AL West Primer: Mariners position players
The Mariners ended a decades-long postseason drought last year. But can they take the next step in its evolution? Become a World Series contender.
The first four segments of our AL West Primer series broke down the Oakland Athletics, Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Angels, and World Series champion Houston Astros. All that’s left to do is discuss the Seattle Mariners.
Unlike the other primers, we’ll review the Mariners in two parts: position players and pitching. Let’s first recap the performance of Seattle’s offense during its historical 2022 campaign before digging into the position player group.
Hey now! Hey now! Hey now!
The Mariners reached the postseason for the first time in 21 years, which was a thrilling accomplishment. But consistently scoring enough runs was problematic. The lineup scored six-plus runs in 56 games, but plated two-or-fewer in 57 other contests.
Seattle hitters managed to draw walks and clobber home runs. But the overall run production effort was average-ish. Ironically, seven Mariners with 250-plus plate appearances had an above-average OPS+, the same number as the champion Astros.
SEA OPS+ Leaders
Julio Rodríguez (147)
Eugenio Suárez (129)
Ty France (125)
Cal Raleigh (122)
Dylan Moore (122)
Jesse Winker (103)
Carlos Santana (101)
So, why did a team with a top-10 OPS+ struggle to score?
The lineup didn’t have enough full-time run producers. Eugenio Suárez, Ty France, Jesse Winker, and Julio Rodríguez were the only hitters appearing in 130-plus games. Dylan Moore was a utility player, Carlos Santana didn’t join the team until late June. Compounding matters, Winker’s primary contribution was a top-5 walk rate.
Departures: Mitch Haniger, Carlos Santana, Adam Frazier, Jesse Winker, Abraham Toro, Luis Torrens, Kyle Lewis, Curt Casali
Addition by subtraction
Moving on from Adam Frazier, Abraham Toro, Jesse Winker, and Mitch Haniger gave the Mariners an opportunity to reboot the offense in an important way. As I recently noted, their replacements (Teoscar Hernández, Kolten Wong, AJ Pollock) were collectively better at making loud contact.
Last year, Frazier, Toro, Winker, and Haniger accounted for 28.5% of Seattle’s plate appearances, but produced a suboptimal 31.2% hard-hit rate. Conversely, the new guys were 12.2% better at creating well-struck balls.
With this information in mind, let’s turn our attention to Seattle’s revamped lineup and its supporting cast.
Key Position Players (and 2022 OPS+)
1B – Ty France (125)
2B – Kolten Wong (118)
SS – J.P. Crawford (100)
3B – Eugenio Suárez (129)
LF – Jarred Kelenic (55) / AJ Pollock (91)
CF - Julio Rodríguez (147)
RF – Teoscar Hernández (127)
C - Cal Raleigh (122)
DH – TBD
Notable reserves (and 2022 OPS+)
C – Tom Murphy (164)
INF – Tommy La Stella (78)
INF/OF – Dylan Moore (122)
IF/OF – Sam Haggerty (116)
C/OF - Cooper Hummel (66)
OF - Taylor Trammell (99)
OF - Cade Marlowe
1B - Evan White
1B - Mike Ford (76) - NRI
1B/3B - Colin Moran (84) - NRI
OF - Leonys Martin - NRI
Wong joins the returning France, Suárez, and J.P. Crawford in the infield. When he arrived, I suggested the 32-year-old as an upgrade at second base. But I also acknowledged concerns regarding age, health, and uncharacteristically poor defense last year.
That said, I believe Wong can put his glove-related problems behind him. First, he’ll benefit from working with infield guru, Perry Hill. Furthermore, many of the two-time Gold Glover’s miscues appear correctable to me.
Backing up the middle infield will be the right-handed hitting Dylan Moore. He’ll pair with Wong and spot Crawford at shortstop when the 28-year-old needs a break.
It’s important to note Moore had offseason core surgery and has yet to appear in Cactus League action. The team anticipates he’ll be in games by mid-month. But the 30-year-old’s absence highlights an area of concern - depth on the left side of the infield. It’s a drum Shannon Drayer of Seattle Sports 710 AM has been beating throughout Spring Training.
