By Paul L. Taylor Posted on

Mariners back at full strength heading into first road trip of 2026

The Seattle Mariners made a trio of roster moves on Thursday during their day off, including reinstating J.P. Crawford from the injured list.

It has admittedly been a bit of an underwhelming start to the 2026 season for a Mariners team expected to challenge for the World Series, as evidenced by a 3-4 record in their first homestand. Not that this is anything new, with losing records through seven games the past five years before going on to become one of only four Major League teams to finish with 85+ wins each time over the same time period.

Still, Mariners fans never need much of a reason to be concerned after nearly five decades of mostly heartbreak. As such, there’s little doubt that plenty of angst in permeating throughout the fanbase as a result of Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez and Josh Naylor’s collective 7-for-78 start to the season at the plate.

To be fair, as with the team as a whole, it’s way too early to be concerned about the trio, with Raleigh specifically also starting slow last season before going on to have his historic 60-home run campaign. As for Rodríguez, he’s notorious for taking a while to warm up but always turns it around, highlighted by his career-high 6.8 bWAR last year.

Certainly, Raleigh isn’t going to sweat the early returns. Speaking about the collective hitting woes earlier this week, he said:

“It’ll be okay. I know a lot of guys in the locker room, a lot of people across the league are fighting the same thing. Guys are trying to find timing and it’s under a microscope more so now than it is in the middle of the season, just because it’s the start of the season and everybody’s excited. They can keep up with certain numbers, but it’s not a big deal. I don’t think it’s going to last like that.”

It helps that trade acquisition Brendan Donovan and Randy Arozarena are off to tremendous starts in 2026, both reaching base in each of the Mariners’ first seven games of the campaign. Dominic Canzone is carrying on in a similar vein to his career year last season, Luke Raley looks like he’s over his injuries woes and Cole Young’s offseason conditioning program has seen him develop into one heck of a tough out.

J.P. Crawford back to bolster the Mariners lineup

To further help the Mariners, J.P. Crawford has now been reinstated from the 10-day Injured List, with his right shoulder inflammation seemingly/hopefully a thing of the past. The only concern is that he only played in one rehab game in Triple-A Tacoma — and going 0-for-4 — following a spring training which saw him limited to 18 plate appearances due to his lingering shoulder issue.

Still, getting Crawford back into the lineup now means the Mariners are effectively back to full strength, with him set to bat at the bottom of the order in eight or ninth spot. While he has his critics within the fanbase, his .352 OPB last season was the second-best of his time in Seattle and he’s proven extremely clutch in big moments with a career .373 batting average with the bases loaded.

Of course it will be interesting to see what transpires, after Crawford’s heir apparent at shortstop Colt Emerson signed his massive eight-year, $95 million deal on Tuesday. Although Jerry Dipoto has indicated Emerson will mostly play at third base when he’s called up, which would then result in Donovan being used as more of a utility player.

Ryan Bliss heads to Tacoma and Ryan Loutos might be gone

In a couple of corresponding moves, the Mariners optioned Ryan Bliss to Triple-A Tacoma and placed Ryan Loutos on unconditional release waivers, who is out with an undisclosed injury. Loutos had previously been designated for assignment on March 31.

As for Bliss, he was limited to two plate appearances as a pinch hitter on Saturday versus the Guardians, striking out both times. Last season he was the starting second baseman on opening day, but ended up missing most of the campaign, first with a left torn biceps and then a torn meniscus in his right knee.

The 2021 second round draft pick figures to still have an important depth role to play in the organization, with a .267 batting average and .800 OPS during five years at the minor league level. He should see more time in the majors with the Mariners at some point in 2026, with Ryan Blake of Lookout Landing noting he still has four in-season options remaining.

The Mariners will begin a three-game series versus the Angels in Anaheim on Friday evening, with Bryan Woo talking the ball for his second start of the season. Then it’s onto Arlington, Texas to face the Rangers for three games beginning on Monday Apr. 6, before returning home for a much anticipated four-game matchup with the Astros.

Photos court​‌esy of Tim Rogers Photography

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