Mariners avoid serious injury with Julio Rodriguez

After plenty of understandable concern for the Seattle Mariners surrounding Julio Rodriguez, his MRI has come back clean.

There’s no disguising the reality the Seattle Mariners have little excuse for losing their latest series, versus a Toronto Blue Jays ball club floundering at the bottom of the AL East. The Blue Jays entered the weekend’s series at T-Mobile Park 10 games under .500, but went on to win two of the three contests.

The Mariners had started well enough, taking Friday’s series opener 2-1. However, two consecutive losses, including a 5-4 extra innings defeat in Sunday’s rubber match, ensured they dropped their sixth series in a row.

This is a Mariners ball club now seemingly in free fall, having gone just 5-12 in their past 17 games. As a result, they have seen a commanding 10.0 game lead at the top of the AL West whittled all the way down to just 2.0 games over the Houston Astros.

Of the six series losses, this includes two can’t-lose three-game sets versus the Miami Marlins and Blue Jays. The Marlins, because they have one of the worst home records in the Majors this year, and the Blue Jays, because they are just terrible this season, highlighted by an offense on a similar lowly-ranking unproductive level as the Mariners.

Some much-needed positivity with J-Rod

Despite all this, there was some good news to come out over the weekend, in respect of Julio Rodríguez and a potential injury. When speaking to reporters on Sunday, Mariners manager Scott Servais confirmed his center fielder’s MRI had come back clean.

Rodríguez had left Saturday’s game before he even got the chance to have an at-bat, due to a quad issue. The two-time All-Star had felt something in his lower right quad during pregame warm-ups, and subsequently it was decided it would be better for him to come out after the top of the first.

Clearly the result of the MRI was of huge relief to everyone concerned, although the 23-year-old was still held out from Sunday’s series finale as a precaution. Servais explained he was a little sore and they preferred to be better safe than sorry.

Another close call for the Mariners

This is the second time in less than a week, when the Mariners have had an injury scare with Rodríguez. He jammed his right thumb while making a catch on a high flyball, during Thursday’s game versus the Baltimore Orioles.

This resulted in a visit from Servais and head athletic trainer Kyle Torgerson, which seemed to last an eternity out in centre field. In the end however, the 2022 AL Rookie of the Year was able to remain in the game.

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It’s been a tough third year in general for Rodríguez in the Majors. Following on from two impressive seasons with the Mariners, he has struggled in 2024, specifically on offense.

Little has gone right for the two-time Silver Slugger at the plate, highlighted by a concerning .632 OPS. In many respects this sums up the Mariners’ lineup struggles as a whole, with them third-last in team OPS and fourth-lowest for runs scored in the Majors.

If nothing else though, adding to Rodríguez avoiding a serious injury, he has at least started July in encouraging form. Yes it’s only a small sample size, but his .500 slugging percentage and .794 project to be season highs for a month in 2024.

Do you have confidence in Rodriguez being able to rediscover his form of previous years sooner than later? By extension, how much confidence do you have in the Mariners getting back on track to hold on for a playoff spot come the end of the regular season? Let us know in the comments section below.