The Seattle Mariners will be without their longtime shortstop J.P. Crawford, who was placed on the 10-day injured list Monday afternoon.
According to a team announcement, the Mariners have recalled infielder Ryan Bliss from Triple-A Tacoma to take Crawford’s place on the active roster. Bliss isn’t being brought up to start in place of Crawford, but will likely be a bench bat for manager Dan Wilson.
In 51 games while in Tacoma, Bliss hit four points above the Mendoza line (.204) and struck out 60 times in 211 at-bats. The 26-year-old has seen 45 games in the major leagues with the Mariners, batting .210 and hitting three home runs.
The Mariners will miss Crawford, as he has been one of their main run producers. The Gold Glove winner (2020) is third on the team in home runs (10) and is their seventh-best RBI hitter (23), which isn’t saying much, with center fielder Julio Rodriguez having just nine more RBI (32).
Crawford has also been the Mariners’ second-best player behind Randy Arozarena (.376 on-base percentage) for getting on base (.356 on-base percentage) and their best player at drawing walks (34, which is seven more than Arozarena, 27).
J.P. Crawford’s landing on the injured list allows Colt Emerson to start more at shortstop for the Mariners
Nobody likes to see players get injured, but when injuries occur, they create opportunities for others. In the case of the Mariners, rookie Colt Emerson will now have an open runway to be the everyday shortstop.
A primary shortstop, who will be the future at the six spot in the infield — the Mariners signed the 20-year-old to an eight-year ($95 million) extension before he even stepped foot on a major league field — Emerson has been mostly playing third base (15 starts) since he debuted.
Emerson has five games (four starts) at shortstop after Crawford offered to publicly move to third base so the Ohio native could get started. Crawford is the Mariners’ longest tenured player, and his word carries a lot of weight in the Mariners clubhouse.
Moving to his natural position could further help Emerson unlock his bat, as he currently has a .619 slugging percentage (21 at-bats) this month. In 33 games at shortstop in Tacoma, Emerson committed one error in 281 2/3 innings.