September Call-Ups

No big surprises today on the first day of roster expansion – Beltre comes off the DL, while Mike Carp and Jason Vargas get recalled from Tacoma. For those of you wondering where Brandon Morrow is, he left a game last week with forearm tightness, so that’s almost certainly the only reason he’s still in Tacoma. It’s tough to say as of now whether or not he’s going to be called up at any point this month. I doubt it.

Carp and Vargas were both expected to get brought up, and both of them, especially Carp, should definitely benefit from getting some increased playing time here in September, now that the Mariners aren’t in a pennant race. Keep in mind that Jason Vargas missed the entire 2008 season with an injury, so the organization is trying to limit his innings this year. Since he’s already pitched 79 innings in 2009, I wouldn’t expect him to get all that much work over the rest of the season.

Carp, on the other hand, should get plenty of playing time. With Branyan on the DL, and quite possibly out for the rest of the season, Carp immediately becomes the best option at first base. He’s been tearing it up in Tacoma all season, and he did a nice job during the short stint he got with the big league club earlier in the season. One thing to note, with Carp up and Beltre back, Jack Hannahan’s playing time should take a nose dive.

The other big piece of news today, is that Ichiro will finally return to the lineup, and will be able to resume his quest for his 9th consecutive 200 hit season. Franklin Gutierrez, in his 8 games in the leadoff spot, did an adequate job of filling in – .281 BA, .343 OBP, 2 SB.

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