Mariners injury updates as of May 27th, 2025: More positive news for Seattle
By Jeffrey Nooney, edited by Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - After an up and down road trip, our Seattle Mariners are back at T-Mobile Park for a nice, long homestand. As he does before the first game of each homestand, Mariners General Manager Justin Hollander gave the local media an update on the injured players throughout the organization. This was notably the first time that Hollander did not mention starting pitcher George Kirby, except to say that he is good to go moving forward. George made his 2025 debut during the last road series in Houston ,but took the loss in his first start as he went just three and two thirds innings while giving up five runs (all earned) on six hits, one walk and four strikeouts. He threw 72 pitches in that outing, which is expected considering he missed as much time as he did. Perhaps the biggest thing coming out of that game for the Mariners and Kirby is that he came out of the outing feeling good, which ideally means they’ve got him back for the rest of the year.
Seattle Mariners right-handed starting pitcher Logan Gilbert during the teams April 7th, 2025 win over the Houston Astros at T-Mobile Park. (Photo by Rio Giancarlo for Circling Seattle Sports)
Continuing with starting pitcher news, Logan Gilbert is set to begin his rehab assignment in Tacoma this coming Thursday barring any last minutes changes, per Hollander. He will throw about three innings in that outing and he will need at least one more rehab start with the Rainiers after that, as Seattle will be looking at how much volume he’ll need before coming back to the major league club based on how his outings with the franchises AAA affiliate go. Hollander didn’t have any sort of specific marks or metrics for Gilbert to hit during his rehab outings with Tacoma besides “looking like Logan Gilbert.”
“Just feeling good, feeling healthy, looking like Logan Gilbert. I don’t have any particular goals in mind, but then when he walks off the mound and comes in, he says, ‘I felt great.’”
Seattle Mariners right-handed starting pitcher Bryce Miller during the teams May 11th, 2025 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at T-Mobile Park. (Photo by Kevin Ng for Circling Seattle Sports)
To round out the starting rotation updates, Bryce Miller threw a bullpen session yesterday and felt great after the session, which led Hollander to say that he will be activated at some point during the current homestand. Bryce has repeatedly said that a cortisone shot he got in his throwing elbow last homestand has him feeling much better, and that appears to have been the case as he’s still tracking well following the bullpens he’s been throwing. It was revealed by Hollander that Miller has a “small bone spur” in the back of his elbow, but the Mariners general manager doesn’t think that the spur will be an issue going forward. Hollander reiterated that the reason for the injured list placement was because of inflammation, not because the bone spur existed.
Outfielder/first baseman Luke Raley has been working his way back from a right oblique injury he suffered during batting practice back on April 29th. He has been down at the Mariners complex in Arizona rehabbing over the last two or so weeks but will be back in Seattle tomorrow. He will ramp up the “swinging part” of his baseball activities before heading out on a rehab assignment the week of June 3rd, and it seems like he may want to work his way back to a major league activation quickly.
“Rales has done great, really positive about how he’s feeling. It’s a very tricky injury, so things could change depending on how he feels when he starts swinging. He has checked every box. Looking forward to seeing him on Wednesday and anticipate him starting his rehab assignment June 3rd. (I) don’t know how long that will be but I anticipate at least a week.”
There is no new news on infielder Ryan Bliss, who tore his biceps muscle earlier this season. Hollander has said in the past that he will miss “most likely” the remainder of the season after he had surgery to repair his biceps muscle.
In somewhat of a surprise, Hollander said that he doesn’t expect outfielder Victor Robles to return to the lineup until September, as it appears there may have been some confusion regarding what the “12 week” period of recovery for him meant. Robles suffered a fracture in his right shoulder making a catch up against the netting in right field down in San Francisco, the first road trip of the season for Seattle. His last MRI showed “stability and good healing” according to Hollander. The initial 12 week diagnosis for Robles was talked about in two six-week intervals. The first six weeks for the fracture to heal itself and ensure that it wasn’t moving, which would’ve required surgery, and six weeks to build strength back up considering that Robles has had to keep that shoulder in a sling and not performing baseball activities for a long period of time. The Mariners general manager said that the 12 week time period was set for when he was to return to baseball activities, rather than returning to the lineup. The addition of Leody Taveras off waivers looks more and more important now considering this information.
“July is the ramp up of baseball activities so I would anticipate (his return) in September. In terms of where Victor is at, he’ll have been shutdown for a long time. He’s going to need a lot of buildup and strengthening, so it will be a while before we see him.”
When asked if there was any setback in his shoulder, Hollander said that there may have been some miscommunication in regards to the 12-week timeline.
“It’s six weeks down and six weeks of just strengthening at that point. Its a really tricky injury, and we need to make sure that the fracture is fully healed and stable. So no setbacks, he’s done great so far, but I don’t anticipate July as any possibility for him to return.”
Reliever Gregory Santos is said to be doing well in his recovery from knee surgery at the beginning of the month. He is beginning a throwing program soon and he is still on track to return to the field in July, but that is still some time away. Relief pitcher Jackson Kowar is “basically there” in terms of ready to being activated according to Hollander. Kowar has yet to throw a pitch for the Mariners since he was dealt to Seattle in the 2024 offseason during the salary dumping trade of Jarred Kelenic to Atlanta. The former first round pick had Tommy John surgery in March of 2024. Hollander said that they will check in on Kowar later this week and go from there, but a call up to join the big league club seems imminent.
As you’ll remember, reliever Trent Thornton had an emergency appendectomy the night before the last homestand began but he remains in Seattle and with the ballclub. He will throw a bullpen session today (May 27th) and will throw a live bullpen session on May 30th. Should he feel good enough after those two sessions, he will then go on a rehab assignment after that. Left-handed reliever Tayler Saucedo, who was optioned down to Tacoma earlier in the season, is on the injured list with an oblique injury. He has begun a throwing program but he likely will not return to the mound until July, Hollander said.
Mariners number four overall prospect Felnin Celesten was dealing with some dizziness and has been limited to the Designated Hitter role for the time being. He saw the team doctor and showed some vertigo symptoms. Celesten is feeling better now but there really isn’t a way to track where the dizziness came from. He should return to the field this week, if all goes well.
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