Mariners Moose Tracks, 5/18/22: Mariners Injuries, Matt Harvey, and Steven Kwan

News from a Wednesday in baseball.

By Anders Jorstad@AndersJorstad May 18, 2022, 7:00am PDT

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Toronto Blue Jays v Cleveland Guardians

Good morning everybody! Let’s get on with the latest news from around baseball.

In Mariners news...

We’ve got some injury updates, most of it not good.

A few Mariners injury updates from Scott Servais:

• Ken Giles still hasn’t begun throwing off a mound
• Tom Murphy continues to swing in the cage and could return in Boston
• Kyle Lewis’ situation is still TBD as the end of his 20-day rehab assignment on Sunday nears
— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) May 17, 2022

Also RHP Matt Festa is getting close to starting a rehab assignment with Tacoma and Erik Swanson could be ready to go when his 15 day minimum is reached https://t.co/lrcDWH4kj9
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) May 17, 2022

Oh dear.

Tonight’s game between the Everett AquaSox and Hillsboro Hops has been postponed in adherence to Minor League Baseball’s health and safety protocols.

For more information go to https://t.co/f4VGggpBB2 pic.twitter.com/52efNr6FhC
— Everett AquaSox (@EverettAquaSox) May 18, 2022

Around the league...

Our very own Michael Ajeto wrote about the misconceptions around seam-shifted wake in his latest piece at Baseball Prospectus. ($)
Eno Sarris and Ken Rosenthal at The Athletic dove into the attendance problem in Oakland. ($)
Robot umps are slowly creeping towards the majors.

Today is the day the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) system officially gets implemented across the PCL, including right here in OKC.

Below is the reference sheet MLB has provided.

We salute our new robot overlords. pic.twitter.com/xpVR2MFyPM
— Alex Freedman (@azfreedman) May 17, 2022

Dang this is super cool.

New look in center field. #Phillies haven’t had a design in the grass before. pic.twitter.com/whY63AgIWi
— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) May 17, 2022

Justin Choi at Fangraphs examined how batted ball spin impacts batted ball distance.
Meanwhile, John Shea thinks the humidor is a culprit for the changes in batted ball distance this year.
It feels like it’s been a while since we had a PED suspension in the majors.

Brewers pitcher J.C. Mejía has received an 80-game suspension without pay after testing positive for Stanozolol, a performance-enhancing substance, in violation of Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. The suspension is effective immediately.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) May 17, 2022

And we have two for the price of one!

Matt Harvey is receiving a 60-game suspension for his violation of the joint drug program between MLB and the MLBPA.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) May 17, 2022

The reign of Dan Vogelbach continues.

Stand up TRIPLE for noted speed demon Dan Vogelbach ‍ pic.twitter.com/cZ3eZH0h95
— Diamond Digest (@Diamond_Digest) May 18, 2022

Oh, that’s a bad whiff by Brandon Marsh.

that's a single + E7, but i genuinely don't care. Speedster Eli White breaks open the dam with an inside-the-park ~whatever~ https://t.co/1p8WpPpynN pic.twitter.com/WMWsUS46W8
— kennedi landry (@kennlandry) May 18, 2022

It’s hard not to root for this guy.

.@CleGuardians OF Steven Kwan's (@skwanzaa) journey is a great lesson for anyone who has struggled with self-doubt.

Which is pretty much all of us.#MentalHealthAwarenessMonth pic.twitter.com/dlwHsAnJit
— MLB Players Media (@MLBPlayersMedia) May 17, 2022

Anders’ picks...

Ancient Greece was certainly a trip.

just had to be there pic.twitter.com/l7mfHZSvmE
— depths of wikipedia (@depthsofwiki) May 17, 2022