The Mariners announced that outfielder Julio Rodriguez has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list. ESPN’s Buster Olney (X link) reported earlier Sunday that Seattle intended to activate Rodriguez in time for Sunday’s game with the Mets. Infielder Ryan Bliss was optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding move.
A collision with the outfield wall left Rodriguez with a right high ankle sprain back on July 21, and he was placed on the IL a couple of days later. As recently as Saturday, reports indicated that Rodriguez wasn’t expected to play Sunday, yet the Mariners were considering him day-to-day due to some improvement in his ability to run. Naturally the Mariners aren’t going to take any untoward risks with Rodriguez’s health, but with Seattle in a pitched battle with the Astros for the AL West lead, both Rodriguez and the team had an obvious desire to get him back in action as soon as safely possible.
Rodriguez will be the designated hitter in Sunday’s lineup, which could be the team’s most common way to deploy Rodriguez until his ankle is feeling fully ready for regular center field duty. Installing Rodriguez at DH also allows Seattle to keep Victor Robles in center field, as Robles has (surprisingly) been one of the Mariners’ better hitters since he was signed in early June.
The timing couldn’t have been much worse for Rodriguez to hit the IL, as he was sidelined just as his bat was waking up from a season-long slump. Rodriguez struggled to a .244/.294/.324 slash line and seven home runs over his first 364 plate appearances, but he had cracked four homers and posted a 1.219 OPS in the 49 trips to the plate prior to his injury. That hot streak lifted his season-long wRC+ back up to an evenly league-average 100. Rodriguez has also continued to deliver strong defense in center field, but Robles also filled in nicely in terms of glovework.
