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Whalen is a candidate to make a spot start against the Astros on Sunday if Felix Hernandez is demoted from the starting rotation, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports.
The right-hander was on the disabled list at Triple-A Tacoma earlier in the season with a shoulder injury, but he's made seven starts since returning July 6. Whalen most recently started for the Rainiers on Tuesday, so he'd be on his normal amount of rest if he were to get the callup. Whalen sports just a 7-7 record and bloated 5.12 ERA at the minor-league level this season, but he was impressive in his one previous spot start with the Mariners, throwing four scoreless innings against the Red Sox on June 15. Considering that Erasmo Ramirez (shoulder) -- reportedly the team's preferred option if it was to replace Hernandez -- will still make one more rehab start and is thus unavailable Sunday, the M's could also choose to stand pat and give the latter one more turn as a starter.
