Mustangs in the Pros: Woo is Lone Mustang on Active Opening Day MLB Roster
3/26/2025 2:30:00 PM | Baseball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — In 2023 and 2024, Cal Poly's baseball program was represented in the Major Leagues by a record six of its former players. On Thursday, the official Opening Day of the 2025 Major League season, there will be just one ex-Mustang wearing a Major League uniform.
That will be Seattle pitcher Bryan Woo and the No. 4 hurler in the Mariners' rotation is not scheduled to make his first start on the mound until Sunday at home against the Oakland Athletics.
Middle infielder Brooks Lee (Minnesota Twins) and pitcher Drew Thorpe (Chicago White Sox) are injured while outfielder Mitch Haniger was released by the Mariners on Sunday after injuring his shoulder in Spring Training.
Another former Mustang who has played in Major League games but currently is in the minors is pitcher Justin Bruihl (Toronto Blue Jays) at Buffalo.
In addition, pitcher Spencer Howard signed with the Rakuten Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball and likely will join the club's starting rotation. Rakuten opens its 2025 season Friday.
Woo is in his third season with the Mariners, so far compiling a career 13-8 win-loss record and 3.44 ERA. He has appeared on the mound in 40 MLB games, all starts, with 194 strikeouts over 209 innings.
In Spring Training this year, Woo pitched in five games with a 1-0 record and 4.96 ERA, notching 17 strikeouts over 16 1/3 innings.
Woo, 25, reached a career-high 121 1/3 innings last season, not including 14 frames he pitched in four Minor League rehab outings while he was recovering from separate stints on the injured list.
Woo missed the first six weeks of last season with right elbow inflammation and another two weeks beginning June 25 with a right hamstring strain.
He was still recovering from Tommy John surgery when the Mariners selected him in the sixth round of the 2021 Draft. But the upward trajectory on which he finished 2024 underscored how much Woo is trying to distance himself from the injuries.
"I wouldn't say it's gloves off, but I think it's always a situation that's going to be closely monitored," Mariners manager Dan Wilson told MLB.com. "But all signs have pointed to him being in a really good spot and certainly less of a worry that has been in the past."
When healthy, Woo was one of the game's most productive pitchers. Among 107 with the same workload or higher last year, Woo ranked second in WHIP (0.90), second in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.77), third in opponents' OPS (.574) and eighth in ERA (2.89).
He is considered to have one of the club's most electric arms, a low-slot release point that allows both his fastballs to play up. This spring, however, has been more about harnessing the secondaries -- a sweeper, slider and changeup, which he began leaning on down the stretch last fall.
"For me, it's an intent thing," Woo said to MLB.com. "It's a commitment thing. I can't just really feel things out and try to spin them. I just don't get the most out of my work that way. So I'm kind of reeling back on the volume and getting after it more with intensity. It's a little bit of a trade off, but I think it's helped a lot."
Lee likely will spend at least the first week of the 2025 season on the injury list as he is experiencing back spasms since the middle of last week. He missed two months of the 2024 season with back issues as well.
Lee, however, told Dan Hayes of The Athletic on Sunday that the back issues holding him back this year are different than last year.
"Last year it was much worse than what I am dealing with now," Lee said, adding that the spasms this time are higher up on his back and in his muscle, not disk.
"I feel way better than last time. Hopefully it shouldn't take too long. It's all muscular. I've obviously had the disc problems. I don't think it has any connection to that. It's a normal muscle spasm and a lot higher than it was last year and the times before. I kind of knew it was different, but it's still the back.
"It's just making sure my body is aligned correctly," Lee said Sunday. "I'll probably continue to do more aerobic stuff like walking. Hopefully, in five or six days I start testing for rotation and start doing a swing buildup. Last time it was three months, which is way too long. Hopefully, this is pretty short."
Called up by the Twins just before the Fourth of July last year, Lee played in 50 games and posted a .221 average with six doubles, a triple and three home runs, knocking in 27 runs.
He opened his MLB career with a six-game hitting streak, compiling a .462 average (11-for-24), before cooling off. In his debut against Detroit, Lee singled twice with one RBI, and he capped the streak with an RBI single that snapped a 6-6 tie in the 11th inning against the Chicago White Sox.
