Mariners tab Montgomery for Sunday’s start

SEATTLE — The Mariners have tabbed Mike Montgomery to make his third start since joining the rotation on Sunday in Toronto, while veteran Wade LeBlanc works out of the bullpen for now, manager Scott Servais said Wednesday. But Seattle’s rotation remains largely in flux due to injury situations and an upcoming schedule that has the club off three out of eight days.

With Felix Hernandez coming off the disabled list to start on Wednesday and Taijuan Walker expected to throw a simulated game next week in Pittsburgh as he gears back up from a foot issue, the Mariners have some decisions to make.

James Paxton, Hisashi Iwakuma and Montgomery will start the three games in Toronto this weekend. The club would like to keep Hernandez on a regular schedule going forward, so he’s likely in line to face the Pirates on Tuesday after Monday’s off-day. That leaves decisions to be made involving Wade Miley and LeBlanc, with Walker’s imminent return in early August further complicating the situation.

“We’re not going to need all six starters here going forward,” Servais said prior to Wednesday’s game. “Obviously Wade Miley threw the ball OK [Tuesday] night. It’ll probably be a situation where LeBlanc could give us some length out of the ‘pen there in the short term.”

As for …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com