By Roger White

Albers moving to Mariners bullpen

Sep 14, 2017 | 5:00 PM

With the return of Felix Hernandez and James Paxton from the disabled list, North Battleford’s Andrew Albers will move from the Seattle Mariners’ starting rotation to the bullpen.

When he was acquired from the Atlanta Braves on Aug. 15, it was expected that Albers would be assigned to the Mariners’ minor league affiliate in Tacoma. But with injuries to Felix Hernandez and James Paxton, the 31-year old left-hander was pressed into service to join the starting rotation of the big league club.

During his time in the rotation, Albers went 4-1 in five starts with an ERA of 2.67. He struck out 20 batters and walked only eight in 27 total innings.

Most importantly for the Mariners, Albers was able to help the M’s keep pace with the Twins, Angels and Orioles for the final Wild Card position in the American League.

Felix Hernandez will start tonight’s game against the Texas Rangers in Arlington. He is scheduled for a 50 pitch count, so Albers will follow him on the mound according to the Mariners. 

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The bullpen is nothing new for Albers who made one relief appearance with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2015 and four appearances in 2016 with Minnesota.

Seattle (73-73) is just three and a half games behind the Minnesota Twins (76-69) in the wild card race however with just 16 games left in the regular season for the Mariners their post-season chances are quickly diminishing.

roger.white@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @RJWtheReporter