It’s not all quite as Roenis Elias remembers from the Seattle Mariners’ clubhouse. Felix Hernandez is pretty much the same loud, hair-looks-different-everyday self, but Elias never had a pool table right in front of his stall and there’s a lot of younger players compared to his last stay here, when he made his big-league debut with the Mariners to open the 2014 season.
The Mariners recalled the Cuban-born left-hander from Triple-A Tacoma earlier Friday before their game against the Tampa Bay Rays and designated another lefty for assignment, veteran Marc Rzepczynski.
But it didn’t take a translator to understand Elias’ response, saying what it took for him to make it back to this point after injuries relegated him to just four major league games with the Boston Red Sox the past two seasons.