Mariners catcher Tom Murphy to start season on IL
Seattle Mariners catcher Tom Murphy will open the season on the injured list, general manager Jerry Dipoto announced Wednesday night during a live broadcast of the club’s final intrasquad game at T-Mobile Park.
The Mariners later said Murphy has a fractured metatarsal bone in his left foot. He will officially be placed on the 10-day IL on Thursday.
Murphy, 29, was the club’s projected Opening Day catcher after appearing in 67 games behind the plate for the Mariners last season.
“It is a blow and I feel really bad for Murph,” manager Scott Servais said on a video call with reporters following Wednesday’s game. “This guy, he works as hard as anybody that we have and he comes to the ballpark with a great attitude every day. Things happen. Unfortunately it just wasn’t responding to the treatment.”
Within the span of a few days earlier this month in summer camp, Murphy took two foul balls off the same area of his left foot. The injury was initially thought to be a minor contusion.
“He was trying to play through it, it just wasn’t getting any better,” Servais said earlier in the day.
Murphy has the most major league experience of any of the five catchers in Seattle’s 60-man player pool, appearing in parts of five big league seasons with the Rockies and Mariners, and hit .273/.324/.535 with 12 doubles, 18 homers and 40 RBI in his first season with Seattle in 2019.
“I’m hoping he’s not down too long, but I also don’t want him to rush back,” Servais said. “I want him to be 100% when he gets back.
“But, that’s baseball. It throws you a bunch of curves. We’ve got to adjust. Austin Nola will get plenty of time back there, as will Joe Hudson.”
With Murphy out, Nola, who was set to split time behind the plate with Murphy this season, will now take on the staring role and is expected to be the Mariners’ Opening Day catcher Friday in Houston.
He will carry the bulk of the catching duties, but the Mariners will also likely elevate Joe Hudson, who was a late arrival to camp but the only other catcher in the pool with big league experience, to the backup role. He will need to be added to the 40-man roster.
Brian O’Keefe and top catching prospect Cal Raleigh are Seattle’s other two options, but neither has played a game above Double-A. The club could also look outside the organization for additional depth.
SHEFFIELD SHARP
Mariners starter Justus Sheffield was perfect through four innings in his final intrasquad start Tuesday night.
He struck out eight of the 12 batters he faced, including the first four batters he faced to open the game. He also recorded consecutive strikeouts to end his outing.
“I knew this was the last one, so I tried to turn it up a little bit,” he said on a video call with reporters following his start.
“I was doing some different stuff today, too. I was going left-on-left changeups, got some swing-and-miss with that. I felt like my slider was really good today, and my fastball. I could see the movement, especially getting righties off the plate, trying to go in. Really wanted to work on front-hipping guys today, and I saw that, so pretty excited about that.”
Sheffield will be named to an Opening Day roster for the first time in his career Thursday. He is scheduled to make his first start of the season in Anaheim next week.
“It means the world,” he said. “Coming up in the minor leagues, that’s what your goal is, to make the big league club, break camp. It just means everything. A lot of hard work going into it and finally starting to show.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity and definitely going to take advantage of it and make the most of it.”
MARINERS ‘SLOW PLAYING’ ADAMS
The Mariners will be cautious with the return of reliever Austin Adams, who had ACL surgery last fall.
Adams was a full participant entering summer camp, but Servais said Wednesday his ramp up may have been too quick.
“Great job coming back as quick as he did from that knee injury, but we’re slow playing him a little bit,” Servais said. “Making sure he’s 100%, he’s got his legs underneath him and he’s ready to go.
“It could be a situation maybe he doesn’t start on the 30-man right away.”
Adams has been listed on the 60-day IL since February. He appeared in two intrasquad games this month, tossing 2 1/3 scoreless innings with one walk and four strikeouts.
SHORT HOPS
The Pilots won the final intrasquad game, 5-2, but the Steelheads won the overall series, 7-3-2. … Justin Dunn started opposite Sheffield and pitched 2 2/3 innings allowing three runs on eight hits with one walk and two strikeouts. He gave up a solo home run to Shed Long to lead off the bottom of the first. … Designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach finished 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles. … Relievers Nestor Cortes Jr., Zac Grotz, Erik Swanson, Nick Margevicius, Brandon Brennan, Carl Edwards Jr. and Anthony Misiewicz all appeared. … Rookie outfielder Kyle Lewis led Mariners summer camp in hits, finishing 10-for-23 with a double, four homers and eight RBI. … Rookie first baseman Evan White wasn’t far behind, finishing 9-for-29 with four doubles, two homers and four RBI. … Sheffield and Kendall Graveman finished tied among starting pitchers with a team-leading 13 strikeouts in camp. Taylor Guilbeau led all relievers with 10.
ON TAP
The Mariners will announce their 30-man roster Thursday ahead of their trip to Houston. They open the season Friday night against the Astros with Marco Gonzales set to oppose Justin Verlander. The season opener begins at 6:10 p.m. and will be broadcast on ROOT Sports and 710 ESPN Seattle radio.
This story was originally published July 22, 2020 at 9:18 PM.
