Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto announced the following roster moves Friday:
·         Chasen Bradford, RHP, recalled from AAA Tacoma.
·         Juan Nicasio, RHP, placed on 10-day DL with right knee inflammation.
Bradford will be in uniform (#60) and available for Friday's game versus Toronto.
Bradford, 28 (turns 29 on Aug. 5), was optioned to AAA Tacoma postgame on July 31, but has not pitched for the Rainiers since. He's made 34 relief appearances with the Mariners this season, going 5-0 with a 2.70 ERA (12 ER, 40.0 IP) with 31 strikeouts and 8 walks. His 40.0 innings pitched are 3rd-most among Mariners relievers (Edwin Díaz, 53.0, and Juan Nicasio, 42.0). Among American League relievers, Bradford's 2.70 ERA ranks 17th. The 6-foot-1, 230-pound right-hander has issued only 1.80 walks-per-9.0-innings (8 BB, 40.0 IP), tied for 11th-fewest among AL relievers. In 9 outings of at least 1.1 innings pitched, he is 3-0 with a 1.93 ERA (4 ER, 18.2 IP) with 11 strikeouts and 4 walks. He began the season with AAA Tacoma, where he made 1 relief appearance, before being recalled by the Mariners on April 9.
Bradford was claimed off waivers by Seattle from New York-NL on Jan. 19, 2018. He made his Major League debut with the Mets last season, going 2-0 with a 3.74 ERA (14 ER, 33.2 IP) with 27 strikeouts in 28 relief appearances. With AAA Las Vegas, he was 1-1 with 11 saves and a 4.04 ERA (16 ER, 35.2 IP) with 28 strikeouts in 33 relief appearances. In parts of 2 Major League seasons with the Mets (2017) and Mariners (2018-c), he is 7-0 with a 3.18 ERA (26 ER, 73.2 IP) with 58 strikeouts and 21 walks. The native of Las Vegas, NV, was originally selected by the Mets in the 35th round of the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Central Florida.
Nicasio, 31 (turns 32 on Aug. 31), has appeared in 46 games with the Mariners this season. He has 19 holds (4th-most in the AL) and ranks 1st among AL relievers with a 10.60 strikeout to walk ratio (53 K / 4 BB). Overall, he is 1-6 with a 6.00 ERA (28 ER, 42.0 IP). He allowed half (14) of his earned runs in just 4 appearances this season (1.1 IP); in his other 42 games he's posted a 3.10 ERA (14 ER, 40.2 IP). He was previously on the DL this season June 8 (retroactive to June 7)-June 18 with right knee effusion. He pitched 0.2 innings last night, allowing 2 hits (including a home run) and 2 runs versus Toronto.
In 2017, Nicasio tied for the NL 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. Juan has a career mark of 38-43 with 8 saves and a 4.64 ERA (346 ER, 671.2 IP) in 315 career games (82 starts).