10:47pm: Ari Alexander of KPRC2 reports that Canzone is set to be recalled to the big leagues by the Mariners. That seemingly suggests that Robles is ticketed for the injured list, which Jon Morosi of MLBNetwork reported was likely earlier this evening, though no official move has been made to this point.
6:08pm: Mariners outfielder Victor Robles made an outstanding catch late in today’s game against the Giants, but the moment quickly turned worrisome when Robles crashed into the right field netting in foul territory. As noted by multiple reporters, including Adam Jude of The Seattle Times and Daniel Kramer of MLB.com, Robles exited the game and was carted off the field clutching his left arm. As noted by Jude, manager Dan Wilson told reporters that Robles suffered a shoulder injury and is undergoing initial tests to determine the exact issue.
It’s potentially devastating news for the Mariners, for whom Robles has emerged as a spark plug in all aspects of the game since he was signed by Seattle back in June after being released by the Nationals earlier that year. In 77 games for Seattle the rest of the way, Robles hit a phenomenal .328/.393/.467 with a wRC+ of 154. He also played solid defense across all three outfield spots and went 30-for-31 on the basepaths en route to 3.2 fWAR in just 262 trips to the plate for the Mariners last year. It was such a strong performance that the club signed Robles to a two-year extension that guarantees him $9.75MM and keeps him under team control through the end of the 2027 season thanks to a $9MM team option for a third year.
That 2024 breakout season represented a remarkable comeback for Robles, who was considered the best prospect in the Nationals’ system and among the top prospects in the entire sport as he came up through the minor leagues alongside Juan Soto. Unfortunately, injuries have dogged Robles all throughout his career. He appeared in just 530 games in parts of eight seasons in D.C. due to elbow, ankle, back, and hamstring injuries among other ailments. He’s only had one full season in the majors over the years, his 2019 rookie season with the club, and since then has only reached even 400 plate appearances in a season a single time.
It’s impossible to say with certainty to what extent the injuries led to Robles, who hit a disappointing .236/.311/.356 during his time with the Nationals, to under perform the expectations associated with his top prospect status. Even so, it’s without a doubt that both he and the Mariners were surely hoping his fresh start in Seattle last year would afford him the opportunity to prove himself healthy and effective in the big leagues over an extended period of time. While even an approximate timetable for Robles’s return to action won’t be clear until the Mariners provide more details regarding the nature of his injury, it seems safe to say that Robles will miss at least some time due to the injury.
In terms of options to replace Robles in the lineup, they’re relatively few and far between. Dylan Moore has gotten off to a hot start this year but is currently stepping in for Jorge Polanco at third base while Polanco nurses a sore knee. Dominic Canzone is on the 40-man roster at Triple-A and capable of playing the outfield, or the club could move Luke Raley from first base back into the outfield while giving first base to some combination of Donovan Solano, Austin Shenton, and Tyler Locklear. Regardless of which options they ultimately go with to fill in for Robles while he’s out, an extended absence from the outfielder could be tough for the club to handle given their relatively lackluster depth options on the positional side of things.
Prayers up for robles
Seemed like he was finally figuring things out in seattle
Poor kid, seriously.
So Robles is hurt and the low budget Mariners have nobody to fill in cause that would mean having to spend money to have depth on your roster! With the current ownership the Mariners have a ZERO chance of winning or even getting to a World Series! Looks like best case scenario is a 500 ball club with this roster! U get what U pay for and Rowdy Tellez was available for a reason!
Was an awesome effort and great catch. Hopefully the prognosis is better than it feels. Looked like he was in a ton of pain. Fingers crossed he can even make it back this season.
Never seen a catch like that in that spot in the yard. It was sick
That sounds pretty rough.
Yup. Just saw the replay.
Ms best of the worst
Glad he at least got a decent deal before getting hurt. Been a long road to figuring things out. hope he’s not out too long…
What a catch though! Congrats to the Giants for sweeping my Mariners. Maybe you guys are on another magical 2021 run. If my memory serves, the Giants swept us very early in that season as well. Hopefully the M’s can right the ship before it sinks too much further.
Giants lost first game of 2021 to the Mariners at Seattle. It was a gut punch late inning loss but the rest of the season was OK.
I was at that game, that’s why I remember.
The catch was flipping miraculous! Hope he is able to recover! Never seen a player do that in the 25 years that parks been open!
Incredible catch, but I don’t feel great about the prognosis. The way the arm was held by the trainer reminded me of Jung Hoo Lee last season. I really hope not. Robles is a guy with good tools, and looked to be coming into his own. I hope I’m wrong, and it just looked worse than it is. Tight series, M’s played well and a lucky bounce here or there, they might have taken 2 of 3.
Seattle Mariners are the unluckiest sports franchise behind the Utah Jazz.
Injuries like this obviously aren’t unique to Seattle. They just hurt the team more because they don’t have the quality depth most contenders have.
Bills fans might argue.
At least the Bills have been to the SB! Seattle has never even sniffed the WS. Even with the single season most wins (tied) in MLB history.
Same problem back then. An ownership unwilling to part with profits.
One of the greatest catches ever. So selfless. All about team.
I was there in the arcade just above Robles. It was gnarly.
But we can all blame Camillo for blowing the save and forcing the mariners back into the field.
This seems like a healthy comment
I come here for all the healthy comments.
Is it healthy it pass judgment on others?
This was a joke for all those who know what they are.
Yeah, it looked like 2024 Camilo, not 2021-23 Camilo.
