Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais.
The trade for sluggers Jesse Winker and Eugenio (pronounced AY-you-hay-nee-oh) Suarez to go along with other newly acquired Adam Frazier and Robbie Ray puts the Seattle Mariners in an interesting position. They might have too many decent bats to go around. Let’s take a look at who the best fits are in each batting spot.
Both bat left-handed, and the M’s need a high on base batter with some speed, especially to take the extra base on a hit to right field. Last year Frazier batted .318 with a .825 OPS in the leadoff spot. Batting second was brutal for him. In that role, he hit .238 with a .580 OPS. However, batting sixth through eighth in the lineup, he combined to hit .344 with a .820 OPS.
J.P. Crawford excelled as the Seattle Mariners’ leadoff batter once he returned to that spot after losing it early on in 2021. Overall he batted .281 with a .735 OPS. With only 3 steals last year, Crawford had less than a third of Frazier’s 10. Moving the shortstop to the end of the order isn’t an option either. Crawford did terribly when ninth in the order, batting .216 in 23 games.
Crawford should be the leadoff man because there are other spots where Frazier excelled.
If Crawford or Frazier leads off, then a right-handed hitter should bat second. Ty France seems like the obvious choice as he doesn’t strike out at a particularly high clip (18.6 percent). However, in 2021, he batted .261 with a .798 OPS from the two-hole. In fact, his best spot in the lineup was fourth, where he hit .314 with a .829 OPS.
Mitch Haniger spent most of the season (109 games) batting second. While batting third was his best spot in a small sample size (8 games), batting second proved to be where he belonged. He batted .251 with a .779 OPS. While the OPS is lower than you’d expect for a slugger of his caliber, it would seem he’s a better fit at this spot than France based on the latter’s production in the four-hole.
Haniger should bat second in the lineup.
Acquiring Jesse Winker gives the Seattle Mariners a boost offensively. Although he tailed off in the second half of another injury-plagued season, Winker still had an impressive season. Before injuries got the better of him, he was challenging for the National League batting title. His power tapered off as well as he went from a 40+ home run pace to finish with 32.
While Winker should slot in nicely as the third hitter in the lineup, he didn’t bat third at all in 2021. Instead, he spent most of the season as the second batter and led off as well. He’s an on base machine, constantly hovering around the .400 mark.
He’s not much of a fielder, with a combined -6 runs saved last year. So splitting time as the left fielder and designated hitter might keep Winker from experiencing the injuries he experienced in three of the previous four seasons.
Jesse Winker should bat third in the Mariners lineup.
This is where Ty France performed the best in 2021; if Haniger is batting second, then France needs to be no further down than cleanup. For his part, Eugenio Suarez is two years removed from hitting 49 bombs in a season. He had trouble making contact at the plate last year, batting .198, but he still managed to hit 31 home runs.
The only spot in the lineup that Suarez didn’t go was the second spot. He primarily hit from the fifth or sixth spot, and he was very Kyle Seager-esque from those spots, which is an improvement overall from the other spots in the lineup.
Ty France should bat fourth and provide Winker some much-needed protection.
If you’re sticking with the lefty-righty stagger through the lineup, then Jarred Kelenic is the likely choice here, unless manager Scott Servais chooses to go for a higher unproven situation. Kelenic struggled in his debut season with the Seattle Mariners but turned it around in September. The fifth position was Kelenic’s best spot in the lineup as he batted .231 with a .849 OPS.
Suarez excelled in this spot, as well, batting .232 with a .880 OPS. He also put up similar numbers batting sixth, and his best spot in the lineup was eighth.
Jarred Kelenic should get the first opportunity to bat fifth this season.
Julio Rodriguez made the opening day roster. Along with a strong spring training, trading for Winker and Suarez actually solidifies that idea. Winker is a liability in the outfield, and Kelenic is better suited for a corner outfield spot, as is Haniger.
It’s feasible to let Winker DH most of the time, leaving J-Rod to roam centerfield. The rookie hasn’t played above Double-A yet, but he annihilated pitching at that level, to the tune of a .362 batting average and a 1.007 OPS.
Staying healthy is a concern as Rodriguez never played more than 84 minor league games in a season. After a strong spring training, he needs to expedite his transition to the Majors as soon as possible. This is the spot in the lineup for him to start his MLB career.
Julio Rodriguez should bat sixth as it fits his skill-set and the lefty-righty stagger.
Frazier batted over .300 from the seventh spot last season. Over his career, it’s a good place for him to be with a .351/.406/.504 slash line. Seattle’s newest second baseman slots in nicely here to set up Suarez and the Tom Murphy/Cal Raleigh/Luis Torrens catching trio at the end of the lineup.
Adam Frazier should bat seventh in this stacked lineup.
Eighth was Suarez’s best spot last season. In a limited sample size, he batted .286 with a 1.143 OPS here.
Suarez strikes out a ton but also belts lots of homers. Hitting behind Kelenic, J-Rod, and Frazier, he will make the second cleanup spot in the order a valuable place. Plus, the M’s can hide his high strikeout rate in the back of the lineup to lessen its impact.
Eugenio Suarez bats eighth, providing plenty of power on the back-end.
Any of these power-hitting catchers belongs at the bottom of this lineup. More so than Frazier or Crawford. The combination of power and strikeouts in the eighth and ninth spots won’t leave many RBI chances for the top of the order. Then again, the stacked nature of this particular lineup makes it hard to put these two anywhere else.
Whoever the catcher is, on a given day, bats last.
Bench: Dylan Moore, Abraham Toro.
Joe Swenson is a native Washingtonian that lives in Maine now. He’s obsessed with baseball in all facets and is very relieved that a full 2022 season will be played.