Mariners avoid another injury issue after J.P. Crawford hit by pitch

The Mariners have had more than their fair share of injuries this season, but don’t have to worry about adding J.P. Crawford to the list.

It was a rough start to the Mariners’ latest road trip, as they lost 7-3 to the Tigers in the first meeting since their dramatic 15-inning Game 5 in last season’s ALDS. However, the M’s can at least be thankful that they didn’t also lose yet another player to injury.

It’s been a challenging 2026 campaign on the injury front for the Mariners, with varying degrees of absences from key personnel including Cal Raleigh, Brendan Donovan, Bryce Miller, Matt Brash and Gabe Speier. On Friday evening in Detroit, at one point it looked as if J.P. Crawford was going to have his name added to the list.

The potential outcome came in the top of the third inning, when Crawford was hit on the right hand by a wayward 95.6 mph heater from Tigers starter Framber Valdez. He doubled over in pain and although he stayed in the game initially, in the bottom half of the inning he was replaced by Colt Emerson at shortstop, with Patrick Wilson taking over at third base.

A huge sigh of relief for the Mariners

Crawford spoke to the media postgame, with him confirming that X-rays were negative. He was obviously relieved it wasn’t worse, thinking back to when he fractured his right pinkie finger a couple of seasons ago, as he said:

“It was the same thing that happened last time I broke my hand. But as time went by, it still hurt, but not as bad as the time when I broke it. So I knew we were all good.”

Mariners manager Dan Wilson understandably had a similar level of concern initially, after Crawford was hit by the pitch. He said:

“It looked bad. There was a lot of swelling right away. There was some black and blue, and the strength wasn’t quite there. So it was an opportunity where we thought, ‘Let’s go get this looked at.’ We’re just really glad that nothing is too serious at this point.”

Crawford dealt with injury issues earlier this year, when right shoulder inflammation caused him to open the season in the 10-day Injured List, before returning in early April. He will be reevaluated ahead of Saturday’s second game of the series versus the Tigers, but all indications are that he’s avoided a significant injury.

Poor defense versus invaluable offense

This has been an interesting season for the 2013 16th overall draft pick, with Emerson breathing down his neck as his eventual full-time replacement at shortstop. The situation hasn’t been helped by his poor defensive play, highlighted by ranking tied-last at the position in DRS, third-worst in OAA and second-worst in defensive fWAR .

In fairness to Crawford, he has offered to move to third base to facilitate Emerson playing at shortstop now. However, it doesn’t seem like the best of solutions to move the 31-year-old to the hot corner, especially when you consider his arm strength only ranks in the 20th percentile.

For all Crawford’s defensive struggles, he deserves credit for his play in the lineup, with his .766 OPS, 121 OPS+ and .340 rOBA all projected to be the second-best of his 10 years in the majors. He has been particularly effective when batting at the top of the lineup, as evidenced by a .278/.396/.539 slash line and .935 OPS.

Colt Emerson discusses the importance of J.P. Crawford

If there’s any doubt about how much the 2020 Gold Glover means to his Mariners teammates, consider the comments of Emerson specifically. As per Daniel Kramer of MLB.com, he said:

“Right now, [Crawford is] a guy that a lot of guys will come to, especially me. So, seeing him go down like that, it’s never good when you have a guy like that go down. We’re praying for him. I’m glad everything was negative, and hope to see him back in the field in the next few days.”

As for the Mariners as a whole, they will now aim to bounce back from their two-game losing streak and return to winning ways on Saturday in Detroit. Miller will take the mound for the visitors, while the Tigers turn to Keider Montero.

Photos court​‌esy of Tim Rogers Photography

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