PEORIA, Ariz. -- Southpaw Drew Smyly, who is expected to open the season as Seattle's No. 4 starter, has been scratched from his final Cactus League start on Friday, and his status now is in question for the opening series in Houston.
Mariners manager Scott Servais said Smyly "didn't feel great" coming out of his bullpen session Tuesday, and the lefty was having what he described as a "soggy" arm as camp comes to a close.
Smyly had a strong start for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic against Venezuela on March 15, but he was hit hard in a Minor League game on March 21, then gave up three home runs in his final Cactus League start during a four-inning stint against the Reds on Sunday.

The 27-year-old was checked out by doctors on Wednesday, but Servais had no new information after the Mariners' 3-3 Cactus League tie with the Dodgers.
"At this time of spring you're always a little concerned," Servais said. "We're getting close to Opening Day. But I don't want to rush to any judgments. We'll just wait and see what the docs say and go from there. I don't have any timeline. The doc will take a look and fill me in."
Smyly was acquired from the Rays in January to bolster the Mariners' rotation, and he pitched extremely well early in camp. He went 7-12 with a 4.88 ERA last year for the Rays while making a career-high 30 starts and throwing 175 1/3 innings.
Smyly was tentatively slated to pitch against the Astros on Thursday, April 6, in the final game of the season-opening series. If he's unable to go, the obvious replacement would be fellow lefty Ariel Miranda, who was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma last week.

The other possibility would be Dillon Overton, a lefty acquired from the A's who is still in camp and has pitched very well in his past two starts.
"We have some depth," Servais said. "But I don't want to go there. I'm not going there. You can ask all you want, I don't know. I'm just waiting to see what I hear and how this plays out."