With the hope that his timing issues at the plate and mistakes in the field that seemed to follow are fixed, outfielder Mallex Smith will return to his center field spot for a Mariners team that desperately needs him to be the productive player they expected when they acquired him.
Smith was recalled from Class AAA Tacoma on Thursday morning. To make room on the 25-man roster, infielder Shed Long was optioned to Tacoma after Tuesday’s game vs. Oakland.
After hitting jut .167 with a .255 on-base percentage and making some careless errors in center field, the Mariners optioned Smith to Tacoma on April 30.