Mariners place Evan White and Ty France on 10-day injured list, recall 2
May 14, 2021, 4:41 PM | Updated: 5:41 pm
The Mariners will be without 1B Evan White as he is on the IL with a hip injury. (Getty)
(Getty)
The Mariners made a flurry of roster moves Thursday for the arrivals of top prospects Jarred Kelenic and Logan Gilbert, and now they’ve made two more with infielder/designated hitter Ty France and first baseman Evan White going on the 10-day injured list.
What must the Mariners do to get struggling lineup back on track?
White, the 25-year-old 2017 first-round draft pick, will go to the injured list due to a strained left hip flexor, while France, 26, is dealing with left wrist inflammation. Taking their place on the Mariners’ 26-man roster are infielders Donovan Walton and Jack Mayfield.
France started the season as one of the Mariners best hitters, but he’s only tallied two hits in 38 at-bats over the last two weeks with one extra-base hit. For the season, France has played in 37 of the Mariners’ 38 games and is slashing .229/.33/.366 with three home runs and 14 RBIs. He leads the team in walks with 16 and has 32 strikeouts in 153 plate appearances (20.9%).
And after a rocky rookie season at the plate in 2020, White’s second MLB campaign hasn’t been much better.
In 54 games last season, White slashed .176/.252/.346 with nine home runs and 26 RBIs. He also struck out in 41.5% of his plate appearances.
In 30 games in 2021, White’s offensive numbers are even worse, as he’s slashing just .144/.202/.237 with two home runs and nine RBIs. He has cut down on the strikeouts, though, as he’s striking out in 29.8% of his plate appearances.
The 2020 Gold Glove first baseman was seen as someone who could break out in 2021 because even though he had a lot of swings and misses, he was one of the best players in baseball in terms of making hard contact. That hasn’t been the case in 2021, though, as his average exit velocity ranks in the fifth percentile in baseball and his hard hit percentage is in just the seventh percentile.
Walton, 26, was Seattle’s fifth-round pick in 2016 and has played in 12 MLB games between 2019 and 2020. He has a career .172/.273/.207 slash line. He started the 2021 season in Triple-A Tacoma and has played well in seven games, slashing .313/.371/.746 with four RBIs and two doubles.
Mayfield, 30, was claimed by the Mariners off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels. He’s appeared in 49 MLB games since 2019 with the Houston Astros and the Angels. He has a career slash line of .165/.193/.275. Mayfield has two career home runs and eight RBIs.
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