League should be more terrified of Mariners after 'exciting' injury updates

Since the trade deadline, the Seattle Mariners' momentum has reached season highs and several recent circumstances have continued to be tailwinds for the team.

In addition to the acquisition of Josh Naylor and the return of Eugenio Suárez, other key players are starting to make significant strides in the right direction, all while their rivals are struggling to remain competitive.
FanGraphs now gives Seattle an 86.3 percent chance to make the playoffs and a near 45 percent chance to clinch the division over the Houston Astros.

The current roster is rich in talent and has plenty of strengths, but one shouldn't be too hasty to forget about the talent the organization still has hidden away on the injured list. The Mariners dealt with plenty of bumps and bruises in the first half of the season, yet with less than two months of regular season games left to play, it seems like their luck has finally turned around.

“Mostly good news today,” Mariners general manager Justin Hollander told the media on Tuesday, including Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times. “Exciting injury update instead of having to deliver bad news all the time.”

The Mariners got good news on a ton of injury reinforcements

Bryce Miller made his second rehab start with Triple-A Tacoma on Thursday and although he put up some rough numbers, he made it up to a pitch count of 66 while throwing strikes consistently. He did seem to have some issues with locating his fastball more effectively but his stuff seemed to be consistent with his career peak.

Unlike earlier in the season, the Mariners don't seem to be in any rush to put Miller back in the rotation and want to be patient with ramping him up to prevent aggravating his injured elbow.

Victor Robles is also said to be ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation from shoulder surgery, and Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports that he might be back as soon as this month. He's currently set to begin a rehab assignment on August 12th, and the goal is for him to get between 40 to 50 at-bats before he's considered to return to the big league squad. Still, this could give him all of September and the entire duration of Seattle's impending playoff run to make his impact on the 2025 season.

Luke Raley, who hit the 10-day injured list with back spasms last week, has returned to hitting and could also begin a rehab assignment in the following days. With the success of Josh Naylor, Randy Arozarena, and Dominic Canzone, Raley doesn't clearly fit anywhere on the team. Nonetheless, he could be a platoon option, which would alleviate the struggles he has had against left-handed pitching this year. He could also be a depth piece if Naylor's recent injury ends up being more serious.

In the bullpen, Gregory Santos was recently cleared for game activity after a lengthy layoff following knee surgery. He has struggled immensely as a Mariner and, given how solid the current relief unit looks, there may not be an opportunity to slot him in. With the time needed for him to ramp back up to the big league level, he has a lower but non-zero likelihood of returning to the team before the end of the year.

Last but not least, we have Ryan Bliss, who sustained what many believed to be a season-ending bicep tear in early April. The most recent update is that if all goes well, he could start his own rehab assignment in early September, giving him just enough time to get warm before playing postseason baseball. Like Raley and Santos, the Mariners have filled his position with the very capable Cole Young, which could create a logjam. But depending on platoon availability and health, he could still find a way to play.

Even if none of these injured players are able to make it back this year, the Mariners have already proved themselves to be a worthy playoff contender. It's difficult to ascertain exactly what version of these players the organization would be getting should they return to action. But if nothing else, more depth gives Seattle additional flexibility that could come in handy down the line.

With the way their season has been going, it's no longer just about making the cut, it's about making a statement.