JP Crawford is about to check off a major box Thursday night, and the Seattle Mariners would love to pair it with a sweep.
When the Mariners finish their three-game set against the Los Angeles Angels at T-Mobile Park, Crawford will appear in his 1,000th career game. Seattle has already taken the first two games of the series, with Monday and Tuesday wins followed by a World Cup-driven off day on Wednesday, and enters Thursday tied with the Texas Rangers for first place in the American League West.
Bryce Miller gets the ball for the 6:40 p.m. PT finale, and the Mariners will be hoping his strong run continues after he punched out 11 Pirates last Thursday in a losing effort. Miller has been excellent since coming off the injured list, and Seattle will need another sharp outing if it wants to complete the sweep.
Crawford’s milestone comes with a little extra twist: he’ll be playing third base in this game, even though shortstop has been the position where he’s logged the most games in team history. His 927 games in a Mariners uniform rank 10th in franchise history.
Seattle landed Crawford from the Philadelphia Phillies before the 2019 season, and he’s become one of the defining players of the Mariners’ climb back into relevance. He was a leader on playoff clubs in 2022 and 2025, and he helped set the tone as early as 2020, when he earned a Gold Glove at shortstop.
The numbers tell the story of a steady, patient hitter. Crawford is a career .246 batter with a .340 on-base percentage.
In 2023, he hit 19 home runs and led the American League in walks. This season has been tougher at the plate, as he’s hitting .214, but he’s still forcing pitchers to work.
He has 38 walks in just 69 games, with two separate stints on the injured list helping keep that total down.
His move to third base has opened shortstop for rookie Colt Emerson, and manager Dan Wilson has continued to speak highly of Crawford’s leadership and professionalism throughout the season.
After this series wraps up, the Mariners will turn to a home set against the Toronto Blue Jays in a rematch of last season’s American League Championship Series, which Toronto won in seven games. The Blue Jays come in at 41-46, but Seattle is expecting a challenge because of Toronto’s pitching.
Right-hander Dylan Cease is scheduled to start Friday night at 6:40 p.m. PT.
Top prospects Kade Anderson and Ryan Sloan were also named Mariners representatives for the upcoming MLB Futures Game on July 12 in Philadelphia during All-Star week.
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The problem is that a hot stretch does not always change the depth chart, and Bliss is still fighting for a role on a roster that already has established answers in the middle infield. If the Mariners cannot carve out regular at-bats for him, the conversation could shift from how he fits in Seattle to what kind of value he might have elsewhere. For a controllable upper-minors player who is starting to look like more than just insurance, that is the kind of decision front offices do not take lightly. [Read more 🡒]