Cishek (hip) is still recovering from offseason surgery and appears to be a "long shot" to be ready for Opening Day, Bbo Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune reports. "Steve is not out to playing catch too far yet," manager Scott Servais said. "He needs to get his legs underneath him and get his lower half working. He's just getting into that."

EDGE Analysis

The Mariners will have their first official workout for pitchers Wednesday, but Cishek won't be included among the group and looks like he's multiple weeks away from even throwing off a mound, as Servais indicated he's only recently begun loss tossing. The reliever required microfracture surgery on his hip in October and doesn't seem to be behind in his recovery, but the severity of the procedure nonetheless figures to delay his start to the season. A healthy Cishek was expected to challenge for a role as the top setup man to closer Edwin Diaz, but Nick Vincent now looks like the leading contender for those duties.