “He’s had a good season and all the reports are he’s thrown the ball really well. We’ve leaned heavily on Nick Vincent and Adam Warren and we can put him in that mix now.

“He just didn’t have a great spring. The stuff was down, the velo was down and he didn’t have a good feel for the curveball. It was disappointing and he was disappointed in how his spring went. So we’ll see.”

On tap

The Mariners finish interleague play with Ramirez (1-2, 4.56 ERA) starting against Padres left-hander Joey Lucchesi (6-7, 3.74) at 12:40 p.m. Wednesday at Petco Park in San Diego. The game will broadcast on Root Sports and 710-AM radio.

This story was originally published August 28, 2018 at 7:08 PM with the headline "Mariners’ hope Marco Gonzales returns quickly from neck injury; Shawn Armstrong recalled from Triple-A."