Seattle Mariners: Hisashi Iwakuma to miss five months

Seattle Mariners right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma will be sidelined for the next five months, perhaps putting his future with the club in question.

Since coming over from Japan prior to the start of the 2012 season, Hisashi Iwakuma has been a stellar arm for the Seattle Mariners. Between 2012-15, Iwakuma went 47-25 with a 3.17 ERA (118 ERA+) and a 1.08 WHIP. During the 2013 campaign, the first season in which Iwakuma was a full-time starter, the right-hander made an All-Star team and finished third in the AL Cy Young voting.

Last season, Iwakuma won a career high 16 games, but his ERA and WHIP were a bit higher than usual at 4.12 and 1.33, respectively. He also made 33 starts last season, tying a career-high set back in 2013.

In 2017, however, Iwakuma has been limited to only six starts, the last of which came against the Los Angeles Angels back on May 3. Over those six starts, Iwakuma posted an 0-2 record with a 4.35 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP.

On Friday, per an announcement from Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto, it was revealed that Iwakuma underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery earlier this week. The recovery period is expected to last five months, at which time Iwakuma can begin throwing once again.

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In a season in which the Mariners missed the postseason for the 16th straight year, starting pitching was one of the areas of concern. In addition to Iwakuma being out for most of the year, longtime ace Felix Hernandez has been limited to only 16 starts. Hernandez hasn’t been as dominant as he has been in the past either, going 6-5 with a 4.36 ERA (98 ERA+) and a 1.29 WHIP. James Paxton has been having a great season for the Mariners, but has also spent time on the DL.

As a whole, the Mariners starting staff has posted a 4.73 ERA this season, which ranks ninth in the American League. If their starting rotation would have had more luck in the health department, it might have been fun to see how much closer they could have come to snagging a playoff spot.

According to Baseball-Reference, Iwakuma has a $10 million team option with a $1 million buyout for next season. Had Iwakuma accumulated enough innings pitched, the option would have vested at $15 million. Obviously, it appears that the likely move would be for the Mariners to take the buyout.

Next: Milwaukee Brewers squandered opportunity in 2017

Iwakuma will turn 37 years old in April of next season. Whether his career continues in Seattle or elsewhere, it will be interesting to see if he can get back to being the middle-to-top of the rotation starter he was only a couple of seasons ago.