Seattle Mariners' Key Pitcher Posts Great Rehab Start as He Nears Return From Injury

Seattle Mariners' starting pitcher Bryan Woo delivered a great first rehab start for Triple-A Tacoma on Sunday afternoon, signaling that he's getting closer and closer to returning from a spring training elbow issue.

The Seattle Mariners split with the Colorado Rockies in a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon to move to 11-11 on the young season. Seattle has now won five of its last six games heading into a series this week with the defending World Champion Texas Rangers.

While the news has been mostly good for the M's at the Major League level over the last week, it was also good on Sunday at the minor league level as Bryan Woo made a solid first rehab start for Triple-A Tacoma.

He's been on the injured list since the end of spring training with elbow inflammation.

The following comes from the Rotowire fantasy baseball portal:

Woo (elbow) struck out five over three perfect innings in his first rehab start with Triple-A Tacoma on Sunday.

ANALYSIS
Woo needed just 35 pitches to cruise through his three frames in a difficult pitching environment in Las Vegas. The velocity on his four-seamer was down a bit at 93.9 mph, but that's not overly concerning considering it was his first game action in more than a month. Woo is in line for multiple rehab starts but could be ready to rejoin the Mariners' rotation by early May.

Getting Woo back in the rotation would be great news for Seattle, especially after George Kirby worried fans by saying he wasn't 100 percent during Sunday's Game 1 start. Assuming Kirby is not injured himself, Woo looks lined up to take the place of Emerson Hancock in the rotation once he's ready.

Woo, 24, made his Major League Debut last season, going 4-5 with a 4.21 ERA. After injuries to Robbie Ray and Marco Gonzales prompted his call-up, he threw 87.2 valuable innings that helped Seattle stay in playoff contention until the final weekend of the regular season.

The Mariners open up the series with Texas on Tuesday night.

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