Hisashi

Iwakuma

Per the official press release from the Mariners, Iwakuma will report directly to general manager Jerry Dipoto and work with the Mariners’ pitchers and pitching instructors at all levels. The 39-year-old officially retired from baseball this past October after spending the last two seasons with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan. He recorded a 63-39 record and 3.42 ERA in 883 2/3 innings with Seattle from 2012-2017.

Iwakuma returned to Japan in 2019, but he has pitched just two innings over the past two seasons due to lingering shoulder issues. The 39-year-old had a great run with the Mariners from 2012-2017, posting a 63-39 record and a 3.42 ERA over 150 appearances (136 starts). He made one All-Star team and finished third in the AL Cy Young Award balloting in 2013.

Iwakuma, a native of Tokyo, told reporters in September that he was planning to head home for the 2019 season. He signed a minor league deal with the Mariners last November but missed all of 2018 while recovering from a shoulder injury. The 37-year-old right-hander wraps up his MLB career with a 63-39 record, 3.42 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, and 714/185 K/BB ratio in 883 2/3 innings with Seattle. He finished third in the American League Cy Young Award voting in 2013.

The Mariners appeared to be leaning that way after Iwakuma tossed three shutout innings of relief on Tuesday. The 30-year-old right-hander figures to get a look as a starter eventually, but the M’s will begin the year with Felix Hernandez, Jason Vargas, Hector Noesi, Blake Beavan and Kevin Millwood in the rotation.

Hultzen, James Paxton and Taijuan Walker have generated plenty of buzz at Mariners’ camp, but they have only appeared in intrasquad and B-games thus far, which is a pretty firm indication that they’ll begin the season in the minors. Barring injuries, Hisashi Iwakuma, Kevin Millwood and Hector Noesi are the favorites to follow Felix Hernandez and Jason Vargas in the rotation. However, the rotation could look a lot different during the second half of the season.

And it only took until the team’s 15th game. Manager Eric Wedge obviously has no faith in Iwakuma, but it’s still early enough for that to change with a few more quality performances. Iwakuma allowed just one hit in this one, though it was an Adam Dunn homer, and he threw 32 of his 45 pitches for strikes.

Beavan suffered the injury when he was hit by a comebacker off the bat of Miguel Cabrera on a double-play ball which ended the third inning. He allowed one run over three innings before being replaced by Hisashi Iwakuma to begin the fourth. It doesn’t sound like anything serious, but the Mariners will likely provide more information on his status after the game.

That’s eight runs -- five earned -- and 14 hits in nine innings for the spring. The Mariners only guaranteed Iwakuma $1.5 million as a free agent, so they don’t have much reason to be too patient with him if he struggles. Still, they figure to give him at least a few regular season starts before they consider pulling the plug on a pitcher who was one of Japan’s best for years.

Beavan had to leave Monday’s start after three innings when he was drilled on the pitching elbow by a comebacker. He should throw a bullpen session in a couple days, and the Mariners will likely know then if he’ll be ready for Sunday. If he’s not, Hisashi Iwakuma, who pitched three innings in relief of Beavan Monday, would be an option to fill in.

It was the Japanese right-hander’s second Cactus League appearance. He signed an incentive-laden one-year, $1.5 million contract with the M’s in January after registering a promising 2.42 ERA and 90/19 K/BB ratio in 119 innings last year for the Rakuten Golden Eagles.