Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list and is back in the lineup at designated hitter for Monday’s game against the Detroit Tigers.
Rodriguez went on the IL on Sept. 23 with a lower back strain. After missing nine games, Rodriguez returns to the lineup with just four games left to play in the regular season.
Manager Scott Servais wanted to ease Rodriguez back in after 10 days away, and said that he will return to center field soon.
“He hasn’t played in awhile, so we’ll break him in [at DH],” Servais said. “There’s a good chance he’ll play center field one of the games [Tuesday] and see how he feels coming out of that, so he can play back-to-back days. I just want to make sure he’s in a good spot. I think it’s important to maybe try to get him as many at-bats as we can without overdoing it.”
According to Rodriguez, part of his back issue had to do with the fact that he has played more games this season than he ever has in his life. But after rehabbing and running over the past week and a half, he is confident that it won’t be an issue moving forward.
“I feel like it’s a good learning experience for me,” Rodriguez said. “I definitely learned, and it’s not going to be a pain.”
While Servais plans to take it easy on Rodriguez to start, he said he thinks the star rookie “has been ready for a few days.”
“We needed it to calm down,” Servais said. “It did that within the first three or four days, and then a little bit of a slower ramp up, but he’s ready to go. I feel really good about it. He’s 21 years old, there is a lot to play for, and he likes when the lights are on. And the lights are going to be on. I feel good. He’s going to be in a good spot. ”
To make room for Rodriguez on the roster, infielder Abraham Toro was optioned to Class AAA Tacoma.
Cal Raleigh back in the lineup, Curt Casali returns
Catcher Cal Raleigh is also back in the lineup for the Mariners and will make his first start since Sept. 29 as the Mariners have tried to rest his injured left thumb. Raleigh’s first at-bat Monday will also be his first since he hit the walk-off homer against Oakland on Friday night that clinched the Mariners a spot in the postseason.
Backup catcher Curt Casali is also back after going on paternity leave last week. Casali left in the middle of Thursday’s game against the Texas Rangers after his wife went into labor and was placed on the paternity list the next day.
With Casali back, minor league veteran Brian O’Keefe was sent back to Class AAA Tacoma.
O’Keefe is a 29-year-old minor-league journeyman who made his major-league debut and collected his first major-league hit Saturday in Seattle’s 5-1 win over Oakland.