Bryan Woo Pleased With Bullpen Session Following Shoulder Discomfort
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - Less than an hour before first pitch of the series finale between the visiting Chicago Cubs and Seattle Mariners, starting pitcher Bryan Woo could be seen running back towards the home dugout from the bullpen, doing some sprints and signing autographs for fans up the first base line.
There had been some concern about Woo after he left his last start down in Houston due to shoulder discomfort, having to skip what would’ve been his outing yesterday. The team called up star pitching prospect Kade Anderson to make his MLB debut, giving Woo a “couple extra days to recover,” which manager Dan Wilson said back on Friday during his pregame media availability.
Starting pitcher Bryan Woo at T-Mobile Park between the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners on Wednesday, August 5th, 2026. (Photos by Bryant Garduque for Circling Seattle Sports)
Woo has been going through his typical between-starts routine over the last few days, throwing with the other pitchers pregame and doing the rest of his physical workouts. Today's bullpen session was the next step in seeing how the Mariners would slot their rotation for the series starting tomorrow against the Philadelphia Phillies, and Woo came out of it feeling positive.
“It’s all (about) understanding your own body and yourself, and how everything is supposed to feel and how everything’s supposed to move. It wasn’t one of those things that I felt like the season was in jeopardy or something like that. It was just a matter of, all right, what’s the proper way of going about this so that I’m dealing with it the right way but I’m also staying on the field.”
During the session, Woo threw about 20 pitches as the Mariners’ head doctor and head trainer were in the bullpen watching closely. Major League Coach and Director of Pitching Strategy, Trent Blank, could be seen giving Woo two thumbs up after the final pitch that he threw, while teammate Logan Gilbert and bullpen catcher Justin Novak encouraged fans around the bullpen to cheer for Woo.
Woo mixed in all of his pitches and ramped up the intensity when doing so. On their way back to the Seattle dugout, both Blank and pitching coach Pete Woodworth shared positive words about how things went, while Logan Gilbert said, “He looked great,” when asked about his teammate.
Before the bullpen and during his pregame media availability today, manager Dan Wilson said the Mariners will decide the rotation for the rest of the week within the next 24 hours or so, depending on how he recovers and feels after it. Currently, Logan Gilbert is slated for Monday, George Kirby for Tuesday, and Wednesday’s game has a “To Be Determined” tag as Seattle awaits the results of Woo’s bullpen.
Woo looked eager to get out to his bullpen earlier in the day when the Mariners clubhouse opened, seen running up and down the main hallway outside of the clubhouse, showing a clear pep in his step. Bryan will want to put this behind him, especially after he missed nearly a month at the end of the regular season last year due to a pectoral strain.
He suffered the strain during a September outing in Houston; it was believed it wouldn’t keep Woo out for long, but it ultimately kept him out until the American League Championship Series, where he made two relief appearances. Woo had a breakout 2025 campaign, putting everything together after a few different injuries had affected him through each of his first four professional seasons.
“It’s just being smart about what’s realistic, being smart about a couple of days off and coming back and not missing much time. But yeah, it’s a really tough balance, especially at this time of year. Especially with the position that we’re in, we don’t really have any room for grace, really. It’s a sprint now.”
Given the fact that Dan Wilson didn’t believe that Woo would require an injured list stint, Woo went through the standard between-starts routine, and feeling good coming out of this bullpen, it seems likely that he’ll be able to slot back into the rotation on Wednesday. Wilson could make an announcement as soon as postgame this afternoon.
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