SEATTLE — Ryan Yarbrough is excited by the chance to start Sunday, and not just because he isn’t working behind an opener.
Yarbrough finally gets to face the Mariners, the team with which he started his career. The Rays left-hander is eager to throw in front of some former teammates and coaches still with Seattle and do so for the first time at T-Mobile Park.
“It’s cool coming back here to Seattle,’’ he said. “It’s a team you especially want to throw against … that you get a little excited for.’’
Yarbrough, 27, was feeling a bit nostalgic but made it clear he had no regrets about being traded by the Mariners in January 2017 with Mallex Smith and minor-leaguer Carlos Vargas to the Rays for left-hander Drew Smyly.