We were told that the Mariners were going to send Emerson to Triple-A on Thursday, but now he's headed to the injured list.
On Thursday, following a 1-0 win over the New York Yankees, it was reported that the Seattle Mariners were sending young shortstop Colt Emerson to Triple-A amid his prolonged struggles at the plate.
We discussed on Friday what that decision means for both Emerson, and the team, as they look to stay afloat in the American League playoff picture.
However, later on Friday, the plan changed, with the team announcing that Emerson has been put on the 10-day injured list with left wrist inflammation.
Brock Rodden has been summoned from Tacoma to take his place. He's starting at shortstop and hitting ninth for his major league debut.
For Emerson, it's a big blow, because he badly needs the additional reps to get his timing and plate discipline back. At this time, there's no word on how long he could be out for.
Even with Rodden starting on Friday, Leo Rivas has been expected to play shortstop at the big league level most of the time, with Rodden serving as a backup. J.P. Crawford is also on the injured list right now, and it's also a wrist issue.
Emerson started two of the three games in New York against the Yankees, and we were under the impression he only sat on Thursday as a way to reset himself mentally.
While we don't like to speculate on when an injury could have occurred, it's worth noting that Emerson was slid into at second base on Thursday after entering the game in the seventh inning. With Eduard Bazardo pitching, Jose Caballero stole second and Emerson dropped the ball while applying the tag.
The play looks innocent enough, but it's certainly possible something happened there.
Emerson is hitting just .190 in 221 at-bats with eight homers and 23 RBIs since his call-up in May. He's hitting just .167 over the last 30 games with one home run, and even more concerning, he's struck out 37 times against just four walks.
He has 19 strikeouts against just one walk since July 25.
If he was feeling the affects of injury before Thursday's game, perhaps the injury contributed to the struggles.
The Mariners and Astros will play on Friday night at 5:05 p.m. PT. Right-hander George Kirby is pitching fellow righty Peter Lambert. Seattle is five games back of the Astros in the American League West and its playoff odds are down to 31 percent.
Of note
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.