Thorpe will have Tommy John surgery at a date to be determined and likely won't return to the mound until the second half of the 2026 season.
"It's super frustrating," Thorpe, 24, told the Chicago Sun-Times. "It feels like I worked my butt off to get back, so it's kind of a gut punch. But now it's just another bump in the road. I know where my head is at with everything, and we'll be able to get through it and get on to next year."
"Very disappointing," manager Will Venable added. "He's been working incredibly hard and has continued to progress, and then obviously to have this setback is tough. But I know he'll attack this rehab like he attacked the last one and be in a good spot here in the near future."
Things have trended in the wrong direction for Thorpe since his last two starts of 2024, when he was thumped for 14 earned runs in 5 2/3 innings, raising his ERA from 3.03 to 5.48.
Thorpe had season-ending surgery to shave down a bone spur Sept. 7, then experienced more soreness in the offseason and received a cortisone shot Jan. 24. That delayed his start to spring training,
Thorpe's first mound appearance of the spring was in the minors last Thursday and Thorpe called for a team athletic trainer while warming up for the second inning.
Thorpe made his MLB debut last June and finished the year 3-3 with a 5.48 ERA, striking out 25 batters over 44 1/3 innings. He was 3-1 with a 3.03 ERA through his first seven starts and was shut down August 2 with what was diagnosed at the time as a right flexor strain.
Haniger, 34, had been sidelined for the past few weeks of Spring Training due to shoulder soreness, and Seattle has elected to eat his $15.5 million salary for this year rather than keep him on the roster.
"Mitch has been a significant part of Mariners history and will be missed," president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said in a statement. "The day he arrived for his first spring training back in 2017, he established himself as one of the most focused, prepared, and hardest working players I've ever been around. We all appreciate the many ways he's made us all better, on the field and off."
"Putting on a Mariners uniform and playing at T-Mobile Park is something I'll cherish forever," Haniger said in his statement. "To our fans, my teammates, and everyone a part of this organization, thank you for embracing my family and me. We have so many great memories to look back on."
Though he was often dogged by injuries throughout his tenure with the club, the outfielder remained productive and slashed .263/.337/.480 in 530 games from 2017 to 2022. His most impressive campaign with Seattle came in 2018, when he earned an All-Star appearance and an 11th-place finish in AL MVP voting.
Haniger departed the club for free agency following the 2022 campaign, and found a lucrative deal in San Francisco that guaranteed him $43 million over three years. The outfielder was limited to just 61 games where he slashed .209/.266/.365 in 229 trips to the plate in his lone season with the Giants. Haniger was bit by the injury bug repeatedly through that season, as he suffered a fracture forearm in addition to oblique and back issues throughout the year.
Haniger has played in 746 MLB games — 34 with Arizona in 2016, 61 with the Giants in 2023 and the rest with Seattle — compiling a .250 average with 134 doubles, 11 triples and 130 home runs. He drove in 395 runs and stole 19 bases.
Howard has pitched in the Major Leagues for the Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers, San Francisco Giants and Cleveland Guardians. Over parts of five MLB seasons, he put up a 7.00 ERA in 144 innings of work with 136 strikeouts and a 4-13 record.
Bruihl, who signed a minor league contract with Toronto on March 16, pitched in one Spring Training game for the Blue Jays and tossed one inning with two strikeouts against Baltimore on March 18, allowing one earned run. He previously pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado Rockies and Pittsburgh Pirates.
Uelmen, who signed with Arizona last June, pitched in 23 games for Triple-A Reno last summer before electing free agency in November. His 26 Major League appearances on the mound include 25 games with the Chicago Cubs and one for the Philadelphia Phillies, compiling a career 2-1 win-loss record and 5.79 ERA.
Utility player Mark Mathias elected free agency last November and has yet to sign with a club. Missing the entire 2024 season with a shoulder injury, Mathias has played in 73 Major League games (22 with Milwaukee, 24 for Texas, 22 with Pittsburgh and five for San Francisco) with a career .246 batting average, six home runs and 30 RBIs.
A year ago, 10 former Mustangs competed in at least one Spring Training game with their Major League club. This spring, there were just five. In addition to Lee, Haniger, Bruihl and Woo, catcher Ryan Stafford played in one exhibition game with his MLB club, the Baltimore Orioles.
