So you’ve decided to jump on the Seattle bandwagon…
First, welcome aboard! Plenty of space. It’s a fun team to root for!
Now, here’s some things you need to know, from one wagon-jumper to another:
We’ll start with the one you probably already know:
Julio Rodriguez, one of the most exciting rookies of the last ten years or so. He hits, he steals bases, he plays a decent center (impressive since he hadn’t played it regularly before this season). He does strike out a lot, but he’s also a 21-year-old in his first MLB season. Even if he can’t reduce those, it just would limit his ceiling to, like, Curtis Granderson - maybe not a “face of baseball”-type superstar, but a really good player for a lot of years. He is on the IL right now, though, but the expectation is that he’ll be in the lineup for Game One.
You probably know
Eugenio Suarez, but you might not know that he’s been a star for the Mariners this year. He was considered ballast in the Winker trade, but, this year, at least, he’s been the real prize - 30 HRs, .809 OPS. He’s also leading the AL in strikeouts and was on pace to break the all-time single-season record at one point, but let’s disregard that. Unfortunately, he, too, is coming off of an injury, a broken fingertip that’s limited him to DH duty. He played 3B last night, though.
A name you might not have known until last night is
Cal Raleigh, the young star catcher. He’s not super-great at getting on-base, but when he hits the ball it goes a mile. He’s also been praised for his defense and leadership skills. His skill set reminds me
of another star catcher who once led his team out of the wilderness and into postseason glory.
You might know that
Ty France was an All Star this year, but he’s tailed off in the second half. He had a tendency to try to play through injuries rather than resting, and it brings his numbers down. Really, though, this is a dream scenario for a GM as they got France from an impatient organization who’d written him off as a AAAA guy in exchange for
someone who was playing a bit above his head. (They got Munoz in the same trade!)
JP Crawford and
Adam Frazier are your standard-issue “old school” middle infielders. Crawford in particular is lauded for his defense. You could call them both “pesky hitters.” You could also say that about utility guys
Dylan Moore and
Sam Haggerty, aka “Ham Swaggerty.”
Jesse Winker was kind of a disappointment - he should probably never play the outfield and he needs a platoon partner.
Mitch Haniger had his season wrecked by injuries and this might be his last go-round in Seattle.
Jarred Kelenic probably won’t make the playoff roster; he’s young enough that we can’t say he’s a bust yet, but he’s trending strongly bust-wards.
Carlos Santana is their DH. He’s not that good anymore, but he’s been at the center of some of their most memorable wins.
Curt Casali is their backup catcher. I haven’t seen too much speculation about the postseason roster yet, but I’d imagine the other two names under consideration for a spot (or maybe two?) are
Taylor Trammell and
Abraham Toro. The former plays good outfield defense and can run, the latter plays the infield and is a switch hitter. Neither hits all that well, but both have had moments of competence.
I’ll do a separate post on pitchers, this is long.
