Seattle Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford was in Texas on Tuesday to have his ailing right shoulder examined and he may not be available for Opening Day on March 26.
Seattle general manager Justin Hollander said imaging results came back clean and told reporters that the level of concern is “low.”
But with time running out before the opener and Crawford having last played on March 11, the Mariners are pondering who will be their Game 1 starting shortstop against the visiting Cleveland Guardians.
Top prospect Colt Emerson or versatile veteran Leo Rivas are among the options.
“Until we hear what exactly the situation is with J.P., it’s hard to kind of weigh those options,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “So, we’ll wait and see once we hear, and then we’ll begin to decipher where we’ll need to go. But like I said earlier, all of our young players have had opportunities here in spring, and they’ve all done very well. They’ve all performed well.”
Emerson, 20, swatted his second homer of the spring and also doubled during Tuesday’s game against the San Diego Padres. It is his second blast in his last three games. He went 2-for-3 with a walk and scored three runs in the 9-6 loss to raise his spring average to .282.
Emerson is rated No. 1 among Seattle prospects and No. 9 in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline.
He played six Triple-A games last season and went 8-for-22 (.364) with two homers and nine RBIs. He has adjusted well to playing alongside older players during spring training.
“He’s handled it well,” Wilson said.
Rivas, 28, has played in 33 major league games at shortstop — 26 in 2024 and seven last season. He batted .244 last season with two homers and nine RBIs in 48 games.
Crawford, 32, is 2-for-16 (.125) with three RBIs in seven games this spring. Wilson said he’s not concerned about the limited action he’s received.
Crawford is entering his eighth season with the Mariners. He batted .265 with 12 homers and 58 RBIs in 157 games last season. The HR and RBI totals were the second-highest of his career behind the 19 long balls and 65 RBIs in 2023.
In nine big league seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies (2017-18) and Mariners, Crawford has a .248 career average with 67 homers and 344 RBIs in 930 games. He won the Gold Glove in 2020.
–Field Level Media
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