In his only plate appearance, the fifth-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft grounded out to second base in the ninth inning against Detroit pitcher Jason Foley on March 16.
That will be Seattle pitcher Bryan Woo and the No. 4 hurler in the Mariners' rotation is not scheduled to make his first start on the mound until Sunday at home against the Oakland Athletics.
Middle infielder Brooks Lee (Minnesota Twins) and pitcher Drew Thorpe (Chicago White Sox) are injured while outfielder Mitch Haniger was released by the Mariners on Sunday after injuring his shoulder in Spring Training.
Another former Mustang who has played in Major League games but currently is in the minors is pitcher Justin Bruihl (Toronto Blue Jays) at Buffalo.
In addition, pitcher Spencer Howard signed with the Rakuten Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball and likely will join the club's starting rotation. Rakuten opens its 2025 season Friday.
Woo is in his third season with the Mariners, so far compiling a career 13-8 win-loss record and 3.44 ERA. He has appeared on the mound in 40 MLB games, all starts, with 194 strikeouts over 209 innings.
In Spring Training this year, Woo pitched in five games with a 1-0 record and 4.96 ERA, notching 17 strikeouts over 16 1/3 innings.
Woo, 25, reached a career-high 121 1/3 innings last season, not including 14 frames he pitched in four Minor League rehab outings while he was recovering from separate stints on the injured list.
Woo missed the first six weeks of last season with right elbow inflammation and another two weeks beginning June 25 with a right hamstring strain.
He was still recovering from Tommy John surgery when the Mariners selected him in the sixth round of the 2021 Draft. But the upward trajectory on which he finished 2024 underscored how much Woo is trying to distance himself from the injuries.
"I wouldn't say it's gloves off, but I think it's always a situation that's going to be closely monitored," Mariners manager Dan Wilson told MLB.com. "But all signs have pointed to him being in a really good spot and certainly less of a worry that has been in the past."
When healthy, Woo was one of the game's most productive pitchers. Among 107 with the same workload or higher last year, Woo ranked second in WHIP (0.90), second in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.77), third in opponents' OPS (.574) and eighth in ERA (2.89).
He is considered to have one of the club's most electric arms, a low-slot release point that allows both his fastballs to play up. This spring, however, has been more about harnessing the secondaries -- a sweeper, slider and changeup, which he began leaning on down the stretch last fall.
"For me, it's an intent thing," Woo said to MLB.com. "It's a commitment thing. I can't just really feel things out and try to spin them. I just don't get the most out of my work that way. So I'm kind of reeling back on the volume and getting after it more with intensity. It's a little bit of a trade off, but I think it's helped a lot."
Lee likely will spend at least the first week of the 2025 season on the injury list as he is experiencing back spasms since the middle of last week. He missed two months of the 2024 season with back issues as well.
Lee, however, told Dan Hayes of The Athletic on Sunday that the back issues holding him back this year are different than last year.
"Last year it was much worse than what I am dealing with now," Lee said, adding that the spasms this time are higher up on his back and in his muscle, not disk.
"I feel way better than last time. Hopefully it shouldn't take too long. It's all muscular. I've obviously had the disc problems. I don't think it has any connection to that. It's a normal muscle spasm and a lot higher than it was last year and the times before. I kind of knew it was different, but it's still the back.
"It's just making sure my body is aligned correctly," Lee said Sunday. "I'll probably continue to do more aerobic stuff like walking. Hopefully, in five or six days I start testing for rotation and start doing a swing buildup. Last time it was three months, which is way too long. Hopefully, this is pretty short."
Called up by the Twins just before the Fourth of July last year, Lee played in 50 games and posted a .221 average with six doubles, a triple and three home runs, knocking in 27 runs.
He opened his MLB career with a six-game hitting streak, compiling a .462 average (11-for-24), before cooling off. In his debut against Detroit, Lee singled twice with one RBI, and he capped the streak with an RBI single that snapped a 6-6 tie in the 11th inning against the Chicago White Sox.
Thorpe will have Tommy John surgery at a date to be determined and likely won't return to the mound until the second half of the 2026 season.
