Mariners Injuries: Dipoto’s promising updates on Crawford, Kelenic

The Seattle Mariners have a few notable hitters on the injured list, but two in particular are very much moving in the right direction.

Salk: Do the Seattle Mariners have a 9th-inning problem? It’s complicated

During his Thursday show on Seattle Sports, Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto provided some promising updates om shortstop J.P. Crawford and outfielder Jarred Kelenic.

Let’s start with Crawford, who went on the seven-day injured list last Friday (was retroactive to last Thursday) with a concussion.

Crawford has been the Mariners’ most consistent hitter this season and is enjoying a career year. He owns a .266/.379/.411 (.790 OPS) line with a career-high 10 home runs.

The Mariners’ go-to leadoff man suffered a concussion during a play where he and third baseman Eugenio Suárez both went for a groundball last Wednesday. Crawford’s head hit Suárez’s shoulder. Crawford stayed in the game for a little bit before being taken out a few innings later.

Crawford should re-join the team soon, Dipoto said, but he’s going to see some game action before that.

“If he continues to improve the way he has, we’re likely to see him go out (on a rehab assignment) because it’s been long enough,” Dipoto said. “We’re gonna have him go out and play at least one rehab game somewhere in the Northwest – it’s probably going to be at Everett – sometime Friday, Saturday or this weekend with the hope that he can join us either at the end of the trip through Houston or when we get to Chicago.”

That’s still “contingent” on Crawford showing “continued improvement,” Dipoto said, but he doesn’t think that’ll be an issue.

“The feedback I’m getting as he feels pretty good right now,” Dipoto said. “He’s executing baseball activity and we are going to get them out there for at least a one-game rehab look where you can get some ABs versus live pitching.”

As for Kelenic, the young outfielder has been on the shelf since July 20 with a broken bone in his foot.

Kelenic suffered the injury while kicking a water cooler out of frustration after a ninth-inning strikeout on July 19. He’d been in a walking boot since. Until Wednesday, that is.

“He was led out of his boot yesterday, actually,” Dipoto said. “So he’s going to slowly get back into baseball activity. He’s been throwing throughout with the boot on, but he’s now being released to go do a little bit more aggressive baseball activity.”

Kelenic is also enjoying a breakout year, posting a slash line of.252/.320/.439 (.759 OPS) with 11 home runs, 45 RBIs and 12 stolen bases in 90 games. Kelenic started the year hot before cooling off, but he did have a seven-game hitting streak before landing on the injured list.

So when could we see Kelenic back in the Mariners’ outfield?

“The rehab process we knew was going to take us into September. That hasn’t changed,” Dipoto said. “But what day in September? I don’t know. But we are optimistic that he is going to contribute before the year is done.”

Listen to this week’s Jerry Dipoto Show at this link or in the player near the top of this story. 

Morosi: What does future look like for Gonzales, Seattle Mariners’ rotation?

Follow @TheBGustafson