Day after exit, Brennan feeling 'zero pain'

August 14th, 2019

DETROIT -- After being removed from Tuesday’s 11-6 win over the Tigers at Comerica Park after throwing just two pitches, Mariners reliever said his right shoulder was just dealing with some fatigue issues after coming off the 10-day injured list recently.

The Rule 5 Draft rookie threw about 30 warmup throws -- twice as many as usual -- in the bullpen prior to coming into the game due to the long top of the sixth when the Mariners scored six runs. Combined with a pregame workout, Brennan said he simply overdid things too soon after returning from a seven-week stint on the IL last week.

Brennan played some light catch prior to Wednesday’s game against the Tigers and said he felt good, but was waiting to see if the Mariners want to let him keep pitching after a brief rest or put him back on the IL so they can add another reliever.

“There’s zero pain and I passed all the strength tests,” Brennan said. “As the season goes on, it’s more of a fatigue factor in your arm. I was maybe a little more tired than normal arm-wise, so it was kind of dragging. But today I played catch and the ball came out really good. It’s really out of my hands and up to them what they want to do.”

Manager Scott Servais was waiting for the trainers’ report, but his first inclination was Brennan should be OK with some brief downtime.

Brennan said the last time the Mariners had a lengthy inning while he was warming up was in Minnesota earlier this season, where he sat down after making his normal 14 throws, then felt sore when he went to the mound and tried to fire things back up.

So this time Brennan watched the inning unfold and tried to stay as loose as possible, but the Mariners kept hitting through a 35-minute frame and he said he got up and down three different times, needing to stay warm in case there was an inning-ending double play.

“It was more than I’ve thrown besides in a game situation,” Brennan said. “I was trying to stay as loose as I could, to the point where when I got out there, everything was not the same and they noticed it right away.”

Brennan shook his arm after firing a 95-mph fastball that sailed inside on Dawel Lugo, and that brought Servais and trainer Rob Nodine to the mound, where the conversation was brief before they took Brennan out.

“I didn’t want to come out, that’s just the competitive side of you,” Brennan said. “I totally understood it was the right decision at the time. I’m coming off the IL for a reason and want to be out there as much as I can. But I also want to help this team win games and the last thing I needed was to be out there when we had a win and I’m feeling crappy. The decision is out of my hands now. It’ll be up to them.”

Worth noting

• When Kyle Seager and Tom Murphy homered back-to-back twice in Tuesday’s win, they became the third duo in Mariners history to pull that off. Bret Boone and Mike Cameron did it twice in the same inning in 2002 at the White Sox, and Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez did it in the same game in 1996 vs. Toronto at the Kingdome.

• Seager’s three-homer game was the first of his career, while his brother, Corey, has done it twice for the Dodgers. They’re just the second pair of brothers to have three-homer games in MLB history, joining Aaron and Bret Boone.

• Mitch Haniger went 1-for-4 with an RBI double in his first rehab game for Class A Advanced Modesto on Tuesday as he returns from surgery for a ruptured testicle. Servais said the 2018 All-Star right fielder felt fine and was scheduled to play in the outfield for the first time on Wednesday.

• Outfielder Braden Bishop, returning from a lacerated spleen, was slated for his first rehab start on Wednesday at designated hitter for Modesto.

• Reliever Dan Altavilla (strained right forearm) is being transferred to Triple-A Tacoma after pitching a perfect inning for Class A Short Season Everett on Sunday.

• Reliever Austin Adams (strained right shoulder) threw a bullpen session on Tuesday in Seattle that was limited to fastballs. He’ll now add in some breaking pitches in his next session off the mound later this week.