Mariners avoid disaster after Josh Naylor exits game with injury

Josh Naylor was forced to leave Thursday’s White Sox finale early, but the Mariners have seemingly dodged a bullet with the first baseman.

The Seattle Mariners clinched a dramatic extra innings 4-3 win over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday afternoon, to complete a series sweep and improve to 63-53 on the season. However, arguably the bigger win came with their recent trade deadline acquisition, Josh Naylor.

Naylor was pulled from the series finale prior to the top of the fourth inning, due to left shoulder soreness. He had displayed some discomfort during his first at-bat in the second inning and once again grimaced during his second at-bat, which concluded with him grounding out to first base for the final out in the third.

It could have been so much worse for the Mariners

As a result of Naylor’s exit there was plenty of understandable angst within T-Mobile Park, even as the Mariners continued to roll with their sixth win in the last seven games. However, M’s manager Dan Wilson provided a positive update afterwards when speaking to the media, as he said:

“We’re going to get some answers here and monitor it and see where he’s at. I think it’s just a day-to-day kind of thing.”

While you can contend that Naylor missing even one game is something the Mariners would like to avoid, it sure beats the alternative of any kind of extended absence. The 2024 All-Star has been tremendous for the M’s ever since he arrived in a trade from the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 24, in exchange for prospects Brandyn Garcia and Ashton Izzi.

The trade showed the Mariners meant business and Naylor has subsequently justified the organization’s faith in him, batting .261/.320/.478 with a .798 OPS and 128 OPS+ in 13 games. He’s also 10-for-10 on stolen base attempts, which leads the majors since his trade to Seattle and is only one less than the 11 he managed previously this season in 93 games for the Diamondbacks.

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Hoping for Josh Naylor’s urgent return to the lineup

The injury exit resulted in Donovan Solano seeing his first game action since Naylor’s trade to the Mariners. With all due respect to Solano, M’s fans will be hoping the 28-year-old Naylor returns ASAP, with Luke Raley still out with back spasms.

For what it’s worth Naylor has not been on the injured list all season, although he did previously experience an issue with his other shoulder and missed one game for the Diamondbacks. However, as per Daniel Kramer of MLB.com, Wilson confirmed the latest issue is unrelated to this.

As for the Mariners as a whole, sweeping the struggling White Sox might not seem like much, but you can only beat whoever is opposing you at that time. Irrespective, the M’s now climb to within 1.5 games of the Houston Astros at the top of the AL West, while also pulling to within one game of the Boston Red Sox for the AL’s top wild card spot.

Next up for the Mariners is a three-game set against the Tampa Bay Rays, which will conclude their current 10-game homestand. Luis Castillo will take the ball in Friday’s series opener, followed by Logan Evans on Saturday night and Bryan Woo in Sunday afternoon’s finale.

Photos court​‌esy of Tim Rodgers Photography

The Rays enter Friday’s game with a 57-59 losing record, including 25-29 on the road. How many games do you predict the Mariners will win in this weekend series? Let us know in the comments section below.