SEATTLE — The most glaring question mark facing a Mariners team that is red hot and has the clarity of a first-round postseason bye is the status of their potential Game 1 starter, as Bryan Woo continues to nurse the mild inflammation in his pectoral muscle.
And on Thursday, Woo played catch on the field for the first time since the issue surfaced last Friday in Houston, when he was forced to exit after five innings and underwent an MRI the following day. He also completed a series of plyometric throwing exercises on Wednesday.
“Iâ€m not too high, not too low,†Woo said before Thursdayâ€s 6-2 win over Colorado, and after an extended conversation with Mariners head athletic trainer Kyle Torgerson and director of pitching strategy Trent Blank. “Iâ€m just taking it one day at a time.â€
About two hours after Wooâ€s very light throwing session on the right-field grass at T-Mobile Park, the Mariners officially clinched, at the very least, the American Leagueâ€s No. 2 seed, and with it, a bye into the Division Series. That best-of-five set begins in Seattle next Saturday, Oct. 4 — and Woo has long looked like their clear choice to take that assignment, if heâ€s ready.
Thatâ€s what made Thursdayâ€s session the first notable step in preparing him for what would be the most monumental start of his career — and potentially, the first in what the club believes will be a lengthy October run.
“For what I did, it went well,†Woo said. “I played catch today, and then Iâ€ve just got to see how I feel. I donâ€t know what the plan is even, honestly, for tomorrow. I did some stuff today. Weâ€re trying to treat it and still build it out like itâ€s a five-day. So like, stress it hard today. Tomorrow would be like the day after a start, so more likely recovery. … Iâ€m still trying to make it kind of routine-based.â€
Thursdayâ€s game vs. the Rockies represented Wooâ€s turn in the rotation, but that assignment went to Emerson Hancock, who was on an abbreviated workload after moving to the bullpen one month ago. Hancock wound up pitching four scoreless innings that helped secure a sweep, while matching a season-high with seven strikeouts — with gnarly movement on his sweeper.
The Mariners pointedly did not place Woo on the 15-day injured list, because doing so wouldâ€ve shelved him through Games 1 and 2, as the IL does not reset at the end of the regular season.
Yet by that point, theyâ€re optimistic heâ€ll be ready, though if Woo truly remains on a firm five-day routine, and Thursday represented a proverbial start day, thatâ€d line him up to start Game 2 on Sunday, Oct. 6.
If so, the Mariners would likely then turn to Opening Day starter Logan Gilbert for the playoff opener — which as it stands would be against the winner of the Wild Card Series pitting the AL Central champion (which Cleveland is in the driverâ€s seat to secure) and the ALâ€s No. 6 seed (currently occupied by Detroit).
Though the Mariners†offense has carried them during a 17-1 stretch in September, the blueprint to their success is rooting in starting pitching — and Woo, a first-time All-Star in 2025, has been their most consistent arm, with a 2.94 ERA over a career- and team-high 186 2/3 innings.
Navigating October will almost certainly hinge on not just his success, but his health — and Thursday marked the first step in preparing him for the postseason.
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