The Mariners announced on Wednesday they have activated reliever Jackson Kowar. When Kowar gets into a game for the Mariners, it will be the first time he’s pitched competitively since September 27 of 2023.
Eagle-eyed spring training aficionados might remember Kowar’s Mariners debut in March of 2024: he appeared in two games and threw 12 pitches over two brilliant innings, striking out three and allowing no hits and no walks, and then immediately went on the IL with what would turn out to be a complete UCL reconstruction with the brace procedure.
It was disappointing for Mariners fans excited to see one of the returns of the Jarred Kelenic - Marco Gonzales - Evan White trade, where the Mariners got already-injured pitcher Cole Phillips and Kowar from Atlanta in return for lightening their roster, literally and metaphorically.