Beyond Moore, there isn’t a clear-cut replacement for Crawford. Here are Mariners with shortstop experience.
I suspect some of you were surprised to learn Suárez had more starts at shortstop than anyone listed above other than Crawford and minor-leaguer Mason McCoy. Still, it’s tough to imagine Suárez sliding over to Crawford’s spot for a lengthy period.
Similarly, third base depth isn’t particularly appealing. Hot corner substitutes not listed above include non-roster invite Colin Moran (234 starts), Tommy La Stella (93), and France (45). But there are factors to consider.
La Stella has yet to appear in Cactus League action due to an arm injury with his return date is unknown. The 34-year-old also has experience at second base (249 career starts) and first base (13).
As for Moran, advanced metrics hate the 30-year-old’s work at the hot corner. Dating back to 2018, his -26 defensive runs saved (DRS) ranks 29th among 30 third basemen with 1,500-plus innings. Moran also boasts 125 starts at first base.
Since he’s the starting first baseman, France moving to third base isn’t practical without a competent replacement for first base. Perhaps Evan White eventually fills this role. But the Mariners will likely want White to spend more time in the minors since he had just 204 plate appearances at any level in 2021-22.
For those wondering about Sam Haggerty, he has one MLB start at third base and 79 as a minor-leaguer. Plus, the 28-year-old has spent time at the position this month. He also has shortstop experience, but has been sparingly used at the position (50 MiLB starts) since 2016. There’s probably a reason teams haven’t used Haggerty there more often.
Turning to the outfield, Rodríguez returns in center field with Hernández replacing Haniger in right field. Management intends to use a left field platoon of left-handed hitting Jarred Kelenic with Pollock serving as his right-handed counterpart.
Since his MLB debut in May 2021, it’s been a rough journey for Kelenic. But he altered his swing mechanics in the offseason and early results have been encouraging. Plus, the 23-year-old is displaying a new approach towards dealing with adversity.
Still, it’ll take months to know whether Kelenic’s changes produce positive results. If all goes well, he can be a difference-maker for the Mariners’ lineup. On the other hand, Taylor Trammell and Cade Marlowe could force their way into the picture if Kelenic doesn’t establish himself as a big-leaguer.
Management praised Trammell’s effort to improve his swing during the offseason. Unfortunately, he suffered a fractured hamate bone and is out until April. Last year, Marlowe hit 23 home runs and stole 46 bases in the minors. Still, his 26.6% strikeout rate is worrisome to me. I discussed my concerns at Prospect Insider in December.
Catcher is another lineup spot capable of delivering more offense this year. Raleigh only played in 119 games last year, but it was enough to establish himself as Seattle’s catcher of the future. As a bonus, he hit one of the most memorable home runs in franchise history.
Tom Murphy missed most of last season with a shoulder injury. But he’s healthy and set to back up Raleigh. In 315 plate appearances against southpaws as a Mariner, the right-handed hitting Murphy has an impressive .930 OPS.
Another backstop to watch is offseason acquisition Cooper Hummel. In 2022, the switch-hitter made 14 starts at catcher and 17 in left field as a rookie. Whether he makes the club out of Peoria is unclear. But it’s reasonable to expect Hummel’s versatility will be called upon during the regular season.
A rotation will cover the designated hitter spot, which makes sense. Prominent candidates likely to see DH time include France, Suárez, Rodríguez, Hernández, Pollock, Raleigh, and Murphy.
Having said that, reserves used to cover the normal position of the DH du jour can’t be a complete drain on the offense. Otherwise, a bump in DH productivity this year will be out of reach.
Looking forward
The lineup projects to be longer and more productive than it’s been in recent years, which is an excellent development. But left field production, how the DH rotation pans out, and infield depth are issues worth monitoring.
Personally, I would’ve preferred the Mariners raising the floor of the bench in the offseason. Perhaps in a manner similar to what the Angels did this winter. Then again, it’s plausible Seattle’s front office prefers waiting to see how the team it built performs for a few months before making changes.
I get this mindset.
After all, Carlos Santana wasn’t on the radar of Seattle fans last March, nor was Luis Castillo. Yet, both players ended up helping the Mariners snap that dreaded drought.
My Oh My…