TORONTO -- Félix Hernández's road back to the Majors is headed now to Tacoma, as the veteran right-hander is tentatively slated to start Monday for the Triple-A Rainiers in what potentially could be his final rehab outing before rejoining the Mariners, if all goes well.

Tacoma hosts Salt Lake at 7:05 p.m. PT at Cheney Stadium in the fourth game of an 11-game homestand.

Hernandez has been sidelined the past three months with right shoulder issues, but he threw four scoreless innings with just one hit and eight strikeouts against 13 batters faced on Wednesday for Short Season Class-A Everett, and he now needs to continue ramping up his return against more advanced hitters.

The 33-year-old is in the final year of a contract paying him $27.858 million this season and he wants to get back to the Majors for the opportunity to show that he’s capable of continuing his career next season and for the chance to perform in front of Seattle fans again before his deal expires.

Hernandez went 1-4 with a 6.52 ERA in eight starts to open the season before landing on the injured list. He acknowledges that he’s “got a lot of miles” on his arm after 15 seasons in the Majors -- all with the Mariners -- but he’d like to continue pitching. Mariners manager Scott Servais said that the reports from Hernandez's last outing with Everett were much improved.

"He threw a lot of strikes. His arm felt great coming out of the game,” Servais said. “It's definitely the most positive report we've got about Felix so far, which is awesome."

Should Hernandez pitch well on Monday, he’d potentially be in line to rejoin the Mariners when they return home for a six-game homestand against the Blue Jays and Yankees from Aug. 23-28.

The Mariners have gone with just a four-man rotation since dealing Mike Leake to the D-backs at the July 31 Trade Deadline, so they could easily slide Hernandez back into that group. They’ll go with a bullpen day on Saturday in Toronto to fill their fifth starter spot, but with another off-day slated for next Monday, they could conceivably stay with just four starters until Aug. 27 against the Yankees.

Servais said that he wouldn’t know which relievers will handle Saturday’s game until Friday's series opener with the Blue Jays plays out. But several relievers will undoubtedly be asked to pitch multiple innings, and he listed Zac Grotz, Erik Swanson and Reggie McClain as candidates to do so.

The biggest challenge, Servais said, won’t be getting through Saturday’s game, but having enough fresh arms for Sunday’s series finale.

“We’ll patch it together,” he said. ‘It’ll be fine. It’ll be fun. We’ll be creative with it and see what we can do.”

Haniger slows things down

Right fielder Mitch Haniger was a late scratch from his rehab assignment game on Thursday with Class A Advanced Modesto due to “general soreness” after playing back-to-back games in his first action since undergoing surgery on a ruptured testicle in early June.

“It was nothing to do with his injury. It was just more body soreness,” Servais said. “It’s Spring Training for those guys. When you sit out a couple months, you are going to be sore. That’s why they don’t play every day in Spring Training. I told [Haniger] yesterday, 'If you don’t feel great, take the day. Slow it down at the beginning. You can always speed it up at the end when you feel better.'"

Haniger remains with Modesto for now, but he's expected to be transferred to Tacoma soon. The 2018 American League All-Star pushed to come back too soon in July and wound up having to be shut down an extra month, so he’s learning to slow down his desire to push too hard, too soon.

Worth noting

• Center fielder Braden Bishop was also held out of his rehab game on Thursday for Modesto, but that was just part of the plan, as he’s being brought back slowly from surgery on a lacerated spleen.

• Rookie reliever Austin Adams was scheduled for a full bullpen throwing session in Seattle this weekend as he attempts to return from a strained right shoulder that has sidelined him for six weeks. Adams is believed to be close to being able to pitch in rehab games soon.

• Fellow right-hander Dan Altavilla threw a scoreless inning with one walk and two strikeouts for Tacoma in his latest rehab outing Thursday, and his fastball was clocked at 96-98 mph, so he’s not far from rejoining the Mariners.

• Eliezer Mejia, an 18-year-old left-hander who has been pitching for the Mariners' Dominican Summer League team, was one of four players suspended Friday for violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Mejia, who is 0-2 with a 13.50 ERA in 16 innings over 11 outings in the DSL in his first year in pro ball, received a 72-game suspension without pay after testing positive for Stanozolol, an anabolic steroid.