Right-hander
Bryan Woo won’t be part of the Mariners’ AL Division Series roster, according to
the Seattle Times’ Adam Jude. “The club is optimistic Woo will be available in the ALCS if they do advance,” Jude writes, though Seattle’s path to the next round will be trickier without their most consistent pitcher from the 2025 season.
Woo’s postseason status has been a question mark since September 19, when the righty left a start after five innings due to pectoral tightness. The M’s didn’t place Woo on the 15-day injured list, which was viewed as a sign that the injury wasn’t overly serious, and that the team was just being cautious in shutting Woo down in advance of what became an increasingly likely playoff berth in the final stretch of September. The fact that the Mariners won the AL West and secured a first-round bye only added to the hope that Woo would be ready once the postseason got underway.
A Thursday bullpen session and a simulated inning marked the first time Woo had thrown off a mound since his injury. Despite initial reports that the bullpen went well, it could be that Woo felt some discomfort the day after his throwing sessions, or perhaps he simply wasn’t close enough to 100 percent for the Mariners to pull the trigger on a roster spot.
More details should become available when manager Dan Wilson speaks with reporters later today, but the bottom line is that the Mariners’ rotation is missing a very important arm. In a season when the usually excellent Seattle pitching staff was more solid than great, Woo took a step forward to lead the pitchers in fWAR (3.6), innings (186 2/3), and ERA (2.94). Woo augmented those numbers with a 4.5% walk rate that ranked among baseball’s best, as well as a very strong 27.1% strikeout rate.
These numbers came on the heels of a very good 2024 season for Woo that was marred only by injuries, as a pair of IL stints limited him to 121 1/3 innings. The full and healthy version of Woo made his first All-Star team in 2025 and established himself as another important frontline piece of the Mariners’ deep rotation, though this pec injury now threatens to bring a sour ending to this breakout campaign.
George Kirby will be the Mariners’ Game 1 starter today, and
Luis Castillo will start Game 2. The club hasn’t announced their Game 3 starter once the series shifts to Detroit for at least once game, though
Logan Gilbert seems like the logical choice. If a Game 4 is necessary,
Bryce Miller will likely start, though it’ll probably be an all-hands-on-deck situation if the Mariners are facing elimination (or if they want to throw everything to try and eliminate the Tigers in four games, with an off-day to rest up the staff before a Game 5 in Seattle).
The Mariners’ full ALDS roster will be announced later today, but
Jude reports that rookie catcher
Harry Ford and rookie infielder
Ben Williamson have made the cut. Williamson’s presence gives Seattle some depth at third base if
Eugenio Suarez has to move to first base.
Josh Naylor’s availability for the series beyond Game 1 is in question due to an impending paternity leave, as Naylor’s wife Chantel is on the verge of giving birth to the couple’s first child.
