SEATTLE -- For the first time in seven seasons, the Mariners will open the year without their longtime shortstop and clubhouse leader on the Opening Day roster.
J.P. Crawford, Seattle’s longest-tenured player, was officially placed on the 10-day injured list on Wednesday with right shoulder inflammation, when the club announced its 26-man roster ahead of Thursday’s regular-season opener vs. the Guardians at T-Mobile Park.
The club also placed right-hander Bryce Miller on the IL -- pitchers are classified by the 15-day designation -- with the left oblique strain that he’s been working back from for nearly four weeks.
Utilityman Miles Mastrobuoni will also begin the season on the shelf while recovering from the right calf strain that he sustained while playing for Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic.
Each IL stint is retroactive to March 22, meaning that Crawford and Mastrobuoni would first be eligible to return on April 1, while Miller would be on April 6. However, it’s unclear if each player will be ready by those dates.
Separately, catcher Andrew Knizner cleared waivers and elected free agency, just days after losing out on the backup catcher role to Mitch Garver in Spring Training. He departs the organization after signing a one-year, $1 million contract that was fully guaranteed.
None of Wednesday’s moves came as a surprise.
The Mariners had signaled late in camp that both Crawford and Miller were unlikely to be ready for the opener, and the final roster ultimately reflected a spring that was largely devoid of position battles -- other than between Knizner and Garver.
With Crawford sidelined, Leo Rivas is expected to draw the Opening Day start at shortstop and could hold that role through the season’s first homestand, or longer. It will all depend on the status of Crawford, who’d begun baseball activity during the club’s final days in Arizona but will still likely need a rehab assignment.
Presumably, Crawford could get those reps in Minor League spring training games that are still taking place in Arizona. It’s also possible that he transitions his rehab to Triple-A Tacoma, which begins its season at Reno this weekend but returns to Cheney Stadium for a six-game homestand beginning Tuesday.
Rivas, 28, broke camp with Seattle for the first time a year ago, earning a reserve role before being optioned to Tacoma in late May. He returned as a September callup and carved out steady playing time down the stretch, including a key hit in Game 5 of the American League Division Series and four starts at second base during the AL Championship Series.
As such, Rivas was expected to break camp on the roster regardless -- but as a utility bench bat, given his positional versatility, plus defense and switch-hit tool. However, Crawford’s IL stint opened the door for Ryan Bliss to slide into the bench role, as he looks to bounce back from left biceps and right meniscus surgeries that sidelined him for virtually all of last season.
Colt Emerson, the Mariners’ No. 1 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 9 overall, was in the mix for an Opening Day roster spot and very well could be considered at some point in 2026. But he was reassigned to Minors camp on Saturday. The 20-year-old will begin the year with Tacoma, where he finished last season after climbing three Minors affiliates.
As for Miller, he threw a bullpen at 100% effort on Monday in Arizona, which represented his biggest benchmark yet since the issue first surfaced in his Cactus League debut on Feb. 26.
That said, he’ll need extended time to build arm strength to a starter’s workload -- with multiple rehab outings expected. Once cleared, the Mariners will then target when his return fits within their schedule, among factors such as off-days, bullpen usage at the time and more.
In his stead, right-hander Emerson Hancock will slot into the Mariners’ rotation as their No. 5 starter -- marking the third straight year he’s done so as an injury fill-in. This might be, however, the most promising that the 2020 first-round Draft pick has looked entering a season, having shown increased velocity and polish on his sweeper throughout spring.
Mastrobuoni was already on the outside looking in on the Opening Day roster before his injury, but placing him on the IL allows him to recover and keeps him in the organization, as he’s out of Minor League options.