Colt

Emerson

Emerson smacked a two-out RBI single off of Shane Baz in the opening inning that extended the Mariners’ early lead to 3-0. That would wind up being the extent of the offense in the game. He also swiped second base, but the M’s were unable to cash him in from there. The 20-year-old phenom has held his own so far, hitting .235/.309/.529 with six homers, 16 RBI and one stolen base in his first 94 plate appearances.

As expected, Crawford returns to Seattle’s lineup for Tuesday’s series opener against the Orioles. The 31-year-old impending free agent wound up requiring a minimum stay on the injured list with a right hand contusion. He’ll split time with top prospect Colt Emerson at shortstop and could even wind up seeing time at third base over the final few months of the year.

Emerson’s only hit of the game left the yard as he took Cade Cavalli deep for a two-run blast in the fifth inning. The 20-year-old infielder is already up to six homers and 14 RBI while hitting .233/.309/.575 across 81 plate appearances, proving to have very real power despite a high strikeout rate early in his rookie season.

Emerson took a high Zack Littell fastball and deposited it in the right-center field stands, 407 feet away, to make it 5-0 Mariners early. The power has played so far for the rookie as he’s hitting .232/.312/.551 with five homers in his first 69 at-bats. The Mariners look smarter everyday for locking him up to an extension this offseason, though he probably won’t be a full fantasy force until he hits his way further up the order.

He had missed the last three games with a back injury. Emerson is hitting .242/.319/.548 with four homers in his first 19 games and can be plugged back in lineups in leagues with daily transactions.

The encouraging development here is that Emerson was able to resume swinging a bat and is optimistic he’ll avoid a trip to the injured list. The 20-year-old top prospect is sitting out his third consecutive game due to back tightness with Cole Young drawing another start at shortstop. Emerson is presumably day-to-day heading into Thursday’s series finale in Baltimore.

Emerson was scratched from Monday’s lineup due to tightness in his back. He’ll miss at least one more game, and Cole Young will move over from second to shortstop with Ryan Bliss handling keystone duties.

It sounds like a precautionary decision, but back issues are notoriously complex matters. It’ll be Cole Young moving over to cover shortstop in his absence. Emerson’s absence comes at a challenging time for Seattle’s middle infield mix since veteran J.P. Crawford hit the injured list with a hand contusion earlier on Monday. The 20-year-old prodigy has gotten off to a nice start in his rookie campaign, hitting .242/.319/.548 with four homers and 10 RBI through 19 games. There should be an update on Emerson’s status following the contest. Fantasy managers should consider him day-to-day for now.

No word yet on the reason for the move. The Seattle Times’ Adam Jude adds that Emerson went through pregame drills without incident. The timing couldn’t be worse for the Mariners if the decision is injury-related since J.P. Crawford hit the injured list with a hand contusion earlier on Monday. The 20-year-old prodigy was in the midst of a strong debut for Seattle, hitting .242/.319/.548 with four homers and 10 RBI through his first 19 games. There should be an update on his status shortly. It’ll be Cole Young handling shortstop with both Crawford and Emerson out.

No surprise here after Crawford was hit by a 95.6 mph fastball in the third inning of Friday’s series opener in Detroit. The encouraging news is that X-rays came back negative and he’s considered day-to-day. Top prospect Colt Emerson takes over at shortstop in his absence with Patrick Wisdom getting a turn at the hot corner.