SEATTLE -- Two days removed from being hit in the head by a throw, Julio Rodríguez was back in the outfield at T-Mobile Park on Sunday afternoon, playing catch ahead of the Mariners’ final home game of the first half against the Blue Jays.
Rodríguez exited the Mariners’ game against the Angels on Thursday with concussion symptoms an inning after taking a Nolan Schanuel throw off the back of his helmet while running to second. Saturday, he woke up and “didn’t feel himself,” prompting a move to the 7-day concussion IL and a day basically off from baseball activity.
Sunday, the Mariners’ 25-year-old star walked through the clubhouse wearing light-sensitive glasses, but he was good to put a glove on and toss a ball around.
“Each day’s gotten a little bit better, today [he did] a little more activity,” manager Dan Wilson said. “It’s just a matter of what he can handle from day to day. But encouraging signs today, for sure.”
The Mariners will wrap up their first half with a six-game swing to Florida, starting with a three-game set in Miami on Tuesday and finishing with three games at Tropicana Field against the Rays.
The team will fly east after Sunday’s game against the Blue Jays, but Rodríguez will stay in Seattle for at least another night. Wilson said that if Rodríguez wakes up feeling better, he could fly out separately as soon as Monday afternoon.
“[We’ll] see how he is tomorrow, and then kind of make an assessment there,” Wilson said. “He does seem to be progressing each day.”
The center fielder, who is hitting .259 with a .747 OPS, is eligible to return on Friday at the earliest. After this next weekend, the Mariners will have four days off for the All-Star break, returning July 17 vs. the Giants.
For the third straight game since Rodríguez’s injury, Victor Robles started in center field. Rodríguez wasn’t the only piece of Seattle’s lineup puzzle out on Sunday, though, as Dominic Canzone was off, continuing to build up from a right hamstring injury that first popped up on June 21.
“Continuing to build strength in his legs and get back to [being] healthy,” Wilson said. “[It’s a] chance for him to do that today and be ready to go.”
Since returning to the field on June 24, Canzone -- who has largely swung his way out of a platoon role by hitting .375 with a 1.224 OPS vs. lefties since the beginning of June -- has had five days out of the starting lineup. This is the second time one of his rest days has come directly before an off-day.
“It’s always nice to have the back-to-back days; it gives you a little bit of extra rest,” Wilson said. “He should be back ready to go in Miami.”