Through all the frustration of the first half of the Seattle Mariners season, there's been one carrot for fans to hold onto heading into the second half: 

The team is going to get healthier, and when they do, they'll have a chance to go on a run.

Well, that front is getting a little more precarious as we hit the day of the All-Star Game.

Julio Rodriguez, sidelined for eight games because of a concussion, is now "hoping" to come back on Friday night for the start of the second half.

Brendan Donovan, who hasn't played since the middle of May because of complications from a 2025 sports hernia surgery, was supposedly going to start a rehab assignment on Tuesday, one week ago, but he hasn't done it yet.

Baseball aside, the most important thing is that these players are OK health wise, but baseball wise? Timing isn't in the M's favor.

I talked more about this on the most recent 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast.

"...but it's an issue for the Mariners in this regard: the Mariners are going to be back on the field on Friday. Is Brendan Donovan going to play three, four, five games in the Arizona Complex League after not playing for two months and then all of a sudden just be good to come back to the Mariners on Friday? It doesn't feel like that to me.

Julio Rodriguez, we hope, is going to be back on Friday. But is he going to have taken rehab at-bats, sim games? Is he going to end up in Arizona? How is it going to work for him?

And all this gets to the point that the Mariners, in the first half, they punted the ability to have things take time. They're no longer at a point where, if they're going to be good in the second half, they can afford to be waiting anymore.

If they were 55-and-whatever, 55-48 or whatever — it would be 55-45. If they were that, then they'd have more time. But they're not. They're 48-49.

So let's just say — I'm making up things now — let's say Brendan Donovan starts a rehab assignment on Tuesday (July 14), the day you're listening to this, and let's say he needs a week of rehab. So he takes a week of rehab, he misses three or four games to start the second half, then he comes back, and then he needs three or four games to kind of get his timing right, and he's got to sit a little bit while they reintegrate him. They want to keep him fresh.

So now you're looking at, what, six or seven games missed? Eight games missed where he's not 100 percent? Those are eight games the Mariners cannot afford.

Let's say Julio comes right back on Friday, but he's had no swings. Well, it takes him three or four games to get going again. Those are three or four games they can't afford.

And let's say Julio doesn't come right back on Friday. Let's say he comes back on Sunday. There's two games that he missed entirely.

This is the problem with punting the first half in the way that they did. You lose the ability to have guys have the luxury of being able to be eased in again."

The Mariners will open up the second half on Friday at T-Mobile Park against the San Francisco Giants, who are in last place in the National League West.

The newest edition of the 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast is now out! We talk about the perception of Randy Arozarena, and Mississippi State baseball coach Brian O'Connor stops by to talk about Ace Reese, who the Mariners drafted in the first round of the MLB Draft. You can listen here, or you can watch the YouTube player below.

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