Cano makes first start at third base. That might be regular sight for Mariners, struggling Seager

In more than 2,000 major league baseball games in his 14 seasons, Robinson Cano had never played a major-league inning of third base until Wednesday, when he started there against the Houston Astros at Safeco Field.

Cano — who said he would play wherever the Mariners needed him since his return from an 80-game drug suspension — took Kyle Seager’s place at a position Seager has manned for 1,089 games. And Cano spent a little extra time staring at the lineup card in the Mainers clubhouse on his way in.

“With Robbie over at third, we talked about his versatility and his willingness to go to those different spots and how we were going to do it – we’re doing it,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “So go out and have fun with it and go play.”

That’s Cano’s fourth different position in the past four games. The two-time Gold Glove winner played second on Sunday, first base on Monday, designated hitter Tuesday and now third.

“You look at a guy like Dee Gordon and he’s played shortstop (along with center field and second base) and it was like, ‘Just go out and field like you’re taking ground balls before the game,’” Servais said. “Don’t think about it too much. Just go play the game.

“Robbie has a tendency to make things look easy, so hopefully he can make it look easy at third.”

Before this year, the last time Cano played a game at third base was 2005 with Triple-A Columbus of the New York Yankees farm system.

Yet, he took a 105-mph ground ball in the sixth inning off the bat of the Astros’ Tyler White, backhanded it off a knee and fired to first base for the out like he had played that position forever.

“It felt weird,” Cano said. “I hadn’t played there in a long time. But glad the only hard one I got I was able to make the play.”

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Seager later entered as a pinch hitter when shortstop Jean Segura left with some tightness in his rib cage that he felt earlier in the day but tweaked when he struck out to end the fifth inning.

But Seger knew this day was coming, that he’d be sharing the hot corner with Cano, because Cano had worked out at third base in the Dominican Republic during his suspension and played a rehab game there for short-season Single-A Everett. Servais just said it was day off for Seager.

But this could be a more permanent thing with first baseman Ryon Healy’s at-bats being better of late and Seager mired with a career-low .223 batting average over 123 games this season.

Last year was his previous career-low batting average, and that was .249. He has a .274 on-base percentage after it was at .323 last year and he has a career-low .684 OPS (on-base plus slugging).

Compare that to Cano who is batting .293 with a .378 on-base percentage in 46 games (.848 OPS), and Healy who has 23 home runs, a .241 average and .273 on-base percentage.

Seager’s supplied much of the same power numbers he has over his career, with 20 home runs this year and 29 doubles (believe it or not, Seager leads the Mariners with 49 extra-base hits this season). With one more extra-base hit Seager would be the second Mariners player in club history, joining Edgar Martinez, with seven consecutive seasons with at least 50 extra-base hits.

Servais pointed to Seager’s batting average on balls in play, which is at a career-worse .246 and said that’s partly because of shifts and him being unlucky.

But maybe all those shifts have had Seager focused too much on the gaping holes on the left side of the field instead of focusing on his strengths – pulling the ball.

“He’s a pull hitter, no doubt, and some teams have shifted on him, but I do want Kyle to do what Kyle does really well and that’s pull the ball,” Servais said. “When he gets the ball in the air like he has you don’t have to worry about the shift because it just goes over the fence.”

“He’s a talented player and he’s certainly put together hot streaks in the past,” Servais said. “We’ve been waiting for one and you see it for 2-3 good days and then he really cools down. We haven’t seen the extended one. I’m hoping it’s still there.”

Rumbelow recalled

The Mariners on Wednesday morning recalled right-handed reliever Nick Rumbelow from Triple-A Tacoma and designated left-hander Ross Detwiler for assignment a day after Detwiler allowed three runs in six innings of relief in his first major-league appearance in two yers.

Detwiler was only with the Mariners on Tuesday as an emergency call-up when Mike Leake was scratched with an illness.

“Detwiler was not going to pitch for us today, so we sent him out,” Servais said. “Rumbelow will give us a little bit of length in the pen. But the bullpen is starting to get in a little bit better shape just because Detwiler was able to go as deep as he was last night.”

Leake said he was feeling better and that he thought he contracted the high fever from his 2-year-old daughter at home.

“Mike is really skinny to begin with and he looked even skinnier today,” Servais said.

Rotation setup

Servais said the Mariners are considering whether to slide Leake back into the rotation for either Saturday or Sunday when they’re in Arizona playing the Diamondbacks.

The rotation had yet to be finalized, but Servais said Erasmo Ramirez would start Friday and that there was “zero percent chance” James Paxton would return off the disabled list to pitch this weekend, though he’s eligible to come off on Saturday.

They’d rather avoid having Paxton hit in the National League park, though they then head to San Diego after an off day on Monday. It’s more likely Paxton returns when the Mariners head to Oakland for a four-game series on Aug. 30.

Cruz’s back

Nelson Cruz was back at DH after not starting Tuesday because of back spasms. Cruz struck out with one out and the game-tying run at third base when he entered as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning of Tuesday’s loss.

Servais said Cruz’s back had been an issue during the Mariners’ series against the Dodgers, as well. And they’re not going to start him in the outfield when they lose their DH for interleague play.

“He hasn’t felt good physically and he was a little bit run down coming off the last road trip,” Servais said. “He just hasn’t been quite the same and you see it in the batter’s box.

“He’s good today and we’ll get an off day tomorrow and a few days in the National League games when I’m not going to put him in the field. We haven’t done it all year and I don’t think it’s fair to him, even though I think he would like to do it. You’re not going to see it happen. So we’ll take a good ball game out of him today and see where it goes on the road trip.”

This story was originally published August 22, 2018 at 1:12 PM.