Mariners notebook: Charlie Furbush to have procedure Wednesday

PEORIA, Ariz. – The non-surgical medical procedure that Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto said reliever Charlie Furbush would undergo is scheduled to take place Wednesday.

Furbush has opted to try the Regenokine treatment, which athletes like Kobe Bryant, Alex Rodriguez and Fred Couples among others have undergone to help with a number of issues. The treatment is similar to the platelet-rich plasma shot in which blood is drawn, spun to produce a concentration of platelet cells and then injected into the problem area.

Related: Charlie Furbush won’t be ready by opening day

There is little to no down time and Furbush hopes to be able to start a throwing program shortly after.

“I’m going to try this out. Hopefully it works and I get back in no time,” he said while acknowledging that this is not a cure of the original injury. “We know there is a partial tear in the rotator cuff. It is just kind of managing that and what I know to be there. I don’t feel it is anything new. I honestly feel pretty good right now. I think I am pretty close, so if this can get me back on the mound, I am all for it.”

Lineup!

Norichika Aoki, LF
Luis Sardinas, SS
Kyle Seager, 3B
Nelson Cruz, DH
Adam Lind, 1B
Franklin Gutierrez, RF
Steve Clevenger, C
Tyler Smith, 2B
Leonys Martin, CF

Taijuan Walker, SP

This will be Walker’s last start before the regular season; the hope is he can get into the seventh inning.

While the decision on the backup catcher will not be made until the end of spring training, Rob Brantly has made just two starts. He has come into many games late, but he hasn’t caught all of the starters. Steve Clevenger has caught all of them, most of them multiple times.

Notes

• Kyle Seager has officially been given the red light on the bases. “We gave the green light to all guys in camp and we have taken it away from a few,” manager Scott Servais said with a smile. “He was not happy to hear it was taken away. He will still run, but we will pick his spots.”

• Servais has been giving most of his regulars a large amount of at-bats the past five days. Look for him to back off them a bit as the season approaches. They should still get starts, but they’ll leave the games earlier.

• While the bullpen is not shaking out the way I think it was expected to heading into spring training due to injury and Justin De Fratus not bouncing back the way the Mariners had hoped he would, Evan Scribner and Ryan Cook are expected to be back at some point. While Cook had the more significant of the lat injuries, he is progressing quicker than expected and Scribner is progressing as well.