Mariners place Victor Robles on IL; George Kirby making ‘great’ progress
SEATTLE – Mariners right fielder Victor Robles was placed on the injured list Monday afternoon, a day after he was carted off the field with a dislocated left shoulder suffered when he crashed into the netting to make a superhuman catch in San Francisco.
Medical personnel popped Robles’ shoulder back in place at Oracle Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Further details of Robles’ shoulder injury are not yet known, and a timeline for his potential return is unclear, Mariners GM Justin Hollander said.
Robles is scheduled to have an MRI later in the day Monday. He flew home with the team from San Francisco on Sunday evening. He was in the home clubhouse Monday afternoon before the series opener against the Houston Astros but he was not available for an interview.
“I don’t want to speculate on anything. He will have imaging today and we will go from there,” Hollander said, adding: “He made one of the best, all-out, had-no-regard-for-his-body catches I’ve ever seen. And I hope that it’s not the worst-case scenario, and I hope it’s on the shorter end than the longer end, but I honestly have no idea right now, and nobody does until we get a look at the images.”
Outfielder Dominic Canzone was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma to take Robles’ roster spot.
Polanco returns … as DH
Jorge Polanco was back in Monday’s lineup after sitting out the two weekend games in San Francisco.
The 31-year-old batted second against the Astros and was the DH for the first time this season. Polanco is hitting .450 with two homers and eight RBI in his first 20 at-bats.
Manager Dan Wilson had indicated Sunday that Polanco was still dealing with knee soreness.
Turns out, Polanco has also been working through “tenderness” in his side, as Hollander explained Monday.
Wilson had also said Sunday that he would be open to the idea of giving Polanco time as the DH, as a way to potentially take stress off the switch-hitter’s surgically-repaired left knee.
“He was scheduled for a down day anyway (Saturday) and felt some additional soreness in his upper body,” Hollander said. “So rather than risk any upper body issues, Dan elected to give him an extra day (Sunday).
Coming into the season, the Mariners had a general plan to bake in some additional off-days for Polanco to make sure he has adequate recovery time.
Polanco played through a knee injury for much of the 2024 season, during which he also had two stints on the IL. The Mariners are hoping he can avoid an extended absence this season.
“It’s something we talked about as making sure we were being responsible, (that) it wasn’t going to be six straight or seven straight (off days) in a row,” Hollander said.
Kirby ‘feels great’ in Arizona
George Kirby, on the injured list with shoulder inflammation, threw a normal bullpen session over the weekend at the Mariners’ complex in Peoria, Arizona, and is “doing great,” Hollander said.
Kirby has two more bullpens scheduled for later this week and will continue to progress on a normal spring-training-like schedule to build up arm strength.
In March, Kirby had expressed hope that he could return to the Mariners’ rotation by late April. It sounds like May might be more realistic.
“Late April seems optimistic to me, just given where we are on the calendar, but that’s George,” Hollander said. “The benchmarks that we were looking for him to hit was to feel good after his throwing sessions and his ‘pen sessions, and it feels great right now. We’ll see how the two (bullpens) go this week and then start moving into game situations. I don’t think it’ll be like a full spring training ramp-up, because he was already kind of built to that point over the winter and in their early part of the spring. But he does need a real game progression. It’s not going to be throw two innings then come to the big leagues.