Overview
- Seattle announced Friday that reliever Carlos Vargas went on the 15-day injured list retroactive to March 24 with a right lat strain.
- To fill the bullpen spot, the club recalled right-hander Cole Wilcox from Triple-A Tacoma after trading cash to the Rays for him in November as the last piece of the Blake Snell deal.
- Vargas made the Opening Day roster after a rough spring with a 6.48 ERA in nine outings, while Wilcox impressed by touching 97 mph with a fastball–sinker mix and a slider–sweeper.
- A Seattle Times report said Vargas felt the injury during pregame catch on Thursday, which led Dan Wilson to use Casey Legumina and Cooper Criswell late as the bullpen gave up three runs in a 6-4 loss to Cleveland.
- Wilcox could debut as soon as Friday night against the Guardians, and he arrives with spring momentum and only one MLB outing that yielded seven runs, three earned, in one inning for Tampa Bay last year.