SEATTLE (AP) -The Seattle Mariners placed right-hander Chris Reitsma on the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday due to inflammation in his right elbow, and right-hander Sean Green was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma to take his place in the bullpen.
Reitsma’s move was retroactive to May 19. The 29-year-old, who began last season as Atlanta’s closer, is 0-1 with a 4.86 ERA in 16 games for the Mariners this season. He had surgery on the same elbow last summer, ending his brief stint as the Braves’ closer. The procedure cut a rare muscle that had wrapped around a nerve and was causing Reitsma’s hand to go numb.
Dr. James Andrews, the renowned surgeon in Birmingham, Ala., who performed the operation last July 18, told Reitsma that the only other person he’d ever seen with that condition was country music singer Kenny Rogers.
Still, the Mariners took a $2.05 million risk on Reitsma to be their setup man this season. With starter Jeff Weaver still on the DL with shoulder tendinitis, Seattle more than $10.3 million in pitching currently sidelined. That doesn’t include veteran Arthur Rhodes, who Seattle expected to be a primary left-handed setup man. He is out for the season following elbow surgery.
Green, 28, had a 5.06 ERA in three appearances over two stints for the Mariners earlier this season.
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