Mariners right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma was expected to begin a minor-league rehab assignment this week as he comes back from a spring training finger injury, but instead the team had him throw a 58-pitch simulated game yesterday.
Iwakuma told reporters afterward that he felt very good during Tuesday’s simulated game, saying “the ball jumped out of my hand pretty well” and “I feel pretty close now to the regular season.”
Greg Johns of MLB.com reports that Iwakuma will likely make a rehab start Sunday at Triple-A, at which point he could be cleared to come off the disabled list and rejoin the rotation next week.
Seattle is waiting for Iwakuma, Taijuan Walker, and James Paxton to get healthy and join Felix Hernandez in what has the potential to be an excellent, high-upside rotation.