Mariners Injury Updates: What we learned about Julio’s status

Seattle Mariners center fielder Julio Rodríguez took on-field batting practice at T-Mobile Park prior to Tuesday’s series opener against the Detroit Tigers, but manager Scott Servais said his timetable to return from a high-ankle sprain is still unclear.

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Rodríguez has been on the injured list for the past two weeks after spraining his right ankle on July 21 while crashing into the outfield wall in an attempt to catch a fly ball.

“Getting better,” Servais said Tuesday afternoon when asked about Rodríguez’s status. “Still don’t have a timetable on when he’ll be ready to go. (He) was in here yesterday. I know he tried to do a little bit more running on it and see where that went. But I still don’t have a timetable yet.”

Mariners general manager Justin Hollander said last Friday that Rodríguez had begun running in a straight line, but that the biggest challenge would be progressing to the point where he can make sharp cuts and sudden changes of direction. Servais reiterated that point on Tuesday.

“He’s been in the cage,” Servais said. “Swinging really isn’t the issue, from what he said. It’s more the running and trying to get up to speed and taking the turns and things like that. So again, he’s feeling better, but I don’t have a timetable yet.”

Servais acknowledged that the longer Rodríguez is out, the more he’ll need a minor league rehab assignment.

“It’s a discussion we’ll have to have I think any time a guy’s out for more than two weeks,” Servais said. “We do have high-end pitching machines. The Trajekt (Arc) machine is as close as you’re gonna get – probably better than when you’re gonna get – in a minor league rehab assignment. So we do have that to use here to get after that in the cage. So we’ll just have to wait and see when it gets closer when he’s able to return.”

Since beginning a rehab assignment with Triple-A Tacoma on Thursday, outfielder Dominic Canzone has gone 7 for 14 with two home runs and a double in four games. Canzone is working his way back from a right adductor strain, which he suffered while making a diving catch on July 7, according to MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer.

Servais said he’s hopeful Canzone will return at some point during the Mariners’ current nine-game homestand, which continues through Sunday with a pair of three-game series against the Tigers and the New York Mets.

“He will play tonight (for Tacoma),” Servais said. “We’ll see how that one goes and we’ll take it from there. But I would suspect he’d be back at some point during this homestand.”

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