One day after returning from a two-week stint on the injured list, Seattle Mariners outfielder Mitch Haniger was placed back on the team’s IL Saturday because of a high ankle sprain.
Haniger had just been reinstated on Friday after being placed on the IL on April 16 after testing positive for COVID-19.
After singling in his first at-bat back in the second inning against the Miami Marlins on Friday, Haniger limped off the field and did not return to the game.
He said after the game that he hurt himself when fouling a ball off his ankle during the at-bat.
“I felt like my cleat got caught in the box,” Haniger said, sporting a boot on his right leg. “I just twisted over my ankle and it felt like I fouled a ball off my foot. It was weird. But I felt fine so I just continued the at-bat.
“When I went to run, it was just killing me,” he said.
X-rays at LoanDepot Park on Friday night were negative, but Haniger underwent an MRI at a Miami hospital Saturday morning.
Haniger, 31, is batting just .200 (7-for-35) with three homers and seven RBIs in nine games this season. He is coming off a year when he posted career bests of 39 homers and 100 RBIs in 157 games.
Stuart Fairchild, 26, was called up from Triple-A Tacoma to replace Haniger. He has not yet appeared in a major league game with Seattle after having his contract purchased from the Arizona Diamondbacks last week.
Fairchild appeared in 12 games in 2021 with Arizona, going 2-for-15 at the plate with two RBIs.
–Field Level Media