Exciting Seattle Mariners' Reliever Gets Timeline For When He'll Start Rehab Assignment

After being out all season with a lat problem, we now know when Seattle Mariners' reliever Gregory Santos will start his rehab assignment.

Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Gregory Santos (60) celebrates a win against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field in 2023. / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

Seattle Mariners' relief pitcher Gregory Santos took another major step forward in his recovery on Friday afternoon and it's led to some exciting news.

After throwing a 21-pitch live session at T-Mobile Park, we now know when Santos will begin his rehab assignment. He's been out all year with a lat issue.

Per @LookoutLanding on social media:

Justin Hollander says Gregory Santos will start a rehab assignment with Tacoma July 2nd

Justin Hollander says Gregory Santos will start a rehab assignment with Tacoma July 2nd

— Lookout Landing (@LookoutLanding) June 28, 2024

Considering that Santos hasn't played in any games at all this year (he was injured in spring training), it's surprising to see him instantly come out of the gate at Triple-A, but Single-A Everett is on the road that day, so maybe this is just more about reducing travel than level of competition. Tacoma is home that day against Salt Lake City.

Given that Santos has been out all year, he'll require a lengthy rehab assignment that will have many more boxes to check. He'll need to show that he can throw all of his pitches, work on back-to-back days and show the ability to recover without discomfort. There has been hope that he'd be able to join the M's in July and that looks possible still at this point if everything goes well.

If and when Santos is able to join the team, he'll add another dimension to the back end of the bullpen for manager Scott Servais. He features an upper-90s fastball and has a ton of movement.

Here's what Ryan Bliss had to say after facing Bliss on Friday, per Curtis Crabtree:

Ryan Bliss faced Santos both in Tampa and here today and spoke highly of his stuff, especially his sinker.

“It’s 98 with splitter movement. You just don’t see that. The ball drops out of nowhere. You don’t really see it. It’s something unique and it’s a really good pitch.”

Ryan Bliss faced Santos both in Tampa and here today and spoke highly of his stuff, especially his sinker.

“It’s 98 with splitter movement. You just don’t see that. The ball drops out of nowhere. You don’t really see it. It’s something unique and it’s a really good pitch.” https://t.co/YY9OKLFh2V

— Curtis Crabtree (@Curtis_Crabtree) June 28, 2024

The Mariners will play the Twins again on Saturday night at 7:10 p.m. PT.

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