The Seattle Mariners have hit a wall on offense, which is why they are bringing back prospect Nick Franklin to the majors on Wednesday as they prepare to play the Texas Rangers and as that goes down, the team scratched top pitcher Taijuan Walker from a minor league start after stiffness in his shoulder and there is a chance that down the line they could pick up trade talk on a David Price deal.
According to Mariners.com, Franklin was brought up on Wednesday and it comes as Logan Morrison was injured this week against Texas and the move was confirmed by the team after Franklin let the cat out of the bag on Twitter. Franklin was originally the second baseman for the team last season before they signed Robinson Cano and he was sent down after Brad Miller won the starting job in the spring. Miller and the Mariners overall have suffered a bit of a power outage and now the team is hoping Franklin can help after hitting .225 with 12 home runs and 45 RBIs in 102 games for the Mariners last year
To no one's surprise, Franklin hit very well in the minors and was off to a very solid start while hitting .395 with three doubles, four home runs and 13 RBIs in 11 games and now he gets to come back to the majors. Miller has been hitting .214 with three home runs and six RBIs in 13 games and now Franklin could get some looks there if the team wants to give Miller a day off and the DH position is also an option. The 23 year old was a first round pick in 2009 and he has been a player the Mariners like and they do not want to trade him and this is the exact reason why.
The Mariners have been playing well to start the season and they have slowed down a bit and Franklin could end up playing in the outfield as well after Morrison was injured. Logan Morrison, Stefen Romero and Michael Saunders have been playing in right field and that is likely where Franklin would end up if he gets into the outfield. Franklin played some spring training games in the outfield and while that could be risky throwing him out there, the Mariners want to add some punch to the lineup.
According to ESPN.com, Walker, who is the top prospect for the Mariners, was pulled from a rehab minor league start and that could push back his return to the majors. The Mariners are excited to get Walker back with the team and he was set to be part of the rotation earlier this season before dealing with his shoulder pain. Last season Walker started off 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA in three starts for the Mariners and this season he was pitching very well as he worked his way back to the majors and now Walker and James Paxton are dealing with injuries, while Hisashi Iwakuma is on his way back to the rotation.
"He just says he felt stiff," Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik told reporters, according to MLB.com. "What you don't know about this is if you sleep on it wrong or however things work like that. When a guy's stiff and he's a guy like this, you just figure let's take as many precautions as we can."