Mariners minor leaguer gets big-league call-up despite hitting .190 at High-A

The Seattle Mariners announced a roster move on Tuesday, placing outfielder Randy Arozarena on the 10-day injured list with a hamstring strain after a discouraging MRI. It was another tough blow already dealing with some injuries to Josh Naylor, Brendan Donovan, Luke Raley and more.

The more interesting move, however, was the corresponding move. To replace Arozarena on the 26-man roster, the Mariners selected the contract of minor-league outfielder Curtis Washington Jr., which might be the most surprising call-up of the MLB season.

The vast majority of players called up to the big leagues are from the Triple-A level. A few will make the jump from Double-A as well, especially top prospects with momentum.

Washington — and we're trying to be polite here — is neither of those. The Mariners are calling him up from their High-A affiliate in Everett, Washington, where the 26-year-old is currently slashing .190/.280/.394. He is not one of the nine outfielders on the Mariners' list of top 30 prospects at MLB Pipeline. A senior prospect writer at Baseball Prospectus has never heard of him. He was a 19th-round pick out of Purdue in the 2022 MLB Draft. He is older than Julio Rodríguez and has played 88 games total above Single-A.

Mariners Minors, an account dedicated to what it says on the tin, describes him as having good speed and outfield defense, but players with his offensive profile simply don't make the majors under normal circumstances.

What has happened here appears to be a matter of simple logistics.

With Raley and Naylor hurt but not on the injured list, the Mariners were facing the prospect of a one-man bench of back-up catcher Mitch Garver for their game against the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday. They needed a replacement after finding out Arozarena wasn't healed enough to play.

Everett is currently on a homestand and about a half-hour drive from T-Mobile Park. The Mariners' Double-A affiliate is currently visiting Frisco while the Triple-A affiliate is in Salt Lake City. Calling up one of their better prospects would have meant starting a service time clock and using options for a player they hope to retain long-term, just to fill in a roster spot for a single game.

So the Mariners brought in the closest and logistically easiest player available, likely as a pinch-runner or defensive replacement in the event of another injury. He probably won't be on the big-league team for long, as he was brought on out of short-term necessity. This could very well be Washington's only shot at the big leagues, putting him at risk of joining the Moonlight Graham All-Stars.

It's an odd sequence of events, but it's undeniably a nice story for a player to get the call despite being seemingly nowhere close to the big leagues. This is the stuff that every one of Washington's High-A teammates dream about and you take that shot no matter how it was given to you.