Seattle Mariners must settle an unsettled outfield
Breaking Bad
Things certainly didn’t work out as either Dipoto or Seattle Mariners fans envisioned they would. To start the season:
- Lewis hadn’t recovered fully from his knee injury and was on the injured list until May 24. He lasted four games until Jose Urquidy beaned him in Houston, causing a concussion. K-Lew tried to come back but wasn’t the same player.
- Kelenic bombed in 2022 despite several opportunities. Once again, he showed that he couldn’t handle Major League pitching, spending most of the season at Triple-A Tacoma.
- Trammell made the team out of spring training, but after June 3, he hit .150 while riding the Tacoma-Seattle shuttle. He went 1-for-23 in September.
It was a very erratic season for Mitch Haniger. He started slow, then got hurt (again), keeping him out of action until August 6.
“Meetch” came back with a vengeance, with hits in 16 of 18 games after he returned. But then slumped at the end of the season, batting .240 over the last month, with 36 strikeouts in 100 at bats.
Winker was a huge disappointment. In addition to playing leftfield like the real-life Edward Scissorhands, he hit .219 with an OPS of .688. As it turns out, Winker needed knee and neck surgery after the season ended.
A pleasant surprise
Out of all that preseason optimism, the only outfielder that had a good season was the one without expectations. As it turned out, Rodriguez became the Seattle Mariners’ messiah in 2022.
In his rookie year, JRod took the MLB by storm. He hit 28 home runs, stole 25 bases, and put up a .285/.345/.509/.854 slash line. In addition, Rodriguez played a Gold Glove-caliber centerfield.
It’s not that he wasn’t going to be a great player. No one thought Rodriguez would be this good this soon. He was the catalyst that helped the Seattle Mariners break their 21-year playoff drought.