It wasn’t that bad 2024 camilo was way worse. When he was bad it was like he never knew where it was going. This was more of a meh performance where he gave up a run when he only had a 1 run lead and not on his game
It’s one outing, so it’s inconclusive, But the way teams continue to run on him this season, like they did last, is troubling. Which isn’t a problem if no one gets on. But currently, not only is he unable to keep runners from stealing 2B, but 3B as well. It does not bode well unless he starts varying his looks.
we agree there – he also needs to not get flustered about it, plenty of closers and late inning guys ignore the runner and close in on the batter when that happens – late inning guys usually aren’t the best at holding guys. the issue is that as soon as guys steal on him it gets in his head too.
A lot of late-inning guys don’t allow as many baserunners as Doval. I’m sure you saw last night when he walked the lead-off guy in the 9th, then hit the next guy. No surprise that both scored. It ruined an outstanding start from Webb. Lack of control was a big issue last season, and so far appears to be one this season. This season and last he’s had a .354 OBP against. league average is .315. By comparison, Walker has a .251 OBP against.
Hope he’s OK. Now what do the M’s do – seriously can’t be thinking more Moore is the answer? Raley in RF, JRod in centre & Randy in LF (or flip Randy & Raley if you want) but that means too much Tellez at 1b/DH…. Solano is icy cold & maybe his bat speed is catching up to his birth certificate. Is there any reasonable bats ready on the farm?
Just what the mariners needed, losing our lead off hitter who was one of our few guys we could count on to be at least league average with the bat
So I’m assuming this forces JP back to leadoff and that luke raley takes his spot in the outfield with rowdy getting more time at 1st
JP is ice cold. I imagine they put Julio in the lead off spot.
If it were my call, I’d have Polanco there.
DHing… Polanco can’t make the plays at 3B. They should have known after having him all season last year. But… same old Sink Our Ship M’s.
He’s still relatively new to third base. He needs more time there.
But it wouldn’t surprise me if he moves back to second when Williamson gets promoted.
Love how hard Robles plays, and obviously it was awful to see him carted off the field after that insane catch, but let’s be honest: he’s maybe a fourth outfielder. Of course there are late bloomers and his contract isn’t bad, but, among other concerns, his BABIP last year was .381. That’s not sustainable for a guy who doesn’t hit the ball hard. Plus, for all his speed, he doesn’t always make great decisions on the basepaths — can anyone forget his boneheaded decision to steal home with the bases loaded on a 3-0 count? Someone above said the Mariners were “unlucky.” Well, luck is the residue of design, and the M’s offense is poorly designed. At best.
Sucks big when being a gamer gets a guy injured. Hope the dude bounces back quickly.
Time for some Calzone
I just watched the clip, and the fact that he held onto that ball after that impact says a lot about his toughness. I can’t imagine he doesn’t miss some time, but I hope he makes a quick and full recovery.
Amazing catch he made.
Teams could shift from a star-driven model to a modular roster system, where every position has multiple players trained to replicate 80-90% of a star’s output across specific skills (e.g., speed, defense, contact hitting), rather than banking on one irreplaceable breakout player.
That would require a lot more star players in baseball and massive payrolls. Having a 3-4 WAR player and backing that player up with a 2.7 WAR player just isn’t feasible and essentially you are rostering 2 entire teams and a large chunk won’t be on the active roster and would need to accept minor league assignments
That was a nasty looking injury. I hope he will be ok.
This dude is always getting hurt someway or somehow. He was not worthy of the dollars in my wallet then and he’s certainly not worth the $9.75 million the Mariners are paying him now.
Incredible play, saw it live. Hopefully injury is not as terrible as it looked.
Would Robbie Ray really not make the Mariners rotation ? Based on that series, he would have to be a big chance !
The Mariners look like they have a nice mix of starting pitching and we didn’t have to face the better Luis Castillo but Robbie Ray would fit in their rotation just fine. Unfortunately he won’t be pitching in Seattle and fortunately he’s a Giant.
Woo and Miller looked pretty good, but surely big Robbie gets a game with them. Very happy he is a Giant.
He probably would, they just have so much depth in the rotation that it made more sense to clear salary for someone who they didn’t know whether he would come back the same after the.
With Kirby out, yes he’d make it now. Assuming Kirby returns on schedule later this month? Tough decision, but probably a fit since the M’s starting 5 are all Righties?
That trade was fine. That’s not the trade to lament from that off-season.
Yikes. I saw the play. I’ve watched almost every Giants game played at Oracle for 25 years since it opened. That was the best defensive play/ catch in right field that I’ve ever seen. I haven’t, even in all those years ever seen a play at that area of foul territory. We have Yaz in right most of the time along with his great glove and still haven’t seen a better play. Don’t think I’ll see anything like it in the future either. Sorry he hurt himself though. Shoulder didn’t look good. Hope he’ll be ok after some time off.
I hope I never see one like that again, it was brutal
Was brutal to watch. Amazing catch.
That was embarrassing how long it took to get the cart out there. Reminds me of when Profar got a concussion and the medical team was nowhere to be found.
That catch was badass.
Team is a joke…LFGM!!
No idea he walked on his shoulders
An amazing catch, especially painful in a losing cause. But this team is doing exactly what everyone said it would do, given the lousy off-season lack of moves. So, while Canzone is coming up, maybe it’s a good time to evaluate the sub-.400 OPS guys (Garver, Solano, and Tellez — all of whom we KNEW would stink up the joint) and decide whether to keep any of them, despite their sunk cost. At this point, I’d at least rather see Ford, Shenton, and Locklear than Garver, Solano and Tellez, wouldn’t you?