OUT and ABOUT with STEVE CAMERON: On Robles, the portal and Everett's rising star

Let’s go for a stroll, shall we?

I’m almost sure we’ll stumble over something newsworthy in an “Out and About” column for this week.

Unfortunately, we have to start with a gloomy item.

Mariners right fielder Victor Robles, who made that almost unbelievable catch in the ninth inning on Sunday, is going to miss a chunk of time with a shoulder fracture.

By the way, if you didn’t see the catch live or haven’t watched a replay, go find it.

Robles’ play will be among the best you EVER watch, I promise you that.

Vic was playing over toward center field (Oracle Park has almost as much grass as Augusta National) and had to lean into an all-out sprint when Patrick Bailey hit a fly ball into the corner.

Oracle has weird angles, with the foul line only a few feet from a four-foot wall and a towering net meant to protect spectators.

Robles covered 113 feet in 6.2 seconds, when all at once, he snagged the ball with his left arm outstretched, hit the wall and went airborne into the net, and was more or less flung back on the field.

Everyone knew he was injured (he couldn’t raise his left arm), but on Tuesday we learned the hard truth.

The fracture could keep Vic out for 12 weeks, the first half of that healing and then another six weeks in rehab.

I probably don’t need to add this, but the run-shy Mariners need their leadoff man and Energizer Bunny back ASAP.

That team also needs a little good luck.

Soon.

ITEM: Robles’ catch and subsequent injury proved that some people are absolute jerks, and sadly, they do have access to the internet.

When I first saw this post, I thought it was a joke and the message implied sympathy for Robles from a former ballplayer.

Nope.

It’s as mean-spirited as the actual wording.

The ghastly post on X came from former Giants first baseman JT Snow.

A few minutes after Vic’s catch, after medics had jerked his shoulder back into place (Owww!) and he’d been taken off on a cart, the Giants won the game on a walk-off single by Wilmer Flores.

The classless Snow then sent this message out into the world, mindlessly claiming that the delay to work on Robles was some kind of trick.

“Victor Robles tried to ice us!

“We don’t play that game.”

Snow later removed the post, perhaps noticing that thousands of people were calling him a buffoon.

Or worse.

ITEM: OK, the whole depressing business of Robles’ injury — after a world-class play — and then the disgusting post from JT Snow, it all makes me feel like the cat threw up on my computer.

We need some better news.

Or opinions.

How about Gonzaga hoops? Maybe some action on the transfer portal?

Oh.

Sorry, everything is outbound.

Guard Dusty Stromer had already taken off for Grand Canyon last week, and now Michael Ajayi is bailing for Butler.

Ajayi didn’t score as expected for the Zags this year, but he’s a fierce rebounder and his all-around game seemed to be coming into shape.

He would have been a solid contributor if he’d stayed in Spokane for his final season.

But, no.

Is there serious NIL money floating around Butler?

Besides Ajayi, the school has landed two other transfers and three hotshot prep recruits.

We should all know the lesson by now.

Anyone can become a serious played in college hoops if the good ol’ boys in the neighborhood collective can round up enough cash.

Hey, BYU’s boosters somehow coughed up a reported $7.3 million for A.J. Dybantsa, a 6-foot-9 prep megastar from Massachusetts who plans to spend just one year in college.

Paul Liljenquist, one of BYU's most active boosters, made an amazing declaration days after he and colleagues had committed that eye-watering cash to Dybantsa, ESPN's No. 1 recruit of the 2025 class.

"You're not going to outbid us," said Liljenquist, the CEO of Focus Services, a $500 million company based in Utah.

And that, my friends, is the landscape of college basketball.

Sorry.

I said I was looking for a more pleasant bit of news.

Let’s keep trying.

ITEM: Here’s something you’ll like.

I promise.

Mariners pitching prospect Jurrangelo Cijntje (already my favorite baseball player) was outstanding in his professional debut.

Cijntje is the remarkable athlete of Curacaoan descent (although born and raised in The Netherlands) who pitches with both arms.

He is assigned to High-A Everett and made his first pro appearance nearby in Spokane.

Here’s part of a report from Michael Avallone of the Minor League Baseball Pipeline.

“Cijntje struck out six over four scoreless innings against in the club's 8-0 win Saturday night at Avista Stadium.

“Cijntje walked a pair and allowed just a first-inning single in his first minor league start.

“He used his mid-90s fastball and slider/changeup combination to great effect against Spokane, which managed just three baserunners.

“Of the 14 batters he faced, he threw right-handed 11 times, with opposing batters going 1-for-11.”

Yes, his stuff as a lefty was good, too, but he walked two hitters while pitching from that side.

I’m telling you, boys and girls, Jurrangelo Cijntje is going to be a lot of fun.

Over and out.

Or as they say in Dutch: “Over en uit.”

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press three times each week, normally Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”