Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Spor
Seattle Mariners relief pitcher Stephen Pryor could spend time on the 15-day disabled list or, at the very least, miss some playing time with a right lat injury. This would obviously be a huge blow for the Mariners as they have already seen four other players go down with injuries this season.
Pryor suffered the lat strain in Sunday’s 4-3 victory over the Texas Rangers. It was clear something was not right with Pryor after he got Nelson Cruz to fly out in the eighth inning. Manager Eric Wedge and the team trainer ran out to see if there was anything wrong with the right-hander. Wedge then made the move to send in Oliver Perez to replace the injured Pryor.
“The last couple pitches to Lance Berkman, I kind of felt it,” Pryor told Mariners.com. “Then it progressively got worse going into facing Cruz.”
It is still yet to be determined how much time the 23-year-old could miss, but the good news is Pryor does not believe it to be anything serious. However, if he does end up missing a few games, it could certainly cost Seattle quite a bit.
Pryor, who is only in his second Major League Baseball season, is by far the team’s best reliever this year. He has yet to surrender a run and has only given up three hits in 7 1/3 innings in 2013. Pryor has also walked one and struck out seven batters in the seven appearances.
The only other player on the Mariners that has not allowed a run this season is Bobby LaFromboise, who has only pitched in 1 1/3 innings.
