Injury woes hopefully resolved, O’Malley to start for Rainiers Thursday

Hampered by injuries and illness over the past several months, former Southridge High School standout Shawn O’Malley is set to make his return to a Pacific Northwest ball field Thursday night, though he’ll still be a few miles south of Safeco.

The Seattle Mariners’ AAA affiliate Tacoma Rainiers announced in a tweet that O’Malley — drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays out of high school in 2006, and acquired by the Mariners in December 2014 — will start at second base and bat second for them tonight at home against the Memphis Redbirds.

As a utility player for the Mariners last season, O’Malley played in 89 games, batting .229 with 13 extra-base hits and 17 RBIs while supplying stellar defense at positions all over the diamond.

He was locked in a battle for the same roster spot during spring training with Taylor Motter (now also in Tacoma) and Mike Freeman (designated for assignment by the L.A. Dodgers July 31), but hit a speed bump when he had to get an emergency appendectomy March 21. He was placed on the 10-day disabled list to start the season, but developed a shoulder injury while attempting to return to playing shape, eventually requiring arthroscopic shoulder surgery that moved him to the 60-day DL.

O’Malley began rehabbing with the Arizona (Rookie) League Mariners Jul. 7 — hit .385/.556/.769 (batting average/on-base/slugging) in five games — and hit .250/.417/.393 over eight games with the AA Arkansas Travelers near the end of July.

This story was originally published August 3, 2017 at 4:35 PM with the headline "Injury woes hopefully resolved, O’Malley to start for Rainiers Thursday."