WEST SACRAMENTO -- The Mariners’ bullpen has re-added one of its high-leverage arms.
Left-hander Gabe Speier was activated from the 15-day injured list ahead of Tuesday’s game against the A’s at Sutter Health Park. In a corresponding move, righty Nick Davila was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma after Monday’s 9-2 win.
Speier rejoined the club before Monday’s series opener but wasn’t immediately activated, as the club wanted to see how he bounced back after two Minor League rehab outings, the most recent of which was on Saturday at Tacoma.
But now that he’s officially back, Seattle could certainly use him -- especially against the A’s bevy of left-handed sluggers, including Nick Kurtz, the reigning American League Rookie of the Year, who has a 48-game on-base streak.
Seattle just recently activated righty setup man Matt Brash, essentially bringing their bullpen to full strength.
On the rest of their immediate injury front, Cal Raleigh (right oblique strain) began baseball activity on Monday with light catch play, and infielder Brendan Donovan (left groin strain) is supposedly nearing the same.
Speier had been sidelined since May 3, after making 15 appearances over Seattle’s first 32 games. He carried a 2.92 ERA with 12 strikeouts and five walks over 12 1/3 innings. He then began the rehab assignment last Thursday at High-A Everett, surrendering two homers and three runs total with two strikeouts. He followed that with a scoreless seventh inning with two strikeouts at Tacoma on Saturday.
Davila made seven relief appearances after being selected from Double-A Arkansas on May 2, twirling a combined 7 1/3 scoreless innings with three hits, six walks and four strikeouts. That included his MLB debut on May 3 vs. Kansas City.