The Mariners announced that outfielder Julio Rodríguez has been placed on the seven-day concussion injured list. Infielder/outfielder Miles Mastrobuoni has been selected to take his place on the roster. Right-hander Cooper Criswell has been transferred to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man spot for Mastrobuoni. Daniel Kramer of MLB.com was among those to note earlier that Mastrobuoni was in the clubhouse with Rodríguez likely bound for the concussion IL.
Rodríguez’s injury occurred in last night’s game, as seen in this clip from Baseball Savant. He was on first base in the bottom of the first inning when Dominic Canzone hit a chopper to first baseman Nolan Schanuel. Schanuel spun and tried to get the force at second but the throw hit Rodríguez in the back of the helmet. After the ball caromed into shallow center field, Rodríguez got up and ran to third. He stayed in the game for a bit but was removed in the top of the third.
Kramer later revealed that Rodríguez was going through concussion protocol. His full timeline isn’t clear but it seems the club has decided to could use at least a week off. Even if he’s ready to return in a week, the All-Star Break starts a week from Monday, so perhaps the club will play things cautious and just keep him on the shelf until after that.
This is the fifth year that Rodríguez has been a staple of the Seattle lineup. He is having yet another good campaign, with a .259/.323/.424 line, 115 wRC+ and 12 stolen bases. Though his defensive grades aren’t as strong this year, he has still racked up 1.9 wins above replacement already, in the eyes of FanGraphs.
For at least the next week, the Mariners will have to live without that production. Víctor Robles replaced Rodríguez in center field in last night’s game and is starting there tonight as well. Robles is hitting .233/.273/.260 on the year, so the lineup will surely be weaker for the time being.
The rest of the roster doesn’t really have much in the way of center field capability, so Mastrobuoni has been added to give the club some cover there. He was just bumped off the roster last month but cleared waivers and stayed in the system. That allowed him to get added back today.
Mastrobuoni is just a .230/.295/.273 hitter in his big league career but he has experience at every position on the diamond except catcher. He hasn’t played center field in the big leagues but has logged time there in the minors. Luke Raley has 171 big league innings in center and could be another option there. Weston Wilson has one center field inning on his track record. Randy Arozarena has also spent some time in center but not since 2024. If Rodríguez or other players get healthy in the near future, Mastrobuoni is out of options and would need to be bumped off the 40-man if he is squeezed off the active roster.
As for Criswell, he landed on the 15-day injured list on June 9th, with his injury initially described as a shoulder strain. One week later, Kramer relayed that Criswell had a Grade 1-plus pectoral strain and wasn’t expected back until around the August 3rd trade deadline. This transfer means he can’t be officially reinstated from the IL until a few days after that trade deadline.
Photo courtesy of Steven Bisig, Imagn Images
