PEORIA, Ariz. — The 2018 season is done for David Phelps before it even started. And the Mariners’ bullpen, expected to be a strength for this season and a useful tool to help offset the possible problems with the starting rotation, was dealt a gut punch with opening day looming just a week away.
In the midst of Wednesday night’s Cactus League game vs. the Brewers, the Mariners announced that right-handed reliever David Phelps has suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow and will undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery.
Phelps felt the ligament tear on the final pitch of his last outing on March 17 against the Angels.