Mariners move Collin Snider to 15-day IL; Casey Legumina recalled
Collin Snider has the always scary-sounding “right forearm flexor strain”
The Mariners announced prior to Wednesday’s game that they are placing RHP Collin Snider on the 15-day IL with a right forearm flexor strain.
Snider, while pitching some solid innings for the Mariners, hasn’t been able to recapture his form from last season. At his best, Snider is a contact-manager who doesn’t allow hard contact. This year, his average exit velocity allowed has jumped almost five mph; hitters are barreling the ball up against him more than ever before, almost 10% of the time. The culprit for this is likely a significant drop in velocity, which would track with an arm injury. Last season, Snider’s velocity on his fastball averaged 94.2 mph; this season, it’s down to 92.4, which is a tough velocity band for any pitcher in today’s MLB. Snider has seen a similar drop in velocity on his other fastballs, the cutter and sinker. He’s also seen a loss in effectiveness on his primary offspeed weapon, the sweeper, which hasn’t been getting the same horizontal movement it did last season.
The Mariners clubhouse was closed when this move was announced, but more information will be provided as it is offered by the team.
RHP Casey Legumina will be recalled to take Snider’s place. Legumina was optioned after the game on May 30, after a rough outing where the Twins scored six runs, five earns, off Legumina in extras. Prior to that disastrous outing, however—a disaster of a game overall, it should be said—Legumina had been on a solid run to start the season. Just ten days earlier, Zach Mason had examined how Legumina’s revamped sinker and sweeper had led to success. He’ll get another chance now in a bullpen that’s still searching for consistency.
Trent Thornton was also with the team again today after doing a rehab outing with Tacoma yesterday. The team has not made an announcement yet on whether or not he’ll continue to rehab with Tacoma or return to the team when they go on the road this weekend.