Seattle Mariners are mis-using Austin Nola

Seattle Mariners
Austin Nola, Seattle Mariners.
Seattle Mariners

Joe Hudson. (Photo by Minda Haas Kuhlmann, via Flickr)

Better use of resources

Murphy’s status is still up in the air, so a return to action any time soon is highly unlikely. Until Mariners General Manager Jerry Dipoto decides to go out and get a catcher, with a decent amount of experience and can call a game from behind the plate, the team should go with current number two Joe Hudson as the primary starter.

Hudson ranks ninth in dWAR. When he catches, Seattle Mariners opponents have a .211/.307/.352/.659 slash line. Better still, M’s pitching has a 4.17 ERA. That’s a huge difference.

The Tampa, Florida native, will never be confused with Mike Piazza as an offensive weapon. His 29 career at-bats against big-league pitching so far are uninspiring. However, his current .125 batting average won’t hurt the team any further, considering how it stacks up against other players on the team.

Evan White (.105), Dee Gordon (.152), Mallex Smith (.146), and Daniel Vogelbach (.119) have all struggled to make regular contact with the ball. Seattle loses almost nothing offensively with Hudson in the lineup.

Sound personnel management principles include putting people in areas where they can not only help the organization but also into places where they can succeed personally. It’s time for DiPoto and manager Scott Servais to start applying those principles. The M’s are a young team with a young pitching staff. To help them develop, they need a defense-first catcher.

Next: Page 3 – Playing to strengths

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