Seattle Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano has been able to avoid injuries for the majority of his career. On Tuesday, he landed on the disabled list for the first time since 2006.
The Mariners placed Cano on the 10-day disabled list on Tuesday prior to their game against the Oakland Athletics. The move is retroactive to May 13, meaning that he will be eligible to return on May 23. Outfielder Boog Powell was called up from Triple-A Tacoma to take his place on the roster.
Cano has a strained right quadriceps, an injury that forced him to miss the Mariners’ last five games. After he underwent an MRI on Tuesday morning, the team decided to put him on the disabled list.
This is only the second time in Cano’s career that he has landed on the disabled list. While playing for the New York Yankees back in 2006, he missed time because of a hamstring injury. Other than these two instances, he has been an extremely durable player.
In 34 games this season, Cano is batting .296 with eight home runs and 28 RBIs. The seven-time All-Star has been one of the Mariners best hitters ever since signing with them prior to the 2014 season. Hopefully, he will be ready to return in a week when he is scheduled to come off of the disabled list. The Mariners should be able to survive without him for another week, but any longer than that and their offense might suffer.
The Mariners have had to deal with a decent amount of injuries this season. Felix Hernandez, the team’s best starting pitcher, has a right shoulder injury and has been sidelined since late April. Hernandez is not the only Mariners starter who is currently injured. Hisashi Iwakuma, James Paxton and Drew Smyly are all on the disabled list.
Even though they are dealing with this many injuries, the Mariners have still managed to stay somewhat competitive. Going into tonight’s game against the Athletics, they are 18-21. The Mariners trail the Houston Astros by nine games for first place in the AL West.
With Cano now hurt, the Mariners must continue to be a resilient team. As long as they can stay around the .500 mark, they should be fine. Cano is not expected to be out for too long. Hernandez is supposed to be back before the team’s next road trip.
For now, the Mariners are going to have to live with what they have. It will be interesting to see how their offense fares without Cano.