Seattle Mariners offense held down by under-producing bottom of the order

Seattle Mariners
Shed Long Jr., Seattle Mariners.

Rebuilding a team is never easy. If the Seattle Mariners are going to succeed, they will need more production from the lower half of the batting order.

As Seattle Mariners fans have figured out during the first few weeks of this shortened season, the team has two glaring weaknesses. The first is an overmatched bullpen. Second is the issue covered today, the light-hitting bottom of the batting order.

The Seattle Mariners are hitting .213 as a team, good for 12th in the American League. They average 3.98 runs per game, which ranks 10th in the A.L. The top half of the order, for the most part, has done an excellent job this year. Kyle Lewis and Kyle Seager are rock-solid in the third and fourth spots, respectively. Both men are batting over .310 with an OPS over .920 on the season. However, after catcher Austin Nola in the fifth spot, there is a drastic fall off.

Easy outs

Second-year second baseman Shed Long Jr. had a rough start to the season. He was batting under .200, so M’s manager Scott Servais dropped him down in the order. Conversely, J.P. Crawford was moved into the leadoff position in Long’s place and excelled. Even though he doesn’t lead off, Long still comes to the plate four or five times a game and fails to produce.

Rookie first baseman Evan White has struggled at the plate with a batting average of .139, going into Tuesday’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. White often looks lost at the plate; he has struck out 38 times in 88 appearances, which is a 37.5 percent clip. Then there are times he looks like a Major League hitter like Monday night when he took Dodgers pitcher Ross Stripling deep for an opposite-field home run or the 95 mph heater from Pedro Baez five innings later that he turned on and pounded over the left field wall. At least White hasn’t let his disappointment at the plate bother him in the field. He plays like one of the top defensive first basemen in the Majors.

White has an excuse. He’s a rookie seeing most of these pitchers for the first time. Dee Gordon is hitting .125, Mallex Smith .133, and Daniel Vogelbach .098 can’t make the same excuse. Those three are not playing up to expectations. Their lack of production is a major reason why utility subs Dylan Moore (.292) and Tim Lopes (.238) are getting more playing time.

Alternatives

One idea to consider is moving Long back up to the second spot in the batting order against righties. He could then concentrate on moving runners instead of carrying the weight of reaching base. Moore then slides into the sixth slot, which puts him in a better position to drive in runs with the better Seattle Mariners hitters just ahead of him.

The question is, will Servais shake up the bottom of the order with the same players. He could bring up one or two other bats from the team’s alternate training site in Tacoma. Maybe Jake Fraley, Jarred Kelenic, or Braden Bishop can succeed where the others have failed.

Related Article: Seattle Mariners Place 5 in new MLB Hot 100 Prospects

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