Mariners News: J.P. Crawford's 1st spring HR, Rick Rizzs scare, roster moves

Seattle Mariners fans won't be able to get their fix of the team in action on Tuesday, which is a true rarity by the standards of the spring training schedule: an off day.

The good news for Mariners fans is that the news wire never takes a day off. And to help keep everyone informed, we're going to dive into three stories worth knowing.

J.P. Crawford gets off the spring home run schneid

After getting off to a slow start amid Seattle's Cactus League slate, Crawford finally connected for his first home run of the spring on Sunday against the Colorado Rockies. It was a proper clout, registering at 107.9 mph off the bat and traveling 401 feet.

“I felt something that I haven't felt in a long time,” the 30-year-old shortstop said, via Daniel Kramer of MLB.com.

There is more in Kramer's story about how something clicked for Crawford while doing flip drills on Sunday, but the proof that he may be in for a rebound season in 2025 is in the proverbial pudding. His homer from Sunday would have been the fifth-hardest-hit ball of his 2024 season, which was generally marked by low exit velocity as he battled injuries for much of the year.

Broadcaster Rick Rizzs takes a foul ball off the noggin

Before anyone asks, Rizzs is thankfully OK after he took a Rhys Hoskins foul ball off the back of his head during the Mariners' tilt against the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday.

Shannon Drayer of Seattle Sports has a story on the event, which radio listeners would have heard unfold in real time. Rizzs even called "swing and a foul" moments before the offending ball somehow snuck through the small window of the booth where he and Gary Hill were calling the game.

“I turned my head just in time,” Rizzs told Drayer. “It was coming for my face. I thought I got out of the way in time. I was trying to get underneath the windowsill, and it came in and got me right in the back of the head. I’ve got a big, old egg on the back of my head.”

The 71-year-old was fortunately able to continue the broadcast, assuring fans during the seventh inning: "I'm sore, but I'm OK." At that, there were surely many sighs of relief in the greater Seattle area.

Here are the latest roster cuts

As the team announced via X (formerly Twitter), the Mariners have optioned right-hander Cody Bolton to Triple-A Tacoma and reassigned the following players to minor league camp: catchers Jacob Nottingham and Nick Raposo, infielder Michael Arroyo, left-hander Jhonathan Díaz, and right-handers Adonis Medina and Luis F. Castillo.

Bolton had entered camp as a candidate for the bullpen, but facing 17 batters and giving up four hits and three walks with only two strikeouts did not help his cause.

Mariners fans will otherwise know Arroyo as one of Seattle's many top prospects, though his reassignment is not a surprise given. He's only 20 and has yet to rise above the High-A level in the minors, though he impressed with a .910 OPS and 23 homers in 121 games last year.

This is notably the other Luis Castillo we're talking about, who the Mariners signed in January after two solid years in Japan. If nothing else, he managed to get Pitching Ninja's attention this spring before he was reassigned. If he is seen in Seattle this year, it will be as a bullpen addition in the event of an injury.