It's been a whirlwind last 48 hours for the Seattle Mariners with regards to 21-year-old shortstop Colt Emerson.

On Wednesday night, Emerson went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts in a 10-5 loss against the New York Yankees. On Thursday, we spoke with Emerson and manager Dan Wilson about his approach and goals at the plate, and then he was out of the lineup for what seemed like a mental reset.

After the game on Thursday, Emerson was told that he'd been sent to Triple-A. But on Friday, Emerson was actually placed on the injured list with left wrist inflammation.

According to Adam Jude of the Seattle Times, Emerson had dealt with the issue as far back as spring training. We knew that, and Emerson had a cortisone shot early in the season for the issue. Beyond that, Emerson didn't tell anyone how much discomfort he was playing through, and Jerry Dipoto told Jude that he wished Emerson had been more up front about the situation.

“I wish he would have been a little more upfront if it was bothering him that much,” Dipoto said. “He should have said something.”

Dipoto also said that the injury helps explain some of Emerson's struggles. He was hitting .190 with eight home runs and a ballooning strikeout rate.

There were some people on social media that felt the Mariners' executive unnecessarily threw the kid under the bus, so let's take a look at this from all sides.

It's important to understand this before we go any further. People play through aches and discomfort. People do it for entire seasons. Emerson choosing to play while compromised is no different than Jorge Polanco playing with a bum knee for all of 2024 or Cal Raleigh playing through a thumb issue that same season.

Baseball players want to play. They especially want to play when their presence can help the team win, and when the team is in a position to try to get to the playoffs.

It's why you hear about players having cortisone shots, and PRP injections, and extra time in the training room. Sometimes, we never know what a player is playing through. It's why you hear about unknown surgeries after the season. It's why players will defer to the offseason to get a surgery. They want to play.

It happens all the time, in every sport. And the players are on board with it. Trust me, if a player was sent out injured and against his will, the players union would have something to say about it.

These players want to be out there, and the training staffs try to help them do it the best they can.

I think it's unfair to call out the Mariners staff here. Yes, Emerson was more hurt than he let on, and yes, Luke Raley tried to play hurt until he couldn't anymore, but that doesn't mean that the training staff is being aloof or unnecessarily risky.

The Mariners training staff is doing all they can with the information they have.

In fact, the Mariners training staff is generally pretty conservative. It's why you've seen Randy Arozarena put on the injured list, and why you've seen Julio Rodriguez stay on the 7-day concussion injured list for significantly longer, and why you've seen the team play injuries conservatively with guys like Bryan Woo last season.

On one hand, you really do appreciate Emerson's toughness, desire to play and desire to help the team. He was given an eight-year, $95 million extension and clearly felt it was his duty to live up to that contract. You have to really respect that.

But yes, Emerson needs to know the difference between "gutting it out in order to help the team" and "playing hurt, which actively hurts the team," as well as himself. He will learn his own body, and his own tolerance and performance, as his career continues.

While this stinks in the moment, it will benefit him long term.

I don't really think so. The training staff and the coaching staff can only go by what a player is telling them, so yes, there are absolutely times where a team doesn't know the full story. Dipoto was extremely complimentary of Emerson's attitude about things in the story that Jude posted.

He's allowed to be honest though, and for a fanbase that has called for "accountability" all season long, and wants manager Dan Wilson to "say the quiet parts out loud," this is exactly what that sounds like.

Should Dipoto be "admonishing" Cal Raleigh and Josh Naylor and JP Crawford for clearly playing through discomfort this season in the same way that he spoke about Emerson?

I don't think this is an apples to apples situation. Each of those three players are veterans who know their body and know their tolerance a little better at this point than the 20/21-year-old Emerson.

I would also imagine that each of those three were more forthright in what they are battling, so the training staff is more able to help. It sounds as if this was a true non-disclosure from Emerson, which is where more of the problem lies.

The newest edition of the 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast is out, featuring former Mariners broadcaster Dave Sims! You can listen here, you can watch in the YouTube player below.