On Thursday, the Seattle Mariners suffered a brutal break as starting catcher Cal Raleigh went on the injured list for the first time in his career with a strained right oblique. It's unclear how long Raleigh will be sidelined, but it's fair to assume that it will be longer than the 15-day minimum, meaning the Mariners will have to get creative in how they score runs and generate consistent offense in his absence.

Raleigh hasn't been at his best this season and is hitting just .161, but his absence is still a big hole in the middle of the lineup.

On the most recent edition of the 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast, I offered up a creative solution that could help the Mariners, while also recognizing that they did score eight runs in Thursday's win over the Houston Astros.

"I am wondering if the best way for the Mariners to help alleviate the loss of Cal Raleigh is to have JP Crawford in the leadoff spot and have Brendan Donovan elsewhere. That is something I’m wondering about.

Now, listen to my rationale. Again, JP Crawford had multiple hits on Thursday hitting in the six spot. Brendan Donovan had three hits hitting in the leadoff spot. So let me explain my rationale.

Coming into Thursday, JP Crawford was hitting .286 out of the leadoff spot with a .430-ish on-base percentage. JP Crawford is far better in the leadoff position than he is anywhere else. You can say what you want about JP’s average: around .200. You can say what you want about JP’s defense: struggling. JP Crawford gets on base, and therefore he is of huge offensive value to the Seattle Mariners, especially leading off games.

So if JP Crawford is in the leadoff spot, where the stats show that he excels, then what would that do for the rest of the lineup? Well, it would open up a couple of different opportunities. Julio Rodriguez could hit second. Josh Naylor could hit third. Randy Arozarena could hit fourth. Then Brendan Donovan potentially could hit fifth, or they could go with Luke Raley fifth and Brendan Donovan sixth.

I believe that JP Crawford is an on-base machine, and I believe that Brendan Donovan is a better pure hitter. He’ll make contact. I think he will make louder contact, more gap-to-gap contact. I think he’s a good situational hitter. It might not be the worst idea to have Brendan Donovan in more of a run-producing position in the order.

Or they could leave JP Crawford at leadoff, Brendan Donovan could hit second, Julio third, Naylor fourth, Arozarena fifth, and Luke Raley sixth. They could do those things. Of course, they could also do what they did on Thursday, and that worked.

But that is an idea that I have: JP Crawford being in an on-base position in the order and Brendan Donovan being in a position where he is more likely to score guys who are on base or move runners who are already on base."

Donovan, who has been on the injured list himself this season, is hitting .278 with three homers, eight RBIs and a .396 on-base percentage.

The Mariners (22-23) will host the San Diego Padres for the first of a three-game series on Friday night at T-Mobile Park. First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. PT.

You can listen to the most recent 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast, featuring Rob Bradford of the 'Baseball Isn't Boring' podcast here, and you can also watch the episode on YouTube.

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