There were plenty of ups and downs in 2026 for Colt Emerson, but overall the expectation is he has a long and successful career ahead of him.
It seems fair to characterize this year as a roller coaster of sorts for Colt Emerson, with more ups and downs than the average person is used to. In keeping with this theme, it seems almost fitting that it now concludes with season-ending surgery to repair a displaced tendon in his left wrist.
Emerson’s surgery was confirmed on Monday by Mariners general manager Justin Hollander when speaking to the media, as he does ahead of every homestand to provide injury updates. He said:
“The surgery will take the tendon which has been subluxing — not that dissimilar from JP (Crawford)’s injury — making it very painful, and they’ll put it back where it goes. He will be ready for the season next year. No concerns on that. He’ll obviously miss the rest of the year. Doctor Sheridan will do the surgery on Wednesday. We’ll update you guys after that, [with] how it goes.
Wrist issue is nothing new for Colt Emerson
Interestingly, it turns out that Emerson has been dealing with his wrist issue for quite a while, as Hollander explained the timeline of events which led up to eventually electing for surgery. He said:
“In the spring, Doctor Sheridan at that time expressed this is something you could have surgery on at some point. You don’t need it now if you don’t want it and Colt’s response is roughly: ‘Hell no, I’m not having surgery right now. I’m good to go.’ And he’s dealt with this previous to this spring, off and on. I think this year it just got much worse for him. … different guys have different pain thresholds. My belief is that Colt Emerson has a really high one and he played to the point until he felt like it had crossed the threshold of being smart for him to continue to play.”
Certainly, this helps explain a lot about why Emerson’s productivity decreased as the season progressed. Early on in Seattle he looked extremely impressive, as he left his mark on the record books. His first pro hit was a home run, he became the youngest player in M’s history to record three doubles in a game and he took just 29 at-bats to hit for the cycle, one off the all-time record.
Explosive start in the majors gives way to significant struggles
Emerson produced a .585 slugging percentage during his first 15 games in Seattle, which was the best by a player age 20 or younger up to that point since Juan Soto in 2018. His hot form continued and after 22 games he had hit six home runs and produced a .884 OPS. However, then it all started to go terribly wrong.
Through the next 46 games, the 2023 22nd overall draft pick managed just two home runs and put together a .430 OPS. He also struck out far too much, with a 34.4% K-rate that was fifth-highest among hitters with 200+ plate appearances. It was at this point the Mariners decided to send him back to Triple-A, but he never made it to Tacoma due to his injury coming to light, instead being sent to the IL.
It is, of course, a shame that Emerson has seen his season end early due to needing the wrist surgery. At the same time however, it must be a relief for fans that it is an injury which compromised his productivity as opposed to just playing badly. Now, the focus can be on making a full recovery and coming back stronger than ever to live up to his potential and justify the faith that convinced the Mariners to sign him to an eight-year, $95 million deal back at the end of March.
Other injury updates which offer more immediate encouragement for the Mariners
Hollander also provided some more positive injury updates, which can potentially help the Mariners’ push for a playoff spot. Bryan Woo is now apparently over his right shoulder discomfort, says he’s 100 percent ready to go and expected to start on Wednesday, J.P. Crawford is set to return as early as Tuesday, and Brendan Donovan remains day-to-day on concussion protocol, but could be back as soon as Saturday in Toronto.
A little further down the road, Cooper Criswell and Matt Brash are still both provisionally projected to return in early September, although things are a little less certain with Brash. Criswell will make his second rehab appearance in Triple-A Tacoma on Tuesday, while Brash threw a fourth off-the-mound bullpen session on Monday at T-Mobile Park. Finally, Luke Raley underwent successful surgery for his left forearm issue and should be ready for spring training next year.
Photos courtesy of Tim Rogers Photography
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