Colt Emerson, the Seattle Mariners' prized $95-million rookie, was supposed to be heading to Triple-A to work on his hitting. Now, it's unclear when he'll be back on a diamond at all.
Seattle placed Emerson on the 10-day injured list Friday with a left wrist injury, less than 24 hours after he was reportedly optioned to the minors. Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto revealed that the shortstop had been playing through the injury for months but didn't disclose the full nature of his ailment until being informed of his demotion.
The 21-year-old will be assessed by a wrist specialist in Arizona, according to Adam Jude of The Seattle Times. He'll possibly need surgery.
"I wish he would have been a little more, you know, up-front if it was bothering him that much," Dipoto said. "He should have said something."
Emerson initially hurt his wrist during spring training workouts in February before being treated by the specialist whom he's scheduled to see again in the coming days. The issues persisted into the regular season; in April, one month before his first call-up to the majors, he missed five Triple-A games after receiving a cortisone injection.
Seattle signed the Ohio native to an eight-year, $95-million extension in early April and promoted him to the big club in mid-May. His deal - a record for a player who'd yet to make his MLB debut - includes a full no-trade clause.
Emerson's struggled to hit big-league pitching, slashing .190/.246/.335 with eight homers, 23 RBIs, and 83 strikeouts over 69 games. He was also held out of the lineup on occasion due to the wrist injury and a lingering back issue.
Once he heard about the demotion following Thursday's game, Emerson told manager Dan Wilson and Dipoto about the true nature of his wrist issue and requested further medical tests, according to Jude.
While understandably frustrated with the youngster, Dipoto found a bit of a silver lining by noting that the team may have found the cause of his offensive woes.
"It ... gives me some comfort to understand what happened during his time here," Dipoto said. "He just wants to compete. He wants to contribute. It's hard to hit with a bad wrist, and it's especially hard to hit with a bad wrist when you're trying to play against a level of competition you've never played before.
"Colt Emerson's never had a problem with contact. He's never had a problem with velocity, and we saw things happening that didn't make sense. And this actually might make sense of it."
