Seattle Mariners Top Five Impact Rookies to Watch in 2020
Evan White, Seattle Mariners.
2. Evan White – First Base
How much do the Seattle Mariners love Evan White? So much that they took the virtually unprecedented step of signing him to a six-year, $24M contract extension last November. It’s good money for a guy who hasn’t played higher than Double-A ball and 30 months earlier was at the University of Kentucky.
Now that White has big money, he needs to prove he’s worth it. In the wake of Daniel Vogelbach’s 2019 second-half free fall into obscurity, Seattle handed White the starting first base job in spring training. Between his performance in March, and what he’s done so far in Summer camp, no one has been disappointed with the decision.
White already has a Major League glove. He may be the Mariners best defensive first baseman since John Olerud had the job from 2000–2004. No Seattle player is ever likely to match Ken Griffey Jr.’s 10 gold gloves. It’s not a stretch to believe White has the potential to at least match Olerud’s three at first base during his career.
While White’s defense has never been an issue, his bat has. Scouts always questioned whether or not he would be able to hit consistently in the big leagues. During his two minor league seasons, White put up a career slash line of .294/.361/.471/.832. At this point, the 24-year-old projects as a .250 or so batter with a better than average on-base percentage. White has enough pop be a solid doubles hitter with the potential to hit 15–20 dingers per year. Overall, he has an excellent package of skills and will get his chance to impact the team by playing almost every day this year.
Evan White is the latest #Mariners' prospect to show off at Summer Camp, going yard today in the first inning.
Keep track of all the best highlights from prospects around #MLB right here:: https://t.co/sgRnY1luLl pic.twitter.com/ekz4nSYbzl
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 14, 2020