Mariners will be without Bryan Woo for duration of ALDS vs. Tigers

Bryan Woo has been left off the Mariners’ ALDS roster, presenting an early challenge to their quest to advance in the playoffs.

In the latest instalment of “Why can’t things ever go smoothly for the Seattle Mariners?”, they received some unfortunate news on Saturday as they prepare for Game 1 of their AL Division Series versus the Detroit Tigers. As reported by Adam Jude of The Seattle Times, Bryan Woo has been left off their ALDS roster.

In truth the news is not that surprising, given comments that Woo made when speaking to the media on Thursday following a throwing session off the mound at T-Mobile Park. However, this doesn’t take away from how disappointing and concerning his absence will be in the coming days.

The main hint about Woo’s potential absence from the ALDS, arguably came when he was asked what the next step in his recovery process would be. He said:

“That’s a good question and I don’t know how to (answer it). I’ll have to ask the training staff and see how they feel about how today went and see how far off they think I am from getting back into a game.”

No Bryan Woo doesn’t have to mean disaster for the Mariners

Woo has had a sensational year for the Mariners, with him proving to be the best, most consistent and durable member of their rotation and becoming the staff ace in all but name. He led all starters with a 4.3 WAR, 2.94 ERA, 128 ERA+ and 0.927 WHIP, while his streak of 25 consecutive starts of 6.0+ innings was the longest to begin a season in franchise history.

For what it’s worth, Woo didn’t face the Tigers this season and the Mariners still went 4-2 in the six encounters versus their Motown rivals. Still, the thought of him not being available until the AL Championship Series at the earliest – and pending the M’s actually advancing – is likely not a pleasant one for fans.

George Kirby has been in this position before

Even before Woo’s absence had been made official, the Mariners had already made the somewhat surprising decision to go with George Kirby in Game 1 over Logan Gilbert. In fairness to Kirby though he was lights out in his one playoff start to date, pitching 7.0 innings of shutout baseball against the Houston Astros in the 2022 ALDS.

Of course the Mariners will be hoping for a different outcome to that one, when they lost 1-0 at home in 18 innings to complete the series sweep for the Astros. This time around though the M’s are a stronger roster, with many media outlets including FanGraphs predicting them to make it to their first ever World Series.

First things first though, the Mariners must find a way to advance past the Tigers without Woo on the mound in a series which could extend to five games. And the righty himself has the utmost confidence in his teammates succeeding without him, as he said:

“I have all the faith in the world in our pitchers – starters, relievers, whoever it is. They’re more than capable of doing the job like they have done throughout the year and especially come playoff time, everybody seems to have taken a little bit of a step up. So yes I’ve got all the faith in the world.”

At the time of writing Luis Castillo has been confirmed as the starter for Game 2 versus the Tigers, and it stands to reason that Gilbert will get the ball for Game 3 in Detroit. This will then theoretically have Bryce Miller in line to start Game 4 also on the road although this has yet to be finalized, which makes sense given concern about what has been an inconsistent and injury-riddled season for him.

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Photos court​‌esy of Tim Rodgers Photography

How confident are you in the Mariners’ ability to advance past the Tigers without Woo? And pending this, do you believe he will be back in time for the ALCS? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.