Brandon Maurer is no more, and Erasmo Ramirez might not be more for much longer. With Taijuan Walker's rehab start pushed to today to coincide with Ramirez's schedule, Walker is now in line to take over Ramirez's spot in the rotation when he's ready. It probably won't be next Monday, as Walker still needs to gain strength, let alone effectiveness.
Meanwhile, it's back to Erasmo, who has to be better than what the Mariners were getting from Brandon Maurer. Ramirez has been decent in AAA, putting together his best start last week, allowing 2 runs from 5 hits over 6.0 innings. If Ramirez can piece together a respectable showing today, the Mariners will take it with Hisashi Iwakuma pitching tomorrow. But he'll have to do it with John Buck behind the plate. Better to have a control artist on the mound with Buck's framing than a guy who otherwise needs some help, I suppose.
Today is the first of a two game set with Atlanta, currently leading the NL East.
Game info:
- Mariners at Barves, 4:10 PST
- TV: ROOT, MLB.tv
- Radio: 710 ESPN
- Kyle Seager has been bumped to cleanup, finally jumping Justin Smoak.