The Mariners had a perfectly good Sunday storyline sitting right there. They’re in St. Louis with a chance to finish off a road sweep and continue to push back against the ugly early road narrative. Then Josh Naylor got scratched.

Nothing turns a normal lineup card into some pregame stress quite like a late injury change involving one of the most important bats in the order. Per Adam Jude of The Seattle Times , Naylor was removed from Sunday’s lineup with quad tightness, a development that is believed to be a day-to-day issue.

Sure, we can exhale a little. But we’re not going to pretend it is not annoying. Naylor has already had a weird first month to start the season. Through twenty-six games, he’s hitting .208 with three home runs, eleven RBI, four stolen bases and a .600 OPS.…