Bryan Woo Exits Mariners Win In Houston With “Pec Tightness”
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - In a critical series opening victory on the road against the Houston Astros, Seattle Mariners right-handed starting pitcher Bryan Woo exited with tightness in his pectoral. The 25-year-old All-Star attempted to come out for the sixth inning but opted against playing through the injury, as reliever Eduard Bazardo delivered two solid innings of relief immediately after as the Mariners went on to continue the shutout that Woo started. Manager Dan Wilson nor Woo himself seemed particularly concerned with the injury postgame, but Seattle isn’t out of the woods quite yet.
“Just felt a little tightness, tried to come out and throw that that six, didn’t feel like it was best for for the team. Baz[ardo] was ready to go. We’ll get some stuff done tomorrow, and I’ll know more. I really don’t know much so far... I felt great all game. Just felt it at the end. And yeah, thought that was just smart to not try to push it.”
The tightness was not present in the early parts of this contest according to Bryan, as Woo worked somewhat seamlessly through the Houston Astros lineup to protect the early lead that teammate Julio Rodríguez gave the Mariners with his first inning solo home run. The Astros didn’t get their first baserunner until the fourth inning, when the only real trouble of Woo’s outing occurred. Carlos Correa doubled and a returning Isaac Paredes walked, by strikeouts of Jose Altuve and Zach Cole got Seattle out of the inning without damage.
“Just had a little pec tightness. Kind of gave us a heads up. That’s why Bazardo was getting loose. We’ll know more tomorrow, likely an MRI, and we’ll get to know a little bit more tomorrow, but that’s all we know at this point... Obviously concerned in some ways, but I think in other ways, Bryan, he’s a tough cookie. It was smart that he let us know, and there was no reason to push it. I think we’ll just find out more tomorrow. I think there’s just too many unknowns at this point.”
The pectoral issue became apparent late into the fifth inning, another 1-2-3 frame for Woo, as he let Dan Wilson and the trainers know about it immediately upon heading into the dugout. After his warm up pitches showed that he wasn’t at his best, Wilson and team trainer Kyle Torgerson came out to the mound quickly before Woo left the game. The final pitch of the fifth inning for Woo was a sinker that clocked in at 92.7MPH, roughly three to four MPH less than his typical velocity on that pitch. Otherwise his velocity remained the same amidst one of the better outings of the year for Woo, giving up just two base runners over 67 pitches through those five innings with seven strikeouts to go along with all that.
Bryan is scheduled to have an MRI tomorrow to gather more information for the injury, and that should hopefully provide a timeline for how long Woo will have to deal with this ailment. It’s obviously a frustrating situation, considering how crucial this start was let alone the position the team is currently in, but perhaps the fact that Woo didn’t seem too concerned with it means it won’t be something that will impact his ability to perform in the near future.
Woo is looking to put the final touches on a career best season, hoping to do so pitching deep into October. Tonight was his 30th start of the season, having thrown at least six innings in 27 of those appearances. He’s been the pest starting pitcher for the Mariners all season and durable at that, a surprise after the struggles he’s faced health wise over the last few years. Seattle fans will be holding their breath a bit until things are figured out for certain with Woo, as he’s undoubtably the first name to look to in terms of the teams starting pitcher for game one of the postseason. The Mariners could look to Emerson Hancock, who was recently moved to the bullpen, to fill Woo’s spot if he’s unable to make his next start. It doesn’t seem likely that rookie Logan Evans could fill in, as he’s on the injured list with shoulder inflammation and only threw an inning in his first appearance back with the Rainiers.
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