June 3: Seattle general manager Jerry Dipoto didn’t paint a particularly optimistic picture in an appearance on 710 ESPN in this morning (Twitter link via 710’s Maura Dooley). “I’m hopeful we’ll see him again this year, but I don’t think it’s going to be quick,” Dipoto said of Lewis’ outlook. The GM added (via 710’s Brandon Gustafson) that the team will be “hypersensitive” with Lewis’ injury, which isn’t surprising given his prior knee problems.
The Mariners have yet to issue a concrete timeline on Lewis’ recovery or provide much in the way of detail on next steps in his rehab process.
June 2: Mariners outfielder Kyle Lewis will go for a second opinion on his injured right knee, manager Scott Servais told reporters (including Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times and Corey Brock of the Athletic). It certainly seems he’s looking at a potential extended absence, as Servais noted Lewis is “really down” about the original prognosis. The Mariners placed Lewis on the 10-day injured list with a meniscus tear and sent him for an MRI yesterday, and Daniel Kramer of MLB.com noted at the time that surgery was a possible option.
If Lewis is indeed forced to go under the knife, it’d be a brutal development for the 25-year-old. Lewis has been plagued by issues with that knee for much of his professional career. He tore his ACL shortly after being drafted in 2016, and it continue to bother him intermittently over the next few seasons. Lewis finally returned to peak form in 2019, and he shined during his first extended big league run last season. The former first-round pick hit .262/.364/.437 last year en route to the AL Rookie of the Year award.
He began the 2021 season on the IL after suffering a bone bruise in the same knee during Spring Training. Following a three-week absence, Lewis returned and got off to a solid .246/.333/.392 start before suffering this latest injury. Taylor Trammell was recalled in his place yesterday and seems likely to get extended run alongside Mitch Haniger and Jarred Kelenic while Lewis is out.
Seems the definition of “solid” has been downgraded to include a .246/.333/.392 line.
The collective AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH from all us Mariners fans can probably be heard from Alpha Centauri
First opinion: It’s a knee.
Second opinion: Yep, it’s a knee alright.
Not that he can’t put his knee issues behind him, but I wonder if he shifts to a corner permanently after working his way back? Would seem to exacerbate the issue if they kept running him out in center.
More joint damage is done while hitting and baserunning, Im guessing there’s something in his swing mechanics that is causing the problem, but because he hits well, he probably doesn’t want to change anything.
Except that all of his knee injuries to this point have come as a result of running. Tore his knee to shreds scoring on a ball in play, banged his knee against the wall and bruised it this Spring, and now tore his Meniscus getting to a ball in the outfield.
His knee is likely going to be fragile for the rest of his career; best to limit his running as much as you can by playing him as the DH with occasional time spent in a corner OF spot..
Not speaking Lewis specifically here, but the action that damages a Ligament and the action that causes an injury, even that same ligament to tear, doesn’t have to be the same thing
If his swing follow thru hyperextends his knee in some way, it “could” cause a strain or even just a sprain, which he thinks is minor. But he blows it out next major run when he’s going full bore
When does Andre Dawson pay him a call and hand him down the “Hawk” nickname?
It gets worse: M’s just placed Justin Dunn on the IL with right shoulder inflammation. Mitch Haniger, pack your bags…
They’ll go with a 2 man bench and a bullpen day.
As much as I agree that trading Haniger is the right course of action, I think they need to keep him around this year to mentor all the young kids in the OF. Kelenic, Trammel and Fraley are all young and could greatly benefit by a year of exposure to a dude who is a Pro’s Pro. His experience overcoming career threatinging injuries should also be invaluable to Lewis.
Haniger’s mental approach to being a ballplayer is second to none, in my eyes.
This… did not post where it was supposed to.
If Dunn is out now too – its time to REPLACE the strength and conditioning AND pitching coach (and whoever else is affiliated with their routines) because whatever they are doing ‘ain’t working…. I’ve never seen this many pitchers go down in eight weeks.
Jerry Dipoto.
FYI: Injuries are up dramatically throughout MLB. It’s an across-the-board problem that’s plaguing practically every team this year.
[10 years of Angels coaches have entered the chat]
Chill….. Dunn is out for 1 start and our pitching has been our strength this year. Injuries are up all around the league
I’m not a doc, but I’ve known many people with knee injuries. They fall into two camps: those who opt for surgery and those who rehab, but end up in surgery or with limitations. Surgery is likely the only way for an athlete to return to peak performance. Masahiro Tanaka and his “mild” UCL tear being the rare exception..
Just another flash in the pan……. Now call up Raleigh, he will be a great player for them.
Does this make it more or less likely that Haniger get’s traded? If it makes the Mariners less competitive, it’s arguably more likely that they trade Haniger. But one of the arguments for trading him was that they had Lewis, Kelenic, and Rodriguez ready to man the fort, so if Lewis is down for the count, maybe they’ll want to hang on to Haniger?
With how muted offense has been across the league, Haniger could be an absolute premium with his team control at the trade deadline. If an absolute overpay is on the table I can’t imagine Dipoto saying no to that, no matter the status of Lewis.