Minor League Baseball

Recently-Optioned Seattle Mariners Reliever Set to Undergo Right Knee Surgery

Right-handed pitcher Gregory Santos will have a procedure to clear loose cartilage in his knee.
Teren Kowatsch|
Seattle Mariners pitcher Gregory Santos prepares to throw during a game against the Athletics on March 28 at T-Mobile Park.
Seattle Mariners pitcher Gregory Santos prepares to throw during a game against the Athletics on March 28 at T-Mobile Park. | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

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Seattle Mariners

SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners bullpen has been the most chaotic unit on the team since the season began.

The Mariners had two relievers, Troy Taylor and Matt Brash, started the season on the 15-day injured list. The unit has also been one of the most heavily-utilized bullpens in the league. Entering Friday, Seattle's bullpen was third in the majors and first in the American League in innings pitched (99.1).

Several relievers have stepped up, but others have struggled.

One of those struggling pitchers, Gregory Santos, was optioned to the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers on April 16 — one day after the Mariners began their nine-game road trip. Santos made eight appearances this season and had a 5.14 ERA. He allowed six runs (four earned) on eight hits in seven innings pitched and failed to register a strikeout.

It will be a while before Santos is in a position to be brought back up to the major league roster, according to an injury update provided by Seattle general manager Justin Hollander on Friday.

Santos was placed on the 15-day major league injured list Friday and will undergo surgery on his right knee to clear out loose cartilage. According to Hollander, Santos has been dealing with a sore knee for most of the season. The Mariners were mitigating the injury with treatment and rehabilitation. After Santos was optioned, he sought a second opinion and chose to undergo the operation.

"It's something that he's dealt with for a while," Hollander said Friday. "And we've just been managing, in the training room, with his conditioning in different ways. And after we had the discussion with him being optioned, he wanted to explore a second opinion. The second opinion really didn't find anything different than we found, but Gregory was more comfortable with the idea that just trying to take care (of it with) a cartilage cleanup might give him more confidence in where he's at physically."

The surgery is scheduled for April 29. Santos' timeline for return is to be determined.

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Teren Kowatsch
TEREN KOWATSCH

Teren Kowatsch is a staff writer for ''Minor League Baseball on SI'' and other "On SI'' baseball sites. He has been a writer for “On SI’’ for two years and is a graduate of the University of Idaho. You can follow him on Twitter @Teren_Kowatsch

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