Seattle Mariners: Second Half has Playoffs Insight
Position Flexibility
Evan White won’t return this season after having surgery. This is having Scott Servais getting creative with his lineups and defense. Ty France is playing well at first base. Although, he isn’t White in the field. The Seattle Mariners have Jake Bauers playing some first base along with the outfield. The Mariners have Luis Torrens, who is playing well on his return to the Mariners. He’s currently playing the occasional first base, some behind the plate and being the designated hitter.
How many catchers may depend on whether the Seattle Mariners move Tom Murphy? The suspension of Hector Santiago will be over soon, which will bring the Mariners back to full strength of a 26 man roster. This will allow the Mariners to be better able to maneuver how much the bullpen is being used. Also, Jake Fraley should be back from the covid list soon as well.
Reason for Hope
Recently, the Seattle Mariners activated Casey Sadler during the Oakland A’s series. Giving more hope for the bullpen. Drew Steckenrider, Paul Sewald, and Kendall Graveman are currently the pitchers in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. Well, Graveman was until his trade to Houston. Rafael Montero was included in that trade as well. Also, JT Chargois is doing a fine job, being the first man out of the bullpen. Santiago can be valuable as a long reliever. A weak spot in the Mariners bullpen. Erik Swanson can be used in that spot, too, as a former starting pitcher.
The trade deadline is coming up on Friday. Getting someone to take over second base will be a good idea. For the most part, Dylan Moore is having a poor season. He’s not even been able to get over the Mendoza line. The right second baseman can move Kyle Seager out of the third or fourth spot in the batting order. Seager has had his moments and is second behind Mitch Haniger in home runs and RBI’s. However, his inconsistency isn’t helping the Mariners. Haniger is now heading towards 30 home runs. Haniger and JP Crawford have to be their two best players along with France this season.
J.P. Crawford and Kyler Seager. Seattle Mariners.