Despite DH'ing in the interim, J-Rod 'so happy' to return to lineup

DETROIT -- Despite striking out a career-high five times in his much-anticipated return to the Mariners’ lineup on Sunday, and that his high right ankle sprain still isn’t 100% healthy yet, Julio Rodríguez arrived at Comerica Park on Tuesday afternoon in a giddy mood.

“I was so happy, man. So happy,” Rodríguez said. “I never really get so much off time during the middle of the season, but just being able to be back and just be on the field with everybody, just kind of feeling like I'm playing. Obviously, I felt a little bit rusty and everything, but I was really happy I was on the field, at least seeing my name in the lineup.”

Rodríguez will serve as the Mariners’ designated hitter for the immediate future, playing his second straight game in that role in Tuesday’s 15-1 loss to the Tigers.

“I'm playing, but I'm still kind of rehabbing a little bit,” Rodríguez said. “But that's something that I don't take it as it's going to stop me from contributing to the team and helping the team win. And that's something that I was kind of considering before, if I felt like I was able to contribute to the team or not, and I feel like right now I can.”

Indeed, Rodríguez was seen again working with the Mariners’ athletic training staff pregame, doing lateral movement exercises, as he still hasn’t been able to cut and turn at full strength.

His leadoff double in the second inning on Tuesday was a telling encapsulation of his status, as he coasted into second base and didn’t put much stress on the ankle once it was clear that there wouldn’t be a close play. He also didn’t run at full speed on a pair of infield groundouts, in the fourth and sixth.

“I don't have any sort of plan,” Rodríguez said. “It's just kind of like being on the field, playing, being in that lineup. And whenever things start feeling better, then we'll proceed there to go to center. ... I will be back. I feel everything is kind of heading the right direction. So we're going to be in a good spot.”

Rodríguez approached the Mariners on Friday night, saying that he wanted to play on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, then he was cleared by the athletic training staff before Saturday’s game.

“It was just supporting me enough where I felt like I could move from A to B,” Rodríguez said of his ankle, “and not really feel like I was going through hell, to say it like that. So that's when I figured out that I was ready to go.”

But at first, Rodríguez said that the pain was pronounced enough “that I just couldn't really support myself, pretty much. I couldn't really put so much weight into it. So as soon as I felt like I was able to comfortably kind of put weight on it, that's whenever I felt like, 'OK, where we are in the season, I feel like I can be out there.'”

As for the rust, Rodríguez brushed it off while reiterating that he preferred not to go on a Minor League rehab assignment.

“I just feel like my timing is just kind of more how my body feels,” Rodríguez said. “I just need to get acclimated to just being in the game and the game flow and speed.”

The swing itself never evoked pain.

“I was able to swing before I was able to do anything else, which was interesting,” Rodríguez said. “I thought, because when I would like plant and kind of twist, it would feel uncomfortable. But once I would get my swings off, they were feeling like, 'Oh, not so bad.' But then to run and getting out of the box, changing directions and the running itself, that's when it was actually hard for me.”

The Mariners are banking on Rodríguez quickly finding the form he showed leading up to the injury, after he hit .375 with a 1.121 OPS and four homers in 48 at-bats in July before his foot got stuck in the center-field padding on a catch attempt on July 21.

“You could see the confidence growing back at the plate again,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “It didn’t matter who was pitching, what the situation was, you know he’s going to have a good at-bat.

"He’s been out a few weeks. It’s going to be challenging. It was not an easy assignment [on Sunday]. He wanted to be in that game the other day and for a reason. He wants to help out any way he can.”