ANAHEIM, Calif. — The diagnosis wasn’t completely awful, but it was far from ideal.
After playing in 142 of the Mariners’ 143 games this season, third baseman Eugenio Suarez was placed on the 10-day injured list with a small fracture in his right index finger before Saturday’s game at Angel Stadium.
Infielder/outfielder Dylan Moore (oblique strain) was reinstated from the 10-day injured list and took Suarez’s spot on the 28-man active roster.
“Geno will go to the IL,” manager Scott Servais said with disappointment apparent in his voice “Unfortunately, (expletive) happens, and it happened last night.”
The moment of profanity from the always-measured Servais speaks to the frustration felt from losing one of their hottest hitters with 19 games remaining in the season and the team trying to cement its first postseason berth since 2001.
“Every team has to go through different things throughout the year,” Servais said. “Mitch Haniger was probably our best offensive player all last year and we missed him for 3 1/2, almost 4 months of the season. We’ve been able to survive because other guys have stepped up. And that’s what we need to do now. Geno was as hot as anybody. I loved where he was trending and how it was going with some huge hits and homers. This creates opportunity for other guys to step up.”
This story will be updated.