On Tuesday, the Seattle Mariners supplied an replace on outfielder Víctor Robles, who was positioned on the 10-day injured listing Monday as a consequence of a left shoulder dislocation. Tuesday’s replace says that the dislocation induced a small fracture within the humeral head in his left shoulder. The membership believes that the fracture will heal with out surgical procedure, although Robles will likely be frequently monitored to make sure that is the case. Even when he does proceed to keep away from surgical procedure, the membership estimates it should take him six weeks to heal, adopted by a six-week rehab course of. That implies he’ll miss about 12 weeks, even in a best-case situation.
In fact, if there are any setbacks alongside the way in which or if it’s decided that Robles will as an alternative require surgical intervention, that timeline would change. In both situation, on condition that Robles is already an absence that might lengthen to across the All-Star break, doubts about his means to return this season may come up. For now, nevertheless, the Mariners are absolutely relieved that the damage doesn’t look to be season-ending in nature.
Robles, 27, was a longtime prime prospect with the Nationals who debuted as a 20-year-old in 2017 however by no means fairly discovered his footing as an everyday in Washington. He seemed on the cusp of a breakout when he hit .258/.328/.430 with plus protection in 2018-19, his age-21 and age-22 seasons, however in 1124 plate appearances from 2020 via the time of his launch final Could, he batted solely .222/.301/.308.
The Mariners signed Robles to an enormous league deal early final June and had been virtually instantly rewarded for his or her present of religion. He stuffed a bench position early on however performed so nicely in a restricted position that he pressured himself into the on a regular basis lineup earlier than lengthy. In 77 video games with Seattle, Robles turned in a superlative .322/.393/.467 batting line with 4 homers, 20 doubles and an attention-grabbing 30 steals in simply 31 tries.
Robles was by no means going to maintain the .388 common on balls in play that propped up his batting line, however he additionally confirmed vastly improved contact expertise, slicing the 24% strikeout charge he’d displayed from 2020-24 (27.3% with the Nats final 12 months) all the way in which to 16.8% as a Mariner.
With Seattle, Robles proved far more aggressive, rising his swing charge at pitches over the plate by a number of share factors and likewise enhancing his contact charge on mentioned swings. He swung at solely 49% of pitches over the plate up via the 2023 season and made contact on 84.5% of these swings; with the Mariners, he provided at 53% of pitches within the zone and made contact at an 87.1% clip.
Even with some anticipated regression, the Mariners’ model of Robles seemed like a extra balanced hitter than the one who’d spent a number of years struggling in D.C. The Mariner entrance workplace clearly believed that to be the case, as Robles inked a two-year, $9.75M contract protecting his first two free agent years final summer time. The deal spans the 2025-26 campaigns and features a membership possibility for 2027.
Now, Robles will spend round half of that contract’s first season (at the very least) on the shelf. He’d been slotted in because the on a regular basis proper fielder with Randy Arozarena in left discipline and Julio Rodriguez in heart discipline. The Robles damage doubtless paves the way in which for Luke Raley to see extra outfield time. He’d initially been anticipated to play first base in 2025, however an enormous efficiency in spring coaching from Rowdy Tellez pressured the Mariners to reevaluate. Seattle launched Mitch Haniger and dedicated to Tellez and Raley splitting the load between first base and DH.
Raley and Dominic Canzone determine to get extra time within the outfield. It’s additionally attainable that utilitymen Miles Mastrobuoni and Dylan Moore may log some reps there. All three of Raley, Canzone and Mastrobuoni are left-handed hitters, so a platoon association amongst them isn’t doubtless. Raley and the righty-hitting Moore may make sense as an on-paper platoon, however Moore has been used as an infielder solely so far and performed a career-low 138 innings within the outfield final 12 months.
Nevertheless it shakes out, the Robles damage is a big setback for a Mariners membership that presently ranks twenty first within the majors in runs scored (36). It’s additionally more likely to lead to a defensive downturn; the early marks from Robles this season have been uncharacteristically beneath common, however he’s usually graded as a powerful defender in heart and is seen as a possible plus defender in a nook.
