Mariners get bad news on Victor Robles’ shoulder injury
By Jeffrey Nooney, edited by Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - Our Seattle Mariners got some bad news regarding right fielder Victor Robles, who was injured after a heroic catch up against the netting down in San Francisco. He was carted off the field while he was holding his left forearm and seemed to be shaken up quite a bit. On Monday, Mariners general manager Justin Hollander gave an update to Robles’ condition describing it as a dislocated shoulder as Seattle officially placed him on the ten day injured list later that day.
“He’s going to go on the IL today. I don’t know anything beyond that. He will go for more imaging this afternoon, so we will know a timeline after the imaging. Everything else I would tell you would just be totally guessing.”
Seattle Mariners outfielder Victor Robles during the June 13th, 2024 loss to the Chicago White Sox at T-Mobile Park, one of the first home games Robles played with the Mariners. (Photos by Rio Giancarlo for Circling Seattle Sports)
Today, Tuesday, April 8th, the Mariners announced that Robles could miss up to 12 weeks with the injury. Imaging revealed that the dislocation caused a small fracture in the humeral head of his left shoulder. Seattle believes that the injury will not require surgery, but he will be monitored closely throughout his recovery in order to see if this changes. Should the fracture heal on its own, the Mariners expect the healing process to take up to six weeks. Once the injury proves to be fully healed, his rehab and ramp up could take an additional six weeks. In a perfect world, Robles should return in early July for the Mariners, but if the fracture does not heal properly on its own and surgery is required, the season could be in jeopardy for Victor.
Robles’ injury is a devastating blow for the Mariners, especially so early on into the season as things haven’t gone very well for Seattle to begin the 2025 campaign. Robles is a huge presence in the clubhouse with his big personality, and he has also established himself as the leadoff hitter in the lineup, something that the Mariners have sorely needed the last few seasons. In 87 career games with the Mariners, Robles has slashed .319/.376/.447/.823 with an OPS+ of 145, 45% better than league average. In terms of “wins above replacement” or WAR, he has earned 2.7 WAR over those 87 games. He will be missed over the next few months and we wish him a speedy recovery, given how infectious his energy and joy is to anyone around Victor.
How will the Mariners replace Robles?
When Robles was placed on the injured list, the Mariners called up outfielder Dominic Canzone from AAA affiliate, the Tacoma Rainiers. Canzone has been with the Mariners organization for a few years now after being acquired in a deal that saw Seattle ship off Paul Sewald, but failed to make the Opening Day roster out of Spring Training this year. Canzone has played in 111 games for the Mariners, but has struggled at the plate so far in his short career. Canzone is slashing just .205/.261/.393/.654 with an OPS+ of just 88, 12% below league average. Canzone has been dominant at the AAA level of his professional career, both with the Tacoma Rainiers and the Reno Aces, the Arizona Diamondbacks affiliate. His AAA career numbers are .309/.380/.545/.925 with 41 home runs and 18 stolen bases. Canzone spoke with the media here at T-Mobile Park prior to Tuesday night’s game against the Astros, and when asked what changes he has made since last year, he had this to say:
“For me, they tried to stand me up a bunch (at the plate) over the last year and a half which didn’t work as much as I would have like to. It’s just getting back to what I was doing with Arizona which is a little bit more in my legs so we will see how that works.”
For the time being, Luke Raley will play in right field, as he’s got the athleticism to play well in the outfield given the ground he can cover and his solid arm. He has started mostly as the designated hitter or at first base this season, but he will likely leave first base to the platoon of Rowdy Tellez and Donovan Solano with Robles out. Both Raley and Canzone are left-handed hitters, so no platoon is expected for now and it’ll be interesting to see when Canzone does get game action. The versatility of Raley really helps in situations like these. Should the Mariners look outside the organization for a Robles replacement, there is not many options out there at the moment. Trades do not happen often this early into the season, and the Mariners are likely to see how things play out for now especially considering that they want Raley to get consistent playing time and he has shown well in the outfield when he’s played there.
Instagram: @CirclingSeattleSports Twitter: @CirclingSports Threads: @CirclingSeattleSports Tiktok: @CirclingSeattleSports Facebook: Circling Seattle Sports BlueSky: @circlingseasports.bsky.social
〰️
Instagram: @CirclingSeattleSports Twitter: @CirclingSports Threads: @CirclingSeattleSports Tiktok: @CirclingSeattleSports Facebook: Circling Seattle Sports BlueSky: @circlingseasports.bsky.social 〰️
Check out our previous Seattle Mariners articles here.
Check out our previous articles with writing by Jeffrey Nooney here. Check out his previous work with Sodo Mojo by clicking here.
Check out our previous articles with photos by Kevin Ng, check out his portfolio here.
Support the work of Circling Seattle Sports by checking out our merchandise!
