Mariners infielder Colt Emerson is going to have season-ending surgery on his left wrist. Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times was among those to relay the news. Emerson is expected to be healthy by next year’s spring training, per Divish. Emerson is already on the 10-day injured list. He can be transferred to the 60-day IL whenever Seattle needs a 40-man roster spot.
Emerson has had a newsworthy 2026 season, though not always in a good way. He came into the year as one of the top prospects in all of baseball. He seemingly had a legitimate shot at breaking camp with the club but was sent to the minors at the end of spring training.
Though he was sent to the minors to begin the schedule, the Mariners clearly viewed him as a big part of the future. On the last day of March, Emerson and the Mariners agreed to an eight-year, $95MM extension. Despite signing that deal, Emerson was initially kept in the minors on optional assignment. He was finally promoted in May but didn’t have much major league success. In his first 69 big league games, he stepped to the plate 241 times. His 34.4% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate were both subpar figures, contributing to a .190/.246/.335 line.
On August 13, it was reported that Emerson would be optioned back down to the minors. However, the next day, he was placed on the IL instead with left wrist tendon inflammation. Per Adam Jude of The Seattle Times, the injury had been bothering him for some time. While still in the minors in April, he had received a cortisone injection and missed five games.
President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto expressed disappointment that Emerson had not been more forthcoming. “I wish he would have been a little more upfront if it was bothering him that much,” Dipoto said earlier this month. “He should have said something.”
In the short term, the Mariners are still in the race here in 2026 and will have to continue improvising at the shortstop position. J.P. Crawford, who moved from short to third to accommodate Emerson, would be the logical solution. However, he is also on the IL right now, coincidentally also due to left wrist inflammation. His return timeline is unclear.
In the meantime, Brock Rodden and Leo Rivas are getting the bulk of the playing time there. Rodden was just promoted when Emerson hit the IL. He has a solid .250/.321/.417 line through 28 plate appearances but with a 34.7% strikeout rate and .400 batting average on balls in play. Rivas has a .201/.325/.258 line in his career. That’s less than ideal with the M’s having a legitimate shot at the division. Despite their 62-69 record, the Mariners are only three games back of the Astros and Rangers with just over a month to go.
In the wider view, the club surely hoped that the long-term shortstop question would have been answered by now. Instead, it will remain a question going into 2027. Presumably, the Mariners will feel the wrist injury contributed to Emerson’s struggles, but they still don’t have proof that he can be a viable major leaguer.
“It … gives me some comfort to understand what happened during his time here,” Dipoto said when Emerson hit the IL. “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 (in the minor leagues). 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.”
Emerson made 600 plate appearances in the minors in 2025, across three levels. In those, he had a 17.5% strikeout rate and 11.8% walk rate. He hit .285/.383/.458 for a wRC+ of 129. That’s what the Mariners were hoping for when they gave Emerson a deal just under nine figures. They might still get it in the long run but will probably have to stay in wait-and-see mode on Emerson for the time being.
Looking ahead to the Seattle infield in 2027, Crawford is an impending free agent. He could be re-signed but is not currently part of the on-paper infield. Josh Naylor will be at first base. Cole Young is having a good enough season that he should be penciled into the second base job again next year. Brendan Donovan makes sense to be next year’s third baseman, though he is also having an injury-marred year. He has good numbers but has been limited by various ailments to just 39 games thus far.
In an ideal world, a Emerson will make a full recovery and get things back on track early in 2027. He would come into spring healthy and productive, then hit the ground running in the regular season. But there are many ways that could go off the rails. Emerson’s recovery could hit setbacks. He could take time to get back in good form even after getting healthy, something that can happen with wrist issues. The 2027 season might not even start on time, depending on how the CBA negotiations play out.
As the Mariners go through the upcoming offseason, which is expected to be interrupted by a lockout, they will have to follow all of those developments as they try to make their 2027 season less frustrating than the current campaign. Teams can’t communicate with players on their 40-man rosters during a lockout, so the front office likely won’t be able to track Emerson’s progress through the winter.
Perhaps they will be on the lookout for a shortstop-eligible utility guy, someone who could cover the position for Emerson but also move off it, if needed. Maybe that’s Crawford. Perhaps the Mariners would have been looking for that kind of player anyway but this news presumably makes that search more important.
Photo courtesy of Steven Bisig, Imagn Images
