The Seattle Mariners placed reliever Sam Tuivailala on unconditional release waivers Friday for the purpose of granting him release, the club announced.
The right-hander Tuivailala, 27, did not appear in a Cactus League game this year prior to the suspension of spring training due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He'd been battling a shoulder impingement.
He went 1-0 with a 2.35 ERA with 27 strikeouts and 11 walks in 23 appearances (2 starts) with the Mariners last season. Tuivailala began 2019 on the Injured List recovering from a rupture Achilles.
He had his best stretch of 2019 from July 20 to September 1, when he didn’t allow a run over 14 u2153 innings.