Julio Rodriguez left today’s game due to lower back tightness, with manager Scott Servais telling reporters (including MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer) that Rodriguez started feeling discomfort after a stolen base in the third inning. The outfielder remained in the game until AJ Pollock replaced Rodriguez in center field before the bottom of the sixth, but the Mariners opted to be a little cautious with the young star.
The injury doesn’t appear to be serious, as Servais indicated that Rodriguez might potentially be back in the lineup tomorrow. However, the Mariners have an off-day on Monday before facing the A’s on Tuesday, so the team might opt to give Rodriguez “a couple days down, [so] he will be okay when we go over to Oakland,” Servais said.
As Kramer notes, Rodriguez also dealt with lower back problems near the end of the last season, which ultimately resulted in a 10-day IL placement. That decision was made in part to get Rodriguez healthy prior to the playoffs, and he was able to return just before the end of the regular season prior to hitting .217/.357/.435 over 28 plate appearances during Seattle’s postseason run.
Rodriguez’s presence might have made a difference late in today’s 1-0 loss to the Blue Jays in 10 innings. One bright spot for the M’s was the performance of surprise starter Easton McGee, who allowed just one hit and one walk over 6 2/3 scoreless innings. McGee held Toronto hitless until his final batter faced, when Matt Chapman lined a double to center field to end the unlikely no-hit bid.
Chris Flexen had initially been slated to start on Saturday, but the Mariners instead called McGee up from Triple-A prior to the game. Going into the season, Flexen was projected to work as a reliever, but a spot in the rotation opened up when Robbie Ray was sidelined with a flexor tendon injury that ended up requiring a season-ending surgery. Unfortunately for Flexen, he hasn’t risen to the occasion, with a 10.38 ERA over 17 1/3 innings in four starts as Ray’s replacement.
In addition to Monday’s off-day, the Mariners are also off on May 11 and May 18, giving the team some opportunity to reset their rotation multiple times. As a result, the M’s might only need a fifth starter twice within the next three-plus weeks. It would certainly seem like McGee has earned another look, but whether it’s McGee, Flexen, or another pitcher used as the fifth starter, the Mariners will get some time to evaluate and prepare for the longer-term question of how they’ll replace Ray.
McGee was making his first Major League start and just his second career appearance in the Show, after debuting with three innings of relief work (allowing four hits and one unearned run) as a member of the Rays in their 3-1 loss to the Astros on October 2, 2022. Tampa opted to designate McGee for assignment after that game, with the Red Sox quickly claiming the right-hander off waivers. The Mariners then acquired McGee in a trade for cash considerations in November.
A fourth-round pick for the Rays in the 2016 draft, McGee isn’t a hard thrower or much of a strikeout pitcher, with a modest 17.47% strikeout rate over 485 1/3 career innings in the minors. McGee worked to a 4.30 ERA over his minor league career by inducing a lot of grounders and avoiding walks, though his walk rate with Triple-A Tacoma this year has risen to a still-solid 7.6%. McGee largely struggled at Triple-A Durham in 2022, but he has done much better with the Mariners’ top affiliate, with a 3.14 ERA over 28 2/3 innings for Tacoma in 2023.
This weekend’s series marked Teoscar Hernandez’s first time in Toronto since the November trade that sent him from the Jays to the Mariners. Interestingly, M’s president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto told The Athletic’s Kaitlyn McGrath and Corey Brock that Hernandez might have come to Seattle much earlier, as “most of the work we did on the Teoscar trade actually happened in Spring Training before the [2022] season began. We tried so hard to pick him up before the season started and talked through a lot of players.”
It makes for an interesting what-if, as Hernandez being dealt prior to the season might have greatly changed the trajectory for two teams that reached the postseason (and faced each other in the Wild Card Series). For Seattle, it could be that the M’s pivoted to the Eugenio Suarez/Jesse Winker trade with the Reds after not reaching an agreement with Toronto over Hernandez, or perhaps DiPoto’s front office might have even explored adding Hernandez in addition to the two former Cincinnati players. That would’ve made for a crowded outfield in Seattle, but it’s possible the Mariners might have sent one or two of those excess outfielders to the Blue Jays as part of a projected Hernandez swap. Erik Swanson may have still be part of such a trade but likely not as the primary piece, given how Swanson hadn’t yet had his 2022 breakout season, and Hernandez would’ve commanded a higher trade ask since he had two remaining years of arbitration control.
Hey, they lost Julio but they did good enough for me and Easton McGee.
You and Kris Kristoffersen.
Easton McGee was most impressive. Awesome.
But when a team gets down in spirit, like the M’s are, the hits sometimes just stop coming. As Yogi Berra said so long ago, “Half of baseball is ninety percent mental.”.
I hope that corrects itself soon. In baseball, that either happens – or it doesn’t happen.
Mariners were an incredible 33-19 in one run games in 2021 and incredible again going 36-24 in one run games in 2022. 3-8 this year.
We’re going to Oakland next week for a three-game set. We’re screwed. Oakland will take two out of three if not sweep us. It’s so M’s.
Ten paragraphs because a key player sprained his back….but might be back playing tomorrow?
Dipoto has done this before – make whirlwind moves for 2 seasons to turn over a team (I wrote that here when he started the “Reimagine” shtick). Trades away most of the farm system and gives out multi-year contracts to players that haven’t had multi-good years. The team spring leaks but there’s no prospect capital or salary space left to address those issues.
The smart FO’s – think Astros, Braves, O’s, Guardians, Rays, etc. – develop their own players and always keep something in reserve when things go wrong….because it always does for every team in MLB every single year. No one plays a starting 8 (plus DH), 5 starting pitchers and 8 bullpen guys all year long.
But Dipoto made trades from his hospital bed – giggle giggle – so he’s some sort of genius or something.
Lots of crummy teams in MLB this year.
Samuel, I raved last year about this time how big tall guys will probably have more recurring back problems than shorter guys.
I base that on what I saw while working among loggers in the woods of NE Oregon when I was a 22-yr old kid.
And I think the writers here at Trade Rumors are worried also, thus the 10 paragraphs on an otherwise minor thing.
I hope Julio can stay well, though, by resting when needed, and still have a long and fine career.
But it’s something to think about . . .
And right now, when nobody is hitting anyway, is a good time for a rest break.
McGee rocking that 0.00 ERA through 9.2 career IP now.
And what about the hitting? A great outing for McGee waisted effort other than showing what he’s capable of. I’m here to solve the hitting problem. Please don’t swing at anything down low, a good percentage of those are breaking balls that end up in the dirt anyways, another words quit chasing them you’re driving me “crazy.” Those other pitches the swerve you’re going to have to pick that up better you can either pay less attention to it or pay more attention to it whatever works best for you but please show me some better decisions made. One other thing to often I see some batters who don’t swing at a ball that’s over the plate a lot of the time it’s the first pitch thrown, then swing at something off the plate now it’s strike two in favor of the pitcher be ready to hit don’t try and be cute about it.