Marco Gonzales hits the 10-day IL with forearm strain, Domingo Tapia activated, spirits deactivated

The Mariners six-man rotation depth has taken its third blow this April, with staff ace LHP Marco Gonzales hitting the 10-day IL, retroactive to April 28th, with the always ominous left forearm strain. The club has promoted RHP Domingo Tapia to bolster the bullpen in the short term. There are longer term concerns as well, however.

Gonzales reportedly is feeling better already after his MRI Wednesday, but will miss at least a couple turns even if he only misses the minimum time. This injury, on the heels of the club placing Nick Margevicius on the 10-day IL and losing James Paxton to Tommy John surgery right out of the gate, has put Seattle’s depth in a dire state. While the Mariners have numerous relievers on their 40-man roster, they are down to Robert Dugger (currently in the bullpen) in terms of players on their 40-man roster not already in the rotation who are remotely stretched out to starting form, and at the alternate site only RHP Jimmy Yacabonis has been a starter in the past year and a half. In the short term, it’s hard to see how the club sustains a six-player rotation at least in the short term unless they feel Logan Gilbert, who threw 74 pitches in his most recent spring training start, is ready for promotion.

Tapia got a brief scouting report here when he was claimed off waivers from the Red Sox and an esoteric breakdown here in his 40 in 40, but the ultra-skinny is this: he throws 100 mph! And he’s got a slider. They’re the pieces of a great pitcher, but he hasn’t been particularly sharp thus far in the bigs. Seattle seemed to be making some tweaks in spring training before he suffered a mild oblique injury. Hopefully he can arrive fresh and sharp.