Mariners outright 2019 stolen base leader Mallex Smith to Triple-A Tacoma

Seattle Mariners executive vice president and general manager of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto announced on Friday that the club demoted 2019 MLB stolen base leader Mallex Smith to the team's Triple-A team. 

Earlier in the day, Seattle recalled infielder Donovan Walton from the alternate site and placed shortstop J.P. Crawford on the bereavement list.

Smith, 27, led all of big-league baseball with 46 stolen bases last season, but he failed to find consistency at the plate during the pandemic-shortened campaign. In 14 games with the Mariners this summer, Smith batted a woeful .133 with six hits, a pair of doubles, two runs scored, two stolen bases, three RBI, and 13 strikeouts across 45 at-bats. 

Smith's last in-game appearance with Seattle occurred on Aug. 15 versus the Houston Astros. He went 0-for-3 with a strikeout.