After missing most of the season, Seattle Mariners outfielder Mitch Haniger made his return yesterday to the field. Unfortunately for the star hitter, it seems that his return will be short-lived. During their game against the Miami Marlins, Haniger left the game after seemingly injuring his lower leg.

Now, the Mariners have reported what happened to their outfielder: a sprained ankle after fouling off a pitch during the game. As a result, Mitch Haniger is headed back to the 10-day injury list. It's a brutal blow to Haniger, who just got back from a stint in the COVID injury list earlier.

Mariners manager Scott Servais talked about Haniger's injury, saying that:

“He’s going to be out a little while,” Servais said. “Obviously, it’s an IL situation. We’ll have to wait to see how he responds to treatments and get the swelling down, get range of motion back and see where it takes us.”

The Mariners are looking to break a two-decade long playoff drought this season. However, that campaign is off to a decent start right now, as they sit at one game above .500 behind the surging Los Angeles Angels. Grabbing that first seed in the AL West might be the key to their success at this point, as many teams are hot on their heels for that wild-card spot.

The Mariners made some decent moves in the offseason to bolster their team. Those moves actually led them to a beautiful 10-6 record even without Haniger. However, since that start, they have been in a rather rough slump.