Ryan Divish
The Seattle Times
With their bats lagging over the weekend in a series loss to the Dodgers, the Mariners made a pair of roster moves on Monday afternoon that they hope will get the offense going.
Shortstop Jean Segura returned from a three-day absence on the paternity list. He said everything is going well with his wife, Kellen, and newborn son, Jacob. Utility infielder Gordon Beckham was optioned back to Tacoma to make room for Segura.
The Mariners also recalled outfielder Ben Gamel and optioned Guillermo Heredia back to Tacoma in an outfielder swap that sources had confirmed on Sunday. With the Mariners expected to face right-handed starting pitchers in five of their next six games, Gamel figures to play almost daily.
He got the start in right field on Monday night with Mitch Haniger moving to center field.
“It’s great to have Jean back and I talked to Ben a little bit today,” Servais said. “I was really proud of the way he went down and took care of business. He went down there with the right attitude and played well. I’m anxious to get him back. We’ve been talking about bringing him back for a little while now. Over the weekend we were facing a lot of left-handed pitching, we thought here would be a good time to bring him back. Hopefully he’s bringing a hot bat with him.
Gamel, 26, hit .369 (24 for 65) in 16 games with Tacoma since being optioned to the Rainiers on July 31. In 16 games, he scored 15 runs with seven doubles, three triples, a home run, 11 RBI, six walks and four stolen bases.
“I was back to playing every day and getting in the groove,” Gamel said. “I got my timing and I just tried to carry over what I’ve been working on here.”
He was batting .290 (58 for 200) with 26 runs, 10 doubles, four triples, a home run and 12 RBI when he was sent down. Being sent down wasn’t a popular among fans or easy for him to take.
“Obviously, it’s not what anyone wants,” he said. “But I understood. I understood where it was coming from and the end of the day, you have to go down there and try to get better.”
