SEATTLE -- Rob Refsnyder has been battling through discomfort in both of his knees for much of what’s been a difficult debut season in Seattle. And on Monday, the situation reached the point that the club placed him on the 10-day injured list.
Meanwhile, Dominic Canzone (right hamstring) and Luke Raley (left forearm) are grinding through their own discomfort, but will not go on the IL for now.
On the longer-term mend, Brendan Donovan (left groin) went through higher-intensity running between the bases, then took a few defensive drills in both the infield and outfield on Monday.
On the bullpen front, Matt Brash (right lat strain) and Cooper Criswell (right pec strain) are slated for followup MRIs on July 6. They’re on similar trajectories with their timelines, loosely targeted in the back half of August.
As for the here and now, Canzone was in Monday’s lineup upon Seattle’s return to T-Mobile Park, batting third and at designated hitter, while Raley remained sidelined for the second straight game against a right-handed starter, the Angels’ Ryan Johnson.
Canzone, who was seen grimacing when legging out a double on Saturday in Cleveland, won’t see outfield action in the immediate. But his effort to grind it out is rooted in the fact that he’s swinging one of the Mariners’ hottest bats, hitting .318 with a 1.013 OPS in June entering Tuesday while growing beyond his more strict platoon role.
“There's no right answer here,” Mariners general manager Justin Hollander said. “It's just about what he feels comfortable doing, and what he wants to do.”
Raley, however, might not be as limited with outfield reps as Canzone, given that his issue is on his non-throwing arm. Nonetheless, the Mariners added Connor Joe to their taxi squad from Triple-A Tacoma on Monday in a just-in-case measure.
“If he gets to a point where it's affecting mechanics, it's affecting his ability to cut it loose and be free and easy -- maybe not the right words for how Luke swings -- but, like, swing very hard and confidently, then yes, we will have to step in,” Hollander said of Raley.
For Donovan, this past week “was a big, positive momentum-builder,” per Hollander, though the club is still not sure when the 2025 All-Star will begin a Minor League rehab assignment.
“This injury is really not conducive to me doing that,” Hollander said. “All it's going to do is, we'll either start it early and people will say I undershot it intentionally, or we'll start it late and people will say I was pushing good news and over-optimism. So let's just see where we're at at the end of this homestand.”
Similarly, with Brash and Criswell the Mariners will wait on the results from their upcoming MRIs to determine when they can begin a throwing progression.
“I always repeat this -- however long you're down is roughly however long it takes to get you back,” Hollander said of the two righties, whom the Mariners have clearly missed.
As for Refsnyder, his IL classification was right knee inflammation, though the 35-year-old has mentioned as far back as April that he’s been dealing with issues in both of his knees.
The transaction is retroactive to Saturday, and in a corresponding move, newcomer Buddy Kennedy was added to the active roster, less than 24 hours after he was acquired from the Giants in exchange for cash considerations.
Refsnyder received injections last week and felt good enough to continue playing, but ultimately shut things down.
“He's not making an excuse in any way,” Hollander said. “But I think we're to a point where he just doesn't feel like his foundation is stable enough to do the things he needs to be able to do.”
The Mariners will take their time in Refsnyder’s recovery, with the hope that they can still salvage some production down the stretch.
It’s been an extremely disappointing season for the veteran, who signed a one-year, $6.25 million contract in December to be a right-handed platoon bat at DH and in the corner outfield. He’s slashing .133/.203/.219 (.422 OPS) over 119 plate appearances across 49 games.
Kennedy, who has 74 games of MLB experience over parts of five seasons, will slot in as a right-handed bench bat. In 85 plate appearances against lefties at Triple-A this year, he’s hit .380 with a 1.096 OPS. He can also play multiple infield and outfield positions.