Seattle Mariners

Mariners place OF Mitch Haniger on COVID-19 IL

SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners placed outfielder Mitch Haniger on the COVID-19 injured list after he reported symptoms and tested positive on Saturday.

Seattle manager Scott Servais said Haniger took an at-home test that was positive and followed up with a subsequent test at the ballpark that confirmed the original.

“We’ll continue to test him and hopefully get him back as soon as we can,” Servais said. “So, not great news, but you have to deal with this stuff. It’s everywhere and you start to see propping up a little bit around the league and it’s in our clubhouse a little bit.”

Haniger had started each of the first eight games for Seattle and was batting .176 with three homers and seven RBIs. Haniger had two singles in Friday night’s series opening win over Houston.

Servais said he was unsure the status of any contact tracing that would need to take place among others in the clubhouse.

Seattle recalled infielder Donovan Walton from Triple-A Tacoma to take Haniger’s roster spot. Walton has played a small handful of games in left field in the past. The Mariners also have utility player Dylan Moore on the roster. Moore has played 127 career games in the outfield.