Well, we have some bad news here. J.P. Crawford was scratched from the lineup yesterday's game against the Texas Rangers with "oblique soreness". Unfortunately for the team and fans his injury will require an injury list stint. For the Captain of the Mariners, this is just brutal news.
According to Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times, J.P. said that he has a "Grade 1 Oblique Strain". While I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV, Oblique injuries can take some time to heal from. A quick Google search says it is typical for players to miss 4 to 5 weeks, and that seems about right. Astros slugger Yordon Alvarez missed about a month and a half last season with an Oblique injury.
J.P. had a rough start to his 2024 campaign. He was hitting .198/.296/.302/.589 with an OPS+ of just 79. He has hit 2 home runs and struck out 18 times to his 11 walks. He was starting to get hot at the plate, as his slash line over the last 14 days was .278/.381/.361/.742. He was playing a great shortstop too.
Crawford has been the leadoff hitter all season so far. His absence creates somewhat of a problem for the daily lineup. Julio Rodriguez will likely move to the leadoff spot, with some mixing and matching behind him. Manager Scott Servais has been changing the lineup around all season, but he just lost one of the most steady players in Crawford. I would expect it to look different almost daily moving forward.
With Crawford hitting the injured list, the Mariners called up infielder Leo Rivas from AAA Tacoma. When Rivas gets into a game, he will be making his Major League debut. Rivas is currently hitting .308/.422/.462/.883 with 2 home runs and 11 RBIs. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is at 13:11, so he does not have a problem taking his walks and limiting the punchouts. Are these numbers inflated from playing in the PCL? Possibly. But they are still good to see from a 26-year-old prospect.
Rivas comes with some positional flexibility as well. While he is primarily a shortstop, he can play all around the infield and in the outfield. Sound familiar? Scott loves him some positional flexibility. From Dylan Moore, Sam Haggerty, Samad Taylor, and others, Rivas should find his way into the lineup very soon.
As for now, expect Dylan Moore to get the bulk of the playing time. He started last night's game at shortstop, and he is penciled in the lineup for today's game as well.
Get well soon, Cap! And as always, Go Mariners!