Mariners activate RHP Juan Ncasio and C Chris Herrmann from the 10-day DL

Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto announced today the following roster moves.

June 18th, 2018

Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto announced today the following roster moves:
 
·   Juan Nicasio, RHP, activated from the 10-day disabled list.
· Chris Herrmann, C, returned from rehab assignment at AAA Tacoma and activated from the 10-day disabled list.
· Rob Whalen, RHP, optioned to AAA Tacoma (post-game 6/17).
· David Freitas, C, optioned to AAA Tacoma (post-game 6/17).
 
Nicasio (#12) and Herrmann (#26) will be in uniform and available for tomorrow's (7:05 pm ET / 4:05 pm PT) game at the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
 
Nicasio, 31, was originally placed on the 10-day disabled list on June 8 (retro to 6/7) with right knee effusion. He is 1-3 with 14 holds and a 5.34 ERA (17 ER, 28.2 IP) with 37 strikeouts and 2 walks in 30 relief appearances with the Mariners this season. At the time of his placement on the DL, Nicasio was tied for the American League lead in holds, while ranking 4th among Major League relievers with an 18.50 strikeout-to-walk ratio (37 K, 2 BB). Prior to allowing 4 earned runs without retiring a batter June 6 at Houston, he had not allowed a run in his previous 8 games (May 18-June 5). In those 8 games, he tossed 9.0 innings, while allowing just 3 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks and 16 strikeouts (29 batters faced). Seattle is 25-5 when he appears in a game this season.
 
In 2017, Nicasio tied for the National League lead with a career-high 76 appearances and was T9th in NL in holds (21), 12th among relievers in WHIP (1.08) and 14th in ERA (2.61). He has appeared in parts of 8 Major League seasons with Colorado (2011-14), Los Angeles-NL (2015), Pittsburgh (2016-17), Philadelphia (2017), St. Louis (2017) and Seattle (2018) after originally signing with Colorado as a non-drafted free agent on Aug. 21, 2006. He has a career mark of 38-40 with 7 saves and a 4.58 ERA (335 ER, 658.1 IP) in 299 career games (82 starts).
 
Herrmann, 30, was originally placed on the 10-day disabled list on May 30 (retro to 5/28) with a strained right oblique. He began a rehab assignment with AAA Tacoma on June 14, where he went 2-for-12 (.167) with 2 runs, 1 double, 2 RBI and 2 walks. The 6-foot, 200-pound catcher has appeared in 1 game with Seattle this season. He was recalled from AAA Tacoma on May 27 and started that day's game, collecting 1 hit in 4 at-bats. Prior to being recalled by the Mariners, he hit .266 (33x124) with 24 runs scored, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 6 home runs, 22 RBI and 34 walks in 37 games with the Rainiers. At the time of his recall, Herrmann ranked 2nd in the PCL and T8th in all of MiLB with 34 walks. Among all qualifying catcher in the PCL at the time of his recall, he ranked 4th, throwing out 35.0% of attempted base runners (7 CS, 13 SB). Herrmann signed as a Minor League Free Agent with Seattle on April 5, 2018 after being designated for assignment by the Arizona Diamondbacks on March 25 and released on March 28.
 
Herrmann is a 6-year Major League veteran with the Minnesota Twins (2012-15), Arizona Diamondbacks (2016-17) and Seattle (2018). He was originally selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 10th round of the 2008 MLB First-Year Player Drafter out of Alvin Community (TX) College. He appeared in 7 games with the Twins in 2012, including making his Major League debut on Sept. 16 vs. the White Sox (0x1). In parts of 6 Major League seasons, he is batting .202 (148x731) with 93 runs scored, 27 doubles, 5 triples, 22 home runs, 88 RBI and 75 stolen bases in 305 career games.
 
Whalen, 24, made 1 relief appearance with the Mariners after being recalled from AAA Tacoma on June 14. He worked 4.0 scoreless innings in the Mariners 7-6 comeback win on June 15 vs. Boston, retiring 12 of the 14 batters he faced (1 H, 1 BB). Prior to his recall, he was 7-3 with a 4.50 ERA (36 ER, 72.0 IP) with 62 strikeouts and 25 walks in 13 starts with AAA Tacoma.
 
Whalen was acquired by the Mariners from Atlanta along with Max Povse (rhp) in exchange for Alex Jackson (of) and Tyler Pike (lhp) on Nov. 28, 2016. He made his Major League debut with the Braves in 2016, going 1-2 with a 6.57 ERA (18 ER, 24.2 IP) with 25 strikeouts and 12 walks in 5 starts. In parts of 3 Major League seasons with the Braves (2016) and Mariners (2017-c), he is 1-3 with a 5.75 ERA (23 ER, 36.0 IP) with 27 strikeouts and 15 walks in 8 games (6 starts). The native of Stroudsburg, PA, was originally selected by the New York Mets in the 12th round of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft out of Haines City High School (Haines City, FL.).
 
Freitas, 29, went 3-for-14 with 2 runs and 1 RBI in 4 games with the Mariners after being recalled from AAA Tacoma on May 30. He has appeared in 2 stints with Seattle this season: March 30 -- May 27 and May 30 -- June 18. Overall, he is batting .217 (13x60) with 7 runs, 4 doubles, 3 RBI and 7 walks in 23 games with the Mariners this season. The 6-foot-2, 240-pound catcher hit .286 (8x28) with 4 doubles and 1 RBI in his first 11 games this season, but was limited to a .111 (2x18) mark with 1 RBI in 8 games from April 22-May 24. He was optioned to AAA Tacoma on Sunday (May 27) and appeared in two games with the Rainiers.
 
Freitas was claimed off waivers by Seattle from Atlanta on October 27, 2017. In parts of 2 Major League seasons with the Braves (2017) and Mariners (2018), he is batting .221 (17x77) with 9 runs, 6 doubles, 5 RBI and 7 walks in 29 games. He was originally selected by Washington in the 15th round of the 2010 MLB Draft out of the University of Hawaii-Manoa.