The Mariners suffered a potentially devastating blow on Saturday when center fielder Julio Rodriguez was helped off the field by members of the team’s athletic staff due to an apparent injury. The injury occurred (as relayed by Daniel Kramer of MLB.com) when a hard-hit line drive off the bat of Randy Arozarena collided with Rodriguez’s leg while he was attempting to steal third base. Rodriguez was replaced in center field by Leody Taveras.
It’s not yet clear how severe Rodriguez’s injury is, but even a brief absence would be a tough break for a Mariners club that has already lost ten of their last 14 games, including an active four-game losing streak. That slide has seen Seattle drop from in the driver’s seat in the AL West to three games back of the Astros and one game out of an AL Wild Card spot. That slide can’t be attributed to Rodriguez, who has started to shed his reputation as a slow starter this season by slashing a respectable .248/.316/.416 (114 wRC+) with even stronger peripheral numbers across his first 61 games this season. Rodriguez has ten steals, ten homers, and is striking out at a career-low 19.6% clip to this point in the season all while playing his typical excellent defense in center field.
For now, there’s little for Mariners fans to do other than wait for updates from club brass. Rodriguez appears likely to undergo testing before a timetable for his return will become available. Perhaps he’s suffered only a contusion and will be day-to-day or require only a short stint on the IL. On the other hand, a bone bruise on Rodriguez’s leg would likely require at least a month, as it has for fellow outfielders like Mike Trout and Cody Bellinger in recent years, although it’s at least possible it could take significantly longer as has been the case for players like Kyle Tucker and Anthony Rendon.
That dynamic of a talent would be difficult to lose for any club, but that’s especially true of the Mariners, given their current situation in the outfield. With Victor Robles and Luke Raley both already on the injured list, infielders from the club’s bench mix like Miles Mastrobuoni and Dylan Moore, have been tasked with helping out on the grass alongside the club’s regular trio of Rodriguez, Arozarena, and Taveras. If Rodriguez were to require a stint on the injured list, Taveras would likely slide over from right field to center, while a depth option currently at Triple-A like Dominic Canzone or Rhylan Thomas would take over in right field.
Canzone is a career .206/.263/.387 hitter in the majors and Thomas has just three games in the majors under his belt, so it goes without saying that either would be a subpar replacement for the Mariners’ star hitter. The good news is that further help may be on the way soon: MLB.com suggests that Raley could begin a rehab assignment as soon as next week. A .242/.328/.463 (127 wRC+) hitter since the start of the 2023 campaign, Raley’s return could help to make up for any time Rodriguez misses, at least against right-handed pitching.
