Mariners Moose Tracks, 7/27/20: Justin Verlander, Shohei Ohtani, and oh dear the Marlins

The Mariners had as much of an instant classic as a rebuilding team can have Sunday, with a brilliant comeback and some fascinating moments throughout. The recap is here, from the boss herself, and Seattle will finish their opening series tonight. Around the league there was no shortage of mayhem, including a number of high-profile injury issues, the first major outbreak of COVID-19 during the season, and some good old-fashioned nonsense baseball.

In Mariners news:

• The Mariners will want to shine their shoes and grab their snazziest face coverings, as they’ll be on ESPN’s national broadcast for Wednesday night’s 7 PM PT matchup against the Angels. It should line up to be the first start of the season for Justin Dunn.
• Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times spoke with new Mariner Bryan Shaw about ending up in Seattle, two years after the M’s were outbid by the Rockies for their top bullpen upgrade, leading them to Juan Nicasio at the time.
• Mariners longtime (with a brief interruption) farmhand Anthony Misiewicz made his MLB debut this week, and the Mariners got his family on the horn to help share the moment with him.

• Former Mariners reliever Ryne Harper is having a nice little start in D.C.

Around the League:

• Astros ace Justin Verlander will be sidelined with an elbow injury. While initial reports claimed he’d miss the entire season, the Astros and Verlander himself pushed back on that timeframe, saying he’ll be reevaluated in a few weeks.
• Angels wunderkind Shohei Ohtani returned to the mound in a game for the first time in over a year, but failed to escape the first inning, with shaky command and diminished velocity. The club dismissed injury concerns, and said Ohtani should be good to go as a DH this week and start next weekend on the mound.
• Blue Jays closer Ken Giles was pulled early with an elbow issue Sunday, and will receive an MRI.
• Cy Young winner Corey Kluber also left his outing early, with a diagnosis of shoulder tightness.
• The 2020 season is unique in many ways, right down to a pack of standings through a few days that has no clear standouts.

• The Marlins had an outbreak of COVID-19, leading disease experts to have grave concerns about how quickly MLB’s framework for keeping their game going safely seems to be failing.

• Relatedly, with at least four players testing positive in quick succession, the Marlins travel plans are in flux.
• White Sox outfielder Eloy Jimenez was pulled early after colliding with an outfield wall in the club’s loss to the Twins. Encouragingly, Jimenez initially remained in the game, so the move may have been more precautionary in a blowout than indicative of something greivous.
• The South Siders also lost a pitcher during their drubbing, as Reynaldo Lopez exited with shoulder tightness of his own.
• Rays 1B/DH Ji-Man Choi decided, like so many of us during quarantine, to try something new.

• Dodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw worked a 15 pitch bullpen, and will continue building stamina to return from a back issue that’s held him out thus far.
• 40 year old Nelson Cruz has started off his season rip-roaring hot.

• The Yankees once again optioned longtime top prospect OF Clint Frazier over the weekend, with an abundance of riches to choose from.
• The Brewers DFA’d onetime Mariners reliever MIke Morin.
• Reading between the lines, it appears Reds infielder Mike Moustakas has tested positive for COVID-19, as he’s been placed on the IL for “not feeling well”.
• Longtime AL West foe Kole Calhoun moved on to the NL this winter, and had a rough engagement with a wall, though his Diamondbacks still edged the Padres.