Mariners Injury Updates: Crawford, Polanco still out — here’s why

The Seattle Mariners open a daunting 10-game East Coast road trip Friday against the American League-best Baltimore Orioles, and they’ll start it without a key player who was expected to return.

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Shortstop J.P. Crawford didn’t travel with the team to Baltimore after he was hit on the hand with a pitch Wednesday night during the presumed final game of his rehab appearance with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers. MLB.com Mariners writer Daniel Kramer reported on social media that manager Scott Servais and Crawford had been texting, and Servais said Crawford will “hopefully” join the team at some point during the road trip.

Kramer reported that Crawford “was still experiencing swelling and soreness in his right hand” as of Thursday night, but that the team did have a locker for Crawford in Baltimore.

Crawford has been on the injured list since he was late scratch on April 24 due to a right oblique strain. The shortstop was hitting just .198 with two home runs in 22 games before the injury. Dylan Moore was slated to continue to fill in at shortstop and bat leadoff against Orioles left-hander John Means, who pitched a no-hitter against the Mariners in 2021.

More injury updates

• Second baseman Jorge Polanco is out of the lineup for a third straight game after being removed from Monday’s loss to the Kansas City Royals with tightness in his right hamstring. Adam Jude of the Seattle Times reported that Polanco was testing out his hamstring pregame with trainers and it appears unlikely he’ll be available for the weekend series. The oft-injured Polanco could be heading for a trip on the IL. Josh Rojas is in the lineup at second base for a rare starter against a lefty, hitting sixth.

• Designated Hitter Mitch Garver is back in the lineup and batting third after missing the past two games with upper-back spasms. Garver was a late scratch Tuesday against Kansas City, and Servais said after that game that the back spasms Garver was dealing with were different than the lower-back spasms earlier this season.

More on the Seattle Mariners

• Rost on M’s: What we’ve learned a quarter through the season
• First-place Mariners face powerful Orioles: Three things to know
• Mariners the ‘team to beat’ in AL West? Why that’s now the case
• Video: Bob’s Breakdown – What’s changed most since start of season?
• Is expected return of Mariners’ J.P. Crawford now in doubt?
• Drayer: Rojas helping Julio an example of Seattle Mariners’ offense evolving

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