A chance for Logan Evans to continue to develop in AAA, and dare I say, more Jarred Kelenic discourse?
The Seattle Mariners announced the reinstatement of Jackson Kowar from the 60-day Injured List, and in a corresponding move have optioned starter Logan Evans back down to Tacoma.
The first appearance of Jackson Kowar this season in a game will also be his first to do so as a Mariner, in what has been a long awaited debut. Since being acquired in a trade on Dec. 3, 2023 that included the departure of Jarred Kelenic, Marco Gonzales, and Evan White, Kowar missed the entire 2024 season and the start of this one while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Seattle didn’t simply send out that much prospect pedigree on accident; Kowar himself is a 1st round pick of the Kansas City Royals in the 2018 draft. Rehab appearances for Jackson were split between the ACL Mariners and the Rainiers, and in the eight games (two of them starts) he posted 2.57 ERA across 7.0 IP.
The optioning of Logan Evans comes after an impressive runs of six starts in his MLB debut, including coming off of the back of an incredibly impressive eight inning outing against the Washington Nationals where he only allowed four hits and one earned run. The impression he left in that time at the big league level was not without an impact, reflected in statements from team manager Dan Wilson. “It’s always tough. And you know, especially after he has pitched so well and gave us so many strong innings and strong performances, it’s always a tough thing to do that. But as we talked to him, I hope he’s garnered a lot of confidence from what he has done here, and all the success that he had, and taking that as a foundation to continue to build on.” Dan also made a point of citing the organization’s pitching strength that has been here for some time now, Evans’ big strides in development, and his excitement to see how that continues to develop.
Update:
Jackson Kowar spoke at a press appearance about his activation from the IL, experience during rehab, and overall impressions of the organization so far. About being ready and what that meant to him and the team, he mentioned the desire to be able to go back-to-back in appearances, and said it was this last week in AAA where he began to feel that readiness. “Was able to go to three out of five, which is more of a realistic workload off the rehab program.”
Asked about time spent with Matt Brash in rehab, Kowar responded light-heartedly that “Matt has definitely spent way too much time with me”, but continued, “It’s been really nice to kind of have someone go before you, to see his stuff, so that it is easier for me to map it out.” Overall this seems to reflect Kowar’s feelings towards the pitching side of the organization. After mentioning how good he felt in the 2024 spring training camp and how disappointing his injury was, he talked about how the pitching side of the organization has done a good job of making him feel included, and that he never felt isolated or that he wasn’t a part of things. “I always feel like I was still rowing in the same direction as a team.”