BALTIMORE — With two team trainers watching a few yards away, Mariners relief pitcher Gregory Santos ramped up his throwing program in the outfield grass at Camden Yards on Friday afternoon, a small step forward in his start-and-stop rehabilitation from a lat strain.
“It’s been a long process, but I haven’t put my head down,” Santos said through interpreter Freddy Llanos. “This is my team and I really wanted to be with my team. I’m trying to get ready to be with these guys and get ready to get on the field.”
Santos is not yet throwing at full intensity, and there is no timeline for his return.
He made about a dozen throws from 90 feet on Friday, a couple of weeks after he’d had a small setback and was shut down from throwing for a few days.
He’ll build arm strength up to 120 feet next, and he hopes to throw his first bullpen session in early June. Realistically, he would need multiple weeks of full-intensity throwing and then some minor-league rehab games before he’d be ready to join Seattle’s bullpen.
Santos had been recovering at the team facility in Arizona since spring training.
The team brought him to Seattle last week to continue his rehab with the big-league training staff, and he’s part of the traveling party for his first road trip with the Mariners.
“It feels great — it’s like a whole new vibe being here with the team,” he said. “Since I got here, I just feel a lot better. I feel there’s a lot more velocity and I just feel more at ease. I feel more relaxed.”
The Mariners acquired Santos from the Chicago White Sox over the winter hoping he could become one-third of a dynamic late-inning relief corps, alongside Andres Muñoz and Matt Brash.
But Santos has been on the injured list since the start of the season, and Brash had season-ending elbow reconstruction surgery last week.
Polanco remains out
Jorge Polanco was out of the lineup for Friday’s series opener against the Orioles, the third straight game he’s missed because of a sore right hamstring.
Polanco went through a pregame workout, including some light running, with a team trainer. Depending on how he felt after that workout, the team could opt to place him on the injured list.
Manager Scott Servais did not sound optimistic that Polanco would be available for the three-game series in Baltimore.
Crawford recovering in Seattle
Shortstop J.P. Crawford has some inflammation in his hand/wrist area and is getting treatment back in Seattle after getting hit by a pitch during a rehab game with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers on Wednesday night.
Servais is hopeful Crawford will join the team “at some point” on this 10-day East Coast trip.
Crawford has been on the injured list since April 25 with an oblique strain.
This story will be updated.
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