Out since early spring training with a finger injury, Mariners right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma is expected to come off the disabled list and make his season debut Saturday against the Astros.
Iwakuma stretched out to 86 pitches in a minor-league rehab start Sunday, so he should be more or less without restrictions versus Houston. He wasn’t particularly sharp in the final tune-up outing, however.
Iwakuma was one of the elite pitchers in baseball last season, throwing 220 innings with a 2.66 ERA and 185 strikeouts. Seattle is still waiting for rookies Taijuan Walker and James Paxton to get healthy to complete what has a chance to be one of the best rotations in the league, but Iwakuma joining Felix Hernandez will provide a huge boost in the meantime.