10:46AM: X-rays have been unfavorable on Rodriguez, Jerry Dipoto stated throughout an look on “The Entrance Workplace Present” on MLB Community Radio on SiriusXM (Twitter link). It doesn’t appear probably that Rodriguez will play in at present’s recreation and the M’s will proceed to observe the outfielder’s standing, however the preliminary check outcomes are “a great portent for the longer term,” as Dipoto put it.
10:06AM: Julio Rodriguez was hit in the appropriate hand by a pitch in final night time’s 5-4 victory over the Astros, and needed to finally depart the competition within the ninth inning. The rookie famous person was hit within the prime of the eighth and he felt adequate to take the sector for the underside half of the inning, although pinch-hitter Abraham Toro changed Rodriguez for a ninth-inning plate look.
X-rays have been scheduled for final night time, and the outcomes may very well be a turning level within the Mariners’ season. A severe damage may sideline Rodriguez for many or all the the rest of the schedule — a worst-case situation that might each severely harm Seattle’s probabilities of lastly ending its postseason drought, and slicing quick Rodriguez’s spectacular rookie marketing campaign.
Broadly seen as the highest prospect in baseball, Rodriguez has hit .271/.334/.482 with 18 homers and 21 steals over his first 401 plate appearances within the majors. Between his energy, pace, and robust heart subject protection, Rodriguez already seems to be like one of many sport’s prime all-around skills at age 21, and has even drawn comparisons to Mariners legend Ken Griffey Jr.
Friday’s acquisition of Luis Castillo is the most recent signal that the Mariners are all-in on the 2022 season, and no matter additional plans president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto might need would absolutely be impacted by Rodriguez’s standing — if even a 10-day IL journey is required, the M’s may conceivably look so as to add some outfield depth to fill the void. Previous to yesterday’s recreation, Dipoto stated the Mariners have been “nonetheless open to the thought of including a bullpen arm,” however downplayed the thought of the membership making one other big transfer.
With reference to offense particularly, Dipoto instructed The Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish and different reporters that the M’s have been largely relying on inside returns of injured gamers. “We view Mitch (Haniger) and the addition of Kyle Lewis final week because the strikes that our offense wanted. That being stated, we’ll hold our ear to the road within the occasion that chance exists. It’s just a bit more durable to see the place that may be,” Dipoto stated.
The M’s already gave up fairly a little bit of land Castillo, although with a deep farm system, Seattle has extra to supply in different attainable trades. In a piece written previous to the Castillo deal, Divish cited a number of younger gamers both already on Seattle’s MLB roster or of their farm system and ranked them on their chance as commerce chips. Edwin Arroyo was the highest-ranked member of Divish’s listing to be dealt within the Castillo swap, with Arroyo touchdown within the third tier — dubbed the “it might harm, but when it’s the appropriate participant(s) in return” division. Since Noelvi Marte was within the fourth tier, Seattle solely needed to transfer two of its prime 10 younger belongings to land Castillo in Divish’s estimation, although clearly a few of these belongings (like Rodriguez or Logan Gilbert) are untouchable or all-but-untouchable.
Jarred Kelenic was as soon as seen as a can’t-move sort of prospect, and but Divish hears from a scout that “the Mariners have made it clear they’re keen to commerce Kelenic to fill their instant wants.” Kelenic has hit solely .173/.256/.338 over 473 PA in his first two huge league seasons, with 17 homers and 142 strikeouts in that small pattern dimension. Whilst he continues to tear up Triple-A pitching, Divish notes that Kelenic is having bother hitting breaking pitches within the minors, and MLB pitchers have taken full benefit of his flaw. There would seemingly be some form of sell-low facet to shifting Kelenic now, but the 23-year-old would absolutely generate loads of curiosity in commerce talks.
