Julio Rodríguez injury update: Mariners star lands on IL after crashing into wall as AL West lead vanishes into…Read…

Shortstop J.P. Crawford also hit the IL with a broken pinky

The Seattle Mariners find themselves deadlocked with the Houston Astros atop the American League West. Unfortunately for the Mariners, they’ll be without some key players for the near term. On Tuesday, they placed outfielder Julio Rodríguez (ankle sprain) and shortstop J.P. Crawford (hand fracture) on the injured list. Additionally, the Mariners designated first baseman Ty France for assignment, likely ending his time in Seattle.

In corresponding moves, the Mariners brought up first baseman Tyler Locklear, infielder Leo Rivas, and outfielder Cade Marlowe.

Rodríguez, 23, is having his worst season as a big-league player to date. In 100 games, he’s hit .263/.315/.372 (100 OPS+) with 11 home runs and 18 stolen bases. He suffered his injury late during Sunday’s game against the Astros when he crashed into the outfield wall on an attempted catch. Mariners manager Scott Servais had previously described the injury as a “mild ankle sprain” and said he was hopeful Rodríguez wouldn’t be out for long.                   

Crawford, 29, exited Monday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels after he was hit in the hand by a pitch from Tyler Anderson. Imaging revealed a hairline fracture in his pinky finger. He’s batted .204/.299/.347 (88 OPS+) this season with nine home runs and five stolen bases.

The Mariners will presumably cover for Rodríguez by deploying Victor Robles in center and some combination of Luke Raley, Mitch Haniger, Marlowe, and Jonatan Clase in the corners. Meanwhile, Dylan Moore and Rivas will likely get burn at shortstop.

France, for his part, was placed on outright waivers earlier this week. He hit for a 94 OPS+ in 88 games this season, a step down from the 118 OPS+ he posted over the last three years. Locklear seems like the most obvious candidate to slot in at the cold corner in his place.

The Mariners entered Tuesday with a 6-10 record in July. They had a three-game lead in the division as recently as July 2.

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SEATTLE — The Trade Deadline is just over a week away. But at this point, July 23 might well be a bigger delineation point in the Mariners’ summer, with Tuesday becoming one of their biggest transactional days of the season.

Three storylines from the past three days came to a head in the hours leading up to the Mariners’ matchup against the Angels on Tuesday. Star center fielder Julio Rodríguez and starting shortstop J.P. Crawford went onto the 10-day injured list with an ankle injury and a fractured pinky, respectively. Meanwhile, Ty France, who had been placed on outright waivers Sunday afternoon, cleared waivers and was designated for assignment.

In their place, Seattle called up No. 6 prospect first baseman Tyler Locklear, shortstop Leo Rivas, outfielder Cade Marlowe and outfielder Jonatan Clase — who had been optioned on Monday but is allowed to return right away because he’s replacing a player going on the injured list. They join Jason Vosler, who was called up Sunday, making one wall of the Seattle clubhouse 50% new lockers.