Friday, June 19

SEATTLE -- Bryan Woo still remembers his time in the ICU vividly. 

For how terrifying it was, but also for the thoughtful care of the medical staff that helped him and his family navigate what remains one of their toughest life challenges. 

So, when the Mariners’ electric right-hander pushed to create more individual connection with the Pacific Northwest community entering this season, he had a very specific demographic and cause in mind, which was brought to life on Wednesday. 

Woo welcomed to T-Mobile Park two cancer patients from Seattle Children’s Hospital -- Charlotte Malone, 11, and Cooper Anderson, 12, as well as their families. But it was the youngsters who presented Woo with gifts of a lifetime, which brought him to tears. 

Charlotte and Cooper were among two dozen patients who designed three pairs of custom cleats that highlighted their artistic creativity but also Woo’s personality. 

And he plans to debut one of the sets for Thursday’s start against the Orioles.

“It's definitely just perspective, just what's important,” Woo said. “Baseball is such a small part of my life, but your health and your family and that stuff is just so much more important.”

After Woo’s public profile skyrocketed during an All-Star season in 2025, he wanted to leverage his impact even further. 

Drawing from a recent such event held by former Mariners infielder Justin Turner in 2024, as well as a reverse card signing orchestrated by Mitch Haniger that same year, Woo took a lead on connecting with Seattle Children’s through the Mariners' community outreach staff and his representatives at Apex Baseball.

“I love shoes, and I love just like style and clothing,” Woo said, “and to be able to kind of have them combine all that stuff together into like one final product was also really cool.”

Around Opening Day, Woo shipped the three pairs of cleats to the hospital and encouraged patients, essentially, to go wild. And for the kids, the design component was an avenue to channel therapy in a non-clinical way. 

“Some of them wrote or drew something deeply personal,” said Ashley Speller, communications manager for Seattle Children’s, citing the cancer ribbon that was painted on one set of the cleats.

“The therapeutic part of just doing something else -- something different, something that is just new and maybe fun or exciting,” Woo said. “Whether they're artistic or not, it's just something to maybe break up their day, and hopefully, they'll get to see it on TV, and have some pride about it.”

When he was 18 years old and back home in the East Bay from Cal Poly during Thanksgiving break, Woo spent a month in the hospital recovering from Lemierre syndrome -- a rare but life-threatening complication of bacterial sore throats and tonsillitis.

And he was actually admitted to a children’s hospital in Oakland, based on his age and care provided.

His situation began as strep throat, but the area became infected and led to a blood clot in his neck that limited oxygen to his brain. It took extended tests to finally discover a diagnosis, and what he estimated was six months to fully recover. But he wound up playing baseball the next season. 

“The time and hours that the doctors and nurses were putting in to just even figure out what was wrong with me,” Woo said, “and also like once I was in there, really just go above and beyond to help me feel seen and taken care of.”

It’s why Wednesday's collaboration will likely be the first of many with Seattle Children’s.

“It's weird to think about the fact that I have some sort of status and weight of responsibility to do those things,” Woo said. “But it's a really cool opportunity that you get the chance to impact lives here in Seattle. ... When you do stuff like this, it's like a breath of fresh air.”

The banged-up Mariners absorbed another injury in Wednesday’s 5-3 loss to the Orioles, as Julio Rodríguez was forced to exit to begin the seventh inning with what manager Dan Wilson described as a hamstring spasm. 

He suffered the injury when making a leaping catch in the left-center gap to rob Adley Rutschman of extra bases. 

Here’s the latest on the situation.

The piggyback strategy is returning to the Mariners’ rotation, but with quite a significant change.

The club is bringing back the tandem tactic, but it will now feature all six of their starters -- as each among that group will appear in the front end or back end of a piggyback from now through the All-Star break.

Here’s an explainer on how they came to the decision.

Brendan Donovan recently trimmed his bushy hair due to the extreme heat in Arizona, where he spent the past few weeks while recovering from the left groin strain that re-landed him on the injured list on May 17.

At first, Donovan was almost unrecognizable with his trimmer cut upon returning to T-Mobile Park to work more closely with the big league medical personnel, given that he’s had the long locks since debuting in 2022. They’ve been made even more distinguished given his “hair on fire” style of play -- his words, not ours -- as they were basically always flapping behind him in stride.

And Donovan is indeed on the cusp of running again, which is his biggest development in a full month. 

The 29-year-old will begin a progression this week, which general manager Justin Hollander estimated would last 10 days to two weeks. And from there, the club sees Donovan going straight into a Minor League rehab assignment.

“This is the thing that they were most concerned about,” Hollander said, citing Seattle’s athletic training staff, “and wanting to do it, make sure we did it the right way. We don't want to rush in and rush through a running progression. All the rest of it, we think, will be just fine. There's only so many swings you can take off a machine.”

When Donovan does return, he won’t exclusively play third base like he did over his first 23 starts. And this has long been envisioned, largely for whenever Colt Emerson was added to the mix.

“He will be more multi-positional than he was for us prior to the injury,” Hollander said.

Mariners Fireworks Nights

The Mariners are lighting up the sky all summer long with Fireworks Nights presented by T-Mobile. The next postgame show is coming up on Friday vs. the Red Sox. Check out this year’s themes and the complete lineup at Mariners.com/Fireworks. 

50 Seasons Celebration Night

Don’t miss the biggest event of the summer: 50 Seasons Celebration Night presented by Daktronics. Witness the most iconic gathering of franchise greats as the top 50 Mariners players are unveiled and honored at T-Mobile Park on Aug. 8. Get your tickets at Mariners.com/50.

Mariners Suites

Are you planning an event this summer? Check out a Mariners Suite. The perfect venue for all kinds of events, from birthday parties and family celebrations to client meetings and company outings. Enjoy customizable set-ups, first-class catering and private entry & parking. Book now at Mariners.com/Suites.

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