"It's super frustrating," Thorpe, 24, told the Chicago Sun-Times. "It feels like I worked my butt off to get back, so it's kind of a gut punch. But now it's just another bump in the road. I know where my head is at with everything, and we'll be able to get through it and get on to next year."
"Very disappointing," manager Will Venable added. "He's been working incredibly hard and has continued to progress, and then obviously to have this setback is tough. But I know he'll attack this rehab like he attacked the last one and be in a good spot here in the near future."
Things have trended in the wrong direction for Thorpe since his last two starts of 2024, when he was thumped for 14 earned runs in 5 2/3 innings, raising his ERA from 3.03 to 5.48.
Thorpe had season-ending surgery to shave down a bone spur Sept. 7, then experienced more soreness in the offseason and received a cortisone shot Jan. 24. That delayed his start to spring training,
Thorpe's first mound appearance of the spring was in the minors last Thursday and Thorpe called for a team athletic trainer while warming up for the second inning.
Thorpe made his MLB debut last June and finished the year 3-3 with a 5.48 ERA, striking out 25 batters over 44 1/3 innings. He was 3-1 with a 3.03 ERA through his first seven starts and was shut down August 2 with what was diagnosed at the time as a right flexor strain.
Haniger, 34, had been sidelined for the past few weeks of Spring Training due to shoulder soreness, and Seattle has elected to eat his $15.5 million salary for this year rather than keep him on the roster.
"Mitch has been a significant part of Mariners history and will be missed," president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said in a statement. "The day he arrived for his first spring training back in 2017, he established himself as one of the most focused, prepared, and hardest working players I've ever been around. We all appreciate the many ways he's made us all better, on the field and off."
"Putting on a Mariners uniform and playing at T-Mobile Park is something I'll cherish forever," Haniger said in his statement. "To our fans, my teammates, and everyone a part of this organization, thank you for embracing my family and me. We have so many great memories to look back on."
Though he was often dogged by injuries throughout his tenure with the club, the outfielder remained productive and slashed .263/.337/.480 in 530 games from 2017 to 2022. His most impressive campaign with Seattle came in 2018, when he earned an All-Star appearance and an 11th-place finish in AL MVP voting.
Haniger departed the club for free agency following the 2022 campaign, and found a lucrative deal in San Francisco that guaranteed him $43 million over three years. The outfielder was limited to just 61 games where he slashed .209/.266/.365 in 229 trips to the plate in his lone season with the Giants. Haniger was bit by the injury bug repeatedly through that season, as he suffered a fracture forearm in addition to oblique and back issues throughout the year.
Haniger has played in 746 MLB games — 34 with Arizona in 2016, 61 with the Giants in 2023 and the rest with Seattle — compiling a .250 average with 134 doubles, 11 triples and 130 home runs. He drove in 395 runs and stole 19 bases.
Howard has pitched in the Major Leagues for the Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers, San Francisco Giants and Cleveland Guardians. Over parts of five MLB seasons, he put up a 7.00 ERA in 144 innings of work with 136 strikeouts and a 4-13 record.
Bruihl, who signed a minor league contract with Toronto on March 16, pitched in one Spring Training game for the Blue Jays and tossed one inning with two strikeouts against Baltimore on March 18, allowing one earned run. He previously pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado Rockies and Pittsburgh Pirates.
Uelmen, who signed with Arizona last June, pitched in 23 games for Triple-A Reno last summer before electing free agency in November. His 26 Major League appearances on the mound include 25 games with the Chicago Cubs and one for the Philadelphia Phillies, compiling a career 2-1 win-loss record and 5.79 ERA.
Utility player Mark Mathias elected free agency last November and has yet to sign with a club. Missing the entire 2024 season with a shoulder injury, Mathias has played in 73 Major League games (22 with Milwaukee, 24 for Texas, 22 with Pittsburgh and five for San Francisco) with a career .246 batting average, six home runs and 30 RBIs.
A year ago, 10 former Mustangs competed in at least one Spring Training game with their Major League club. This spring, there were just five. In addition to Lee, Haniger, Bruihl and Woo, catcher Ryan Stafford played in one exhibition game with his MLB club, the Baltimore Orioles.
In his only plate appearance, the fifth-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft grounded out to second base in the ninth inning against Detroit pitcher Jason Foley on March 16.
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