With J.P. Crawford out, Dylan Moore’s versatility gives M’s ‘huge’ lift

HOUSTON — There are various cliches to describe what Dylan Moore does for the Mariners. He’s a Swiss Army knife, a jack of all trades, a do-it-all utility player, yada, yada, yada.

Moore has a different description.

“I’m like the sous-chef,” Moore said. “I’ve always been kind of a backstage type of person.”

Lately, though, he’s been front and center as J.P. Crawford’s fill-in at shortstop, and his defense has been especially valuable.

With the bases loaded, two outs, and the Mariners’ clinging to a one-run lead in the eighth inning Tuesday, Moore fielded an awkward grounder in front of second base and made a quick, off-balance throw to get Atlanta’s Orlando Arcia at first, helping to preserve a Mariners’ victory.

“That’s just one of those do-or-die plays,” Moore said. “As soon as it’s off the bat and past the pitcher, you know you only have one play. You’re just trying to secure the ball first and make a good throw.”

Moore was back in the lineup at shortstop for Friday’s series opener against the Astros at Minute Maid Park.

Crawford, on the injured list with an oblique strain, is scheduled to continue his rehab this weekend in Arizona.

Crawford had been fielding groundballs back in Seattle earlier in the week, and it’s possible — if all goes well — he could be activated during the next homestand, but that’s probably best-case scenario.

In the meantime, Moore has been entrusted with the job — any job, really.

“His ability to play at such a high level all over the field is a huge competitive advantage for us,” manager Scott Servais said. “And certainly for a manager, you love those guys.”

There is nothing Moore, in his sixth major-league season, hasn’t done on a baseball field for the Mariners.

He has made an appearance at every position, including one inning as a pitcher as a rookie in 2019. That came in a blowout loss to the Rangers in which he allowed four runs on five hits and two walks.

“It was so bad,” Moore said with a laugh.

Officially, the one position Moore hasn’t played is catcher … but he did make an unofficial appearance as a catcher between innings in 2019, borrowing a mitt and mask to catch reliever Chasen Bradford during warmups.

“He threw two fastballs and that was it,” Moore said.

There is still one play he’d like to make in a big-league game — to rob a home run.

He came close at Colorado’s Coors Field on April 21 when, in a wild sequence in left field in the bottom of the ninth, he leapt at the wall and tried to bring back what initially appeared to be a walkoff homer for the Rockies’ Jacob Stallings.

After a lengthy review from the umpires, the batter was called out because a fan was ruled to have interfered with Moore. (Would he have caught it if not for the interference? Moore smiled sheepishly. Guess we’ll never know.)

“I haven’t taken one away yet — I’ve tried a couple times,” he said. “It’s one of the harder plays to make.”

Bryan Woo set for third rehab start

Mariners right-hander Bryan Woo is scheduled to make his third rehab start with Triple-A Tacoma on Saturday in Sacramento.

He’s expected to be on a pitch count of 60-65 pitches.

Woo, 24, threw three perfect innings in his first rehab start, and then threw 3.1 scoreless innings last Saturday, striking out six on 49 pitches.

Depending on how well Woo does Saturday, the Mariners could have him make at least one more rehab start with Tacoma to build up his pitch count further.

NOTE

The Astros have announced that right-hander Hunter Brown (0-4, 9.78) will start Sunday’s series finale. Bryce Miller (3-2, 2.04) is the Mariners’ scheduled starter.