The Seattle Mariners scratched Taijuan Walker from a scheduled rehab start on Tuesday night because he could not get loose before the game.

Walker, who was placed on the disabled list last month due to inflammation in his pitching shoulder, complained of a stiff shoulder prior to the game.

"He just says he felt stiff," Jack Zduriencik told reporters. "What you don't know about this is if you sleep on it wrong or however things work like that. When a guy's stiff and he's a guy like this, you just figure let's take as many precautions as we can."

The 21-year-old was expected to rejoin Seattle's rotation next week.