Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto announced today the following roster moves:
·         Chase De Jong, RHP, recalled from AAA Tacoma.
·         Casey Lawrence, RHP, optioned to AAA Tacoma (post-game June 13).
De Jong (#35) will be in uniform and available for tonight's (5:10 p.m. PT) game vs. the Minnesota Twins at Target Field.
De Jong (dee-yong), 23, is in his 4th stint with Seattle this season. In his first three stints, he was 0-3 with a 7.40 ERA (20 ER, 24.1 IP) with 11 strikeouts in 6 games including 4 starts. He made his Major League debut on April 5 at Houston, and made his first start on April 30 at Cleveland. With AAA Tacoma, was 2-3 with a 4.32 ERA (16 ER, 33.1 IP) with 34 strikeouts in 6 starts this season. De Jong was acquired by the Mariners from the Dodgers in exchange for INF Drew Jackson and RHP Aneurys Zabala on March 1. In 2016, he combined to go 15-5 with a 2.82 ERA (46 ER, 147.0 IP) with 133 strikeouts and 40 walks in 26 starts with AA Tulsa and AAA Oklahoma City in the Dodgers minor league system. Following the season, he was named Texas League Pitcher of the Year and a Baseball America Double-A All-Star. Over parts of 6 minor league seasons with the Blue Jays (2012-15), Dodgers (2015-16) and Mariners (2017), he is 32-24 with a 3.49 ERA (187 ER, 481.2 IP) with 450 strikeouts and 116 walks in 99 career games (87 starts). The native of Long Beach, CA, was originally selected by Toronto in the 2nd round of the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Wilson High School (Long Beach, CA). He was acquired by the Dodgers from the Blue Jays on July 2, 2015.
Lawrence, 29, pitched 3.2 innings (63 pitches) last night in Minnesota. Prior to his outing yesterday, he had a 3.29 ERA (5 ER, 13.2 IP) with 16 strikeouts and 3 walks in his first 5 relief appearances with the Mariners this season. The 6-foot, 175-pound right-hander struck out 9 over 5.0 innings in relief on June 1 vs. Colorado, setting the single-game club record for strikeouts by a reliever. He is 0-0 with a 9.00 ERA (5 ER, 5.0 IP) with 5 strikeouts and 1 walk in 3 outings with Tacoma. Prior to being designated for assignment on May 8, he went 0-3 with an 8.78 ERA (13 ER, 13.1 IP) with 7 strikeouts and 11 walks in 4 games (2 starts) with Toronto. He was selected by the Blue Jays from AAA Buffalo on April 8 and made his Major League debut in relief later that day at Tampa Bay. With AAA Buffalo, he was 1-0 with a 0.90 ERA (1 ER, 10.0 IP) with 7 strikeouts in 3 starts. The native of McSherrytown, PA, was originally signed as an amateur free agent on June 15, 2010 after 4 seasons at Albright College (Reading, PA). Over parts of 8 minor league seasons with Toronto (2010-17) and Seattle (2017), he is 64-60 with a 3.82 ERA (416 ER, 979.0 IP) with 641 strikeouts and 182 walks in 175 career games (161 starts).