The Mariners announced that outfielder Julio Rodríguez He was placed on the seven-day disabled list due to the concussion. Midfielder/outfielder Miles Mastrobuoni has been selected to take his place on the list. The right hand Cooper Criswell transferred to IL for 60 days to make room for 40 men at Mastrobuoni. Daniel Kramer of MLB.com was among those to note earlier that Mastrobuoni was in the clubhouse with Rodríguez who was likely to face IL.
Rodríguez’s injury happened in last night’s game, as seen in this clip from Baseball Savant. He was on first base in the bottom of the first inning there Dominic Canzone hit a chopper to the first baseman Nolan Schanuel. Chanuel swung and tried to get the power to second but the throw hit Rodríguez in the back of the helmet. After the ball bounced into the shallows, Rodríguez got up and sprinted to third. He stayed in the game for a while but was eliminated in third place.
Kramer later revealed that Rodríguez was undergoing concussion protocol. His full time is unclear but it seems the club have decided to take at least a week off. Even if he’s ready to return next week, the All-Star break starts a week from Monday, so maybe the club will play it safe and just keep him on the shelf until then.
This is the fifth year that Rodríguez has been a mainstay on the Seattle roster. He’s having another great campaign, with a .259/.323/.424 line, 115 wRC+ and 12 stolen bases. While his defensive grades aren’t as strong this year, he’s still 1.9 wins above replacement, in the eyes of FanGraphs.
For at least the next week, the Mariners will have to live without that production. Victor Robles he replaced Rodríguez in center field in last night’s game and starts there again tonight. Robles is hitting .233/.273/.260 on the year, so the lineup will be weak for now.
The rest of the roster doesn’t really have much in the way of center field, so Mastrobuoni was added to give the club some cover there. He recently came off the show last month but resigned and stayed on the show. That allowed him to be added again today.
Mastrobuoni is just a .230/.295/.273 hitter in his major league career but has experience in every spot on the diamond except for catching. He hasn’t played center field in the majors but has had some time there in the minors. Luke Raley has 171 major league innings in center field and could be another option there. Weston Wilson he has one pitch inning on his record. Randy Arozarena he has spent time in the center again but not since 2024. If Rodríguez or other players become healthy in the near future, Mastrobuoni has no choice and will need to be removed from the 40-man roster if he is removed from the active roster.
As for Criswell, he landed on the 15-day injured list on June 9, with his injury initially described as a shoulder strain. One week later, Kramer relayed that Criswell had a Grade 1-plus pectoral strain and wasn’t expected to return until the August 3 trade deadline. This relay means he can’t be officially returned to IL until a few days after that trade deadline.
Photo courtesy of Steven Bisig, Imagn Images
