Seattle Mariners left fielder Randy Arozarena exited Friday's game against the Washington Nationals in the third inning after sustaining an apparent leg injury at Nationals Park.
Arozarena came up limping while trying to beat out an infield groundout to third base, according to reports from The Seattle Times and MLB.
com.
He lunged for the bag and was examined on the field by assistant athletic trainer Kevin Orloski before slowly walking back to the visitors' dugout.
The club did not provide an immediate postgame update on the exact nature of the injury, though it appeared to affect his hamstring or left knee.
Before the injury, Arozarena singled in the second inning, stole his 19th base of the season, and scored Seattle's first run on a double by Dominic Canzone.
Arozarena entered Friday's contest with a . 291/.
377/.
448 slash line and 2.6 bWAR, having played every inning of Seattle's first 70 games this season.
Victor Robles entered the game in right field to replace him, while Luke Raley shifted from right to left field.
The injury adds to a growing list of sidelined Mariners players on their 10-day East Coast road trip, which already includes Cal Raleigh, Brendan Donovan, J.
P. Crawford, Matt Brash, and Cooper Criswell.
Crawford and Raleigh are expected to return during the upcoming homestand starting Tuesday.
ESPN baseball columnist Buster Olney discussed Arozarena's performance and the American League MVP race during an appearance on the 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast on Thursday.
"Yeah, an All Star.
And I know you and I talked early in the year about all the concerns coming off the WBC and everything with Cal (Raleigh), and how he's handling that.
He's (Randy Arozarena) having a terrific season to the point that, you know, when Aaron Judge went down last week, not only are there implications for the Yankees, because he looks like he's going to be out at least four-to-six weeks, probably longer.
The American League MVP race is wide open. Last year we had the two major candidates in Judge and Cal Raleigh.
This year, there really aren't players who've necessarily separated themselves. So Julio (Rodriguez) is going to be an MVP candidate this year.
I think Randy's going to be an MVP candidate this year with how he's playing.
Bobby Witt Jr., Cody Bellinger, Ben Rice, Yordan Alvarez, who's a full time DH, that doesn't happen very often.
You know, Ohtani wins the MVP because he's a pitcher and a DH. So I'm fascinated by this.
And Randy's had a great impact.
The fact that he's now moved into the cleanup spot within the absence of Cal, with what else is going on in their lineup, that's interesting."
said Buster Olney, Columnist for ESPN.
Mariners manager Dan Wilson is scheduled to address the media regarding the final medical updates on Arozarena's condition.
