The Mariners finally got a look at Carlos Vargas back on the mound, and that alone counts as a meaningful step for a bullpen that has spent most of the season piecing things together.
Vargas, a right-handed reliever who has missed the entire year with a right lat strain, threw a bullpen at T-Mobile Park on Wednesday for the first time since getting hurt in spring training. It was a live bullpen, with batters in the box but not swinging, and Vargas went through his full mix while showing a fastball that reached the upper-90 mile-per-hour range.
"It felt good," Vargas said via interpreter Freddy Llanos after his bullpen Wednesday. "I'm starting to get the feeling of every pitch."
Seattle has been operating with a short bullpen for much of the year because of a six-man rotation and a steady run of injuries on the relief side. The club tried to add help by bringing in Seranthony Dominguez from the Chicago White Sox, but his debut was rocky in Tuesday’s 8-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers at T-Mobile Park. Even so, manager Dan Wilson said after the game that Dominguez should be able to settle in and recover from the rough first outing.
The bigger development for Seattle may be Vargas’ return to the throwing progression. He’s one of three relievers currently on the injured list, joining Matt Brash, who is dealing with a right lat strain, and Cooper Criswell, who has a right pec strain.
Vargas was one of Seattle’s main workhorses last season. In his first full major league campaign, he posted a 3.97 ERA, struck out 54 batters and covered 77 innings over 70 appearances. That workload ranked third on the team behind Gabe Speier, who made 76 appearances, and Eduard Bazardo, who had 73.
Without Vargas, the Mariners have leaned heavily on Bazardo and Jose A. Ferrer. Bazardo leads the club with 52 appearances, while Ferrer is right behind him with 51.
The injury churn hasn’t stopped there. Brash is on the shelf for the second time this season, and Speier missed three weeks in May with left shoulder inflammation.
Before Wednesday’s game, Wilson pointed to Vargas’ value as a pitcher who can be deployed in different spots.
"(Vargas) was a guy we could talk about in a lot of situations and versatile," Mariners manager Dan Wilson said in a pregame interview Wednesday. "We talk about versatility in position players and being able to play all over the field, but for bullpen guys to be able to pitch in different parts of a ball game is huge.
Good, quality innings anywhere we put him. ... To get him back, clearly, is huge.
And we're getting closer to that."
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