I checked the score in Thursday’s game between the Seattle Mariners and the Colorado Rockies sometime around the sixth inning. It wasn’t looking good with the M’s already in the hole, 6-2 – Nolan Arenado hit a homer for Colorado as did Mark Reynolds.
Then I looked at Seattle’s box score.
Why was Nelson Cruz lifted with an 0-for-1 on the stat sheet? Why did Jarrod Dyson enter for Jean Segura after an 0-for-2 with a walk? None of that would have been planned, so did both of these star hitters really get hurt in the same game? It can’t be more injuries to the already crowded disabled list, can it?
Why yes, yes it can.
No need to panic – yet as everyone is hoping both injuries get labeled as “day-to-day”. Nelson Cruz was hit on the hand with a fastball in his second at bat and Jean Segura injured his ankle sliding into second base, and after the game Thursday, initial reports proved to be fairly useless. They have to wait until more tests are done to get an idea of the severity of both injuries.
NO CRUZ, NO SEGURA…NO PROBLEM?
What would the lineup look like without both of these hitters for any amount of time – albeit one day or the Mike Trout special (6-8 weeks). Let’s come up with a hypothetical one.
- Jarrod Dyson (CF)
- Danny Valencia (1b)
- Robinson Cano (2b)
- Kyle Seager (3b)
- Mat Gamel (Rf)
- Taylor Motter (ss)
- Guillermo Heredia (LF)
- Mike Zunino (c)
- Boog Powell (Dh)
At a first glance, there’s not a lot of power or run production there. There are, however, a lot of very recent Tacoma Rainiers or other minor league players in other organizations.
To say this lineup can hang with the rest of the league for any significant amount of time would be a bit of a stretch. Looking over it again, it reminds me of a National league lineup a little bit – maybe like something the San Francisco Giants have thrown out there. Replace Powell with a pitcher, and compare it to the Giants 1-through-9 – just for the fun of it. The Giants had an off-day Thursday, so I will use their Wednesday lineup.
- Denard Span (cf)
- Eduardo Nunez (3b)
- Brandon Belt (1b)
- Buster Posey (c)
- Brandon Crawford (ss)
- Orlando Calixte (lf)
- Joe Panik (2b)
- Gorkys Hernandez (rf)
- Matt Cain (p)
When it’s written down in front of me, the similarities are even creepier than when I thought of it in my head. Point being – the Giants offense isn’t very good. You don’t want to look like the Giants offense. They are currently 29th in the majors in runs scored – ahead of only Kansas City.
MINOR INJURIES – NO HARM, NO FOUL
If both of these end up playing out to be minor, day-to-day injuries, then big picture – not a big deal.
Before Thursday’s game, the Mariners started to turn the corner a little bit. They got a big boost from the ‘Big Maple’ James Paxton (okay, the nickname is growing on me) and won four in a row prior to Thursday’s loss.
If one of them is day-to-day, and one of them lands on the DL, as much as Segura has done at the top of the order for the Mariners this year – I think he is easier to replace in the lineup than Nelly is. Cruz leads the league in RBIs and Seattle doesn’t really have a “Plan B” at that position.
If we had to choose one of the two of them to be out for a while, I will take Segura – even though he leads the league in batting average. It’s really a bad situation all-around, unless both are back in the lineup this weekend.
FINAL WORD WITH POOR JERRY DIPOTO
Regardless of how these injuries play out Friday, it is safe to assume some more transactions will need to be made by the front office if neither Nelly and Segura can go Friday. At least Mitch Haniger is close to coming back – but I think I said that two weeks ago too, so I’m not getting excited yet.
Please use caution if you go near Safeco Field anytime soon for a game – I wouldn’t want you to pull a hamstring crossing the street, or blow out an ACL by planting your foot awkwardly in grass. Stranger things have happened.
