Roster Moves
Mariners Select INF Tim Lopes from AAA Tacoma
INF Dee Gordon placed on the 10-day Injured List; RHP Parker Markel designated for assignment
SEATTLE, Wash. — Mariners General Manager Jerry Dipoto announced today the following roster moves:
· Tim Lopes, INF, selected from AAA Tacoma.
· Dee Gordon, INF, placed on the 10-day Injured List with a strained left quad.
· Parker Markel, RHP, designated for assignment.
Lopes (#10) will be in uniform and available for tonight’s (7:10 pm PT) game vs. the Texas Rangers at T-Mobile Park.
Lopes will be making his Major League debut with his first appearance.
The Mariners have 7 days to trade, release or outright the contract of Markel to the minors.
Seattle’s Major League, 40-man, roster remains at 40.
Lopes, 25, is batting .302 (108x358) with 58 runs, 30 doubles, 2 triples, 10 home runs, 60 RBI, 35 walks, 24 stolen bases, a .362 on-base percentage and a .480 slugging percentage (.843 OPS) in 91 games with Triple-A Tacoma this season. He has an active 14 game hitting-streak with the Rainiers, batting .382 (21x55) with 11 runs, 6 doubles, 4 home runs, 18 RBI, 6 walks and 3 stolen bases. Dating back to June 27, he has hit safely in 19 of his last 21 games, batting .357 (30x84) over that span. He has appeared defensively at second base (61 G, 60 GS) and third base (20 GS). The 5-foot-11, 180-pound infielder has hit safely in 66 of 91 games with the Rainiers this season, including 33 multi-hit games.
Lopes was originally selected by the Mariners in the 6th round of the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Edison High School in Huntington Beach, CA. The native of Los Angeles spent the first 5 seasons of his professional career in the Mariners organization, spending the 2016 campaign with Double-A Jackson, where he hit .284 (145x510) in 131 games. On Sept. 30, 2016, he was sent to Toronto as a Player To Be Named Later completing a trade made on Aug. 6, 2016 in which the Mariners acquired switch-handed pitcher Pat Venditte from the Blue Jays. Lopes spent the 2017 and 2018 seasons in the Blue Jays organization before signing with Seattle as a minor league free agent on Nov. 14, 2018. In 8 minor league seasons with Seattle (2012–16, 2019-c) and Toronto (2017–18), he is a career .277 (872x3151) hitter with 429 runs, 168 doubles, 41 triples, 27 home runs, 350 RBI, 286 walks, 157 stolen bases and a .339 on-base percentage in 840 games.
Gordon, 31, is batting .280 (74x264) with 26 runs, 8 doubles, 3 triples, 3 home runs, 27 RBI, 11 walks and 16 stolen bases in 77 games this season. His 16 stolen bases rank 8th in the American League. He has hit safely in 6 of his last 7 games, batting .556 (10x18) with 1 run, 2 doubles, and 2 RBI prior to exiting the game on July 22 in the 3rd inning.
Gordon is making his 2nd trip to the Injured List this season. He was first placed on the Injured List on May 21 with a right wright contusion after being hit on his right wrist by a pitch on May 9 at New York-AL. He began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Tacoma on June 7, where he went 3-for-14 (.214) in 3 games with the Rainiers. In total, he missed 19 games during his first stint on the IL before being reinstated on June 11.
Gordon is in his 2nd season with the Mariners after being acquired from Miami in a trade on Dec. 7, 2017. He was originally selected by Los Angeles-NL in the 4th round of the 2008 MLB Draft. In parts of 9 Major League seasons with the Dodgers (2011–14), Marlins (2015–17) and Mariners (2018-c), he is batting .288 (1051x3643) with 510 runs, 119 doubles, 51 triples, 18 home runs, 224 RBI and 324 stolen bases. He is 1 of 3 active players with at least 300 career stolen bases.
Markel, 28, has appeared in 2 stints with the Mariners this season: May 12–20 and July 6–14. In 5 relief appearances with the Mariners this season, he has allowed 9 runs (8 earned) over 4.2 innings pitched (15.43 ERA) while walking 4 and striking out 3. He appeared in 1 game during his most recent Major League stint, allowing 2 runs in 1.0 inning of work on July 12 at the Angels. He made his Major League debut on May 12 at Boston. Markel is 4–0 with a 2.08 ERA (8 ER, 34.2 IP) with 23 walks and 62 strikeouts in the minors this season, spending time with Double-A Arkansas (5 games) and Triple-A Tacoma (22 games). He was named to the Triple-A All-Star Team with Tacoma, where he went 2–0 with a 2.60 ERA with 44 strikeouts and 21 walks. He went 2–0 and did not allow a run in 7.2 innings while walking 2 and striking out 18 with Arkansas.
Markel was selected by Detroit in the 32nd round of the 2009 MLB Draft but did not sign. The native of Newport Beach, CA, was selected and signed by Tampa Bay in the 39th round of the 2010 Draft out of Yavapai College (Prescott, AZ). He has appeared in parts of 8 minor league seasons with the Rays (2010–16) and Mariners (2019-c). He spent the 2017 season with the Lotte Giants of the Korean Baseball Organization. In 2018, Markel made 37 relief appearances with the Sioux City Explorers of the independent American Association.
