PEORIA, Ariz. — In the bottom of the fourth inning of a 7-6 loss against the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday at the Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, Ariz., Seattle Mariners second baseman Ryan Bliss hit a double off the center field wall.

The hit didn't result in an RBI for Bliss, although it did move J.P. Crawford to third base and set him up to score on a sac fly from Colt Emerson the next at-bat.

However, what the hit represents for Bliss likely goes beyond what shows on the box score.

For Bliss, it was his first hit in a Mariners uniform in nearly a year. The last time he registered a hit while wearing Seattle's colors was a game against the Houston Astros on April 8, 2025. The hit he had in that game was eerily similar to the one he had Tuesday: a double off the outfield wall.

Bliss tore his left biceps tendon in that game and missed most of the season. When he was on rehab assignment with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers, he tore his meniscus which ended his season for good.

Bliss' injuries prematurely ended what started as a promising 2025. 

The former second-round MLB Draft pick won the team's open second base job out of spring training amidst competition from a then-recent Gold Glove winner, Dylan Moore, and then-top 100 prospect Cole Young.

Bliss had a slow start to the season but started to pick up before his injury. He slashed .200/.282/.314 with a .596 OPS and hit a double and a home run with three RBIs. He had a six-game hitting streak when he got hurt.

Now, just a year removed from when Bliss was a starting player, he's on the outside looking in on the team's major league roster.

Young is the odds-on favorite to be the Mariners' second baseman when it opens the season against the Cleveland Guardians on March 26. Depending on how the organization constructs its roster at third and second, Young, Michael Arroyo, Brendan Donovan and Colt Emerson could also be candidates.

Miles Mastrobuoni and Leo Rivas have also served as major league utility men for the team in the past, meaning Bliss will have to outperform several players to even make the bench.

Bliss being outside the circle of potential Opening Day second basemen is less due to his lack of performance and more so because of his aforementioned injuries. He has only 44 major league games under his belt from 2024-25 and there's still a question over what his level actually is as a second baseman.

It'll be a difficult path back to the majors for Bliss, but Tuesday's double, his first hit of spring training, is a good step forward to that goal.

"That's what spring training's all about, Seattle manager Dan Wilson said in a postgame interview Tuesday. "Getting back and getting to where you need to be. I'm glad to see him get rolling here a little bit and keep stacking those good (at-bats) one on top of another."

Remember to join our MARINERS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Mariners fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!