BREAKING: Seattle Mariners Shortstop JP Crawford Activated, Returns to Lineup
SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners are working their way back to full strength as their attempted playoff push continues.
The Mariners activated starting shortstop and former Gold Glove award-winner JP Crawford off the 10-day injured list and optioned outfielder Dominic Canzone to Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers in a corresponding move before their series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday.
Crawford has been out of action since suffering a broken pinky on July 22 against the Los Angeles Angels.
Crawford played two rehab games with the Rainiers over the weekend. He was back at T-Mobile Park for sim games on Monday and Tuesday and did fielding drills with the rest of the team.
Seattle didn't take long to release the lineup after sending out the news release that Crawford would be returning. Crawford was penciled in for his usual position at shortstop as most expected. But interestingly — he was slated to lead-off the order, which was the role he had before getting injured.
.@jp_crawford returns to the lineup! #TridentsUp pic.twitter.com/roJi3s3aol
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) August 28, 2024
Seattle manager Dan Wilson took some time before Monday's game against the Rays to talk about the then-to-be-determined decision of having either Crawford or Robles go forward in the lead-off spot.
"We're going to take a peek at it," Wilson said. "Obviously we got to get (Crawford) healthy first and we'll see how it impacts the lineup at that point. We'll go from there. ... We got some things to think about. But it's all good stuff. When guys are getting healthy — this time of year, especially — it's all good news."
Robles was still in the beginning stages of something of a career resurgence when Crawford got hurt. That bounce-back and quality play earned Robles a two-year (potentially three-year) contract extension with the Mariners.
It'll be interesting to see how Crawford does in his first game back, both in the field and at the plate. He was hitting .204 with nine home runs and 32 RBIs before his injury and had a .988 fielding percentage this season with three errors in 88 total chances.
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