Injured Mariners Victor Robles, Ryan Bliss ‘working and working’ to get back

PHOENIX – Things were quiet inside the visiting clubhouse of Chase Field, until a recognizable voice echoed through the room.

Victor Robles was here to spend some time around his teammates and was making his presence known.

“There was a satisfaction of just being around the team. I wouldn’t say I’m happy because I’m watching from the sideline. I can’t really do much to help them out,” Robles said via interpreter Freddy Llanos. “But I’m always watching them, having fun, staying healthy and doing their thing.”

While the three-game sweep against the Diamondbacks ended up being mostly forgettable for the Seattle Mariners , it was a chance for Robles and Ryan Bliss to be around the team as both continue to recover from major injuries.

The players have been doing their rehab work at the M’s spring training complex in Peoria, Arizona. It’s slow. It’s tedious. It’s incremental, which requires patience. And that’s not a strength for either player.

Bliss said the first day the Mariners were in town on Monday was his first time running on the field in spikes since his injury.

“Just touching the grass, just being on the field in cleats made me feel exhilarated,” Bliss said.

Robles and Bliss were injured just a few days apart within the first two weeks of the season. Robles made a play in San Francisco that was probably the catch of the year in baseball until Athletics rookie Denzel Clarke climbed the wall earlier this week in Anaheim, California. But in the process of making that catch against the Giants, Robles did significant damage to his shoulder.

His left shoulder, dislocated. The humeral head of the shoulder joint, fractured.

While the original hope was Robles could be back sometime in July, general manager Justin Hollander doesn’t expect Robles to be ready until September.

With the Mariners in free fall, Robles’ eventual return may not matter.

“I think the wait, the wait is the toughest part. I mean, really can’t really do much, but it’s kind of what you have to do,” Robles said. “You got to trust the process, just wait for it. But that’s kind of what I got to do right now.”

Robles is working on range of motion and the beginnings of a strength program. He stopped wearing a sling for his arm about two weeks ago.

“It was definitely difficult because you had to sleep in that thing,” Robles said.

The Mariners tried unsuccessfully to replicate what it did with Robles a year ago by claiming Leody Taveras off waivers in early May. That move didn’t work out and the Mariners ended that experiment earlier this week when Taveras was designated for assignment.

For now, right field will likely be a mix of Dominic Canzone, Dylan Moore and Miles Mastrobuoni until Luke Raley is ready to return from his oblique injury and rejoins the mix.

Raley is scheduled to start a rehab assignment for Triple-A Tacoma on Thursday night. He’s been out since late April and is expected to play a mix of outfield and first base as part of his time in Tacoma.

Per Baseball Reference, Mariners right fielders have posted a (minus)-1.2 bWAR so far this season, tied for 25th in baseball.

There’s been a companion for Robles in Peoria as Bliss is in the beginning stages of his recovery from biceps surgery. Bliss was sporting a nice new scar on his left forearm near the elbow where the incision was made to repair his torn biceps.

While Robles spent most of his recovery in a sling, Bliss started in a sling before transitioning to a brace that incrementally over time went from being bent to finally allowing his arm to be fully straight.

Bliss finally rid himself of the brace two weeks ago.

“That was the hardest part is getting your range of motion back in your tendon,” Bliss said. “So I was in a brace for five to six weeks, just working and working and working.”

Bliss said there isn’t a timeline on when he could return but based on starting a light strengthening program already there is the slight chance he could be back before the end of the season. The uncertainty is whether there’s a path for him coming back now that Cole Young has been called up to the major league roster.

That’s a concern for another day. Right now it’s the monotony of rehab that Bliss is focused on.

“My phase right now is I just need to get this arm stronger. I think once this biceps gets stronger we can start looking into the next phase which may be, I think, baseball,” Bliss said. “I’m not too sure. That’s for the medical staff. I know this phase I’m in right now is to get this arm stronger.”