Seattle Mariners: The Unexpected Rise of Dylan Moore
Dylan Moore, Seattle Mariners.
1. He can play defense
When you take out that one fateful inning on March 30th, Moore had 6 errors over the 676 other innings he played. One error every 12.5 full games. To keep that in perspective, Francisco Lindor won a Gold Glove with an error every 13.3 games at shortstop.
Whether it was a matter of getting over the rookie jitters or some more magic worked by infield guru, Perry Hill, he turned it around. Moore was the kind of player who got as much extra work in as he could. In 2019, he played every fielding position except catcher. In the end, Moore proved to be a versatile and competent defender across the entire field. No mention of his 36.00 ERA will be made here.
2. He can hold his own at the plate
For a while, Moore seemed to profile as a defensive substitute and pinch-runner. A player that a well-built team could use every now and then at the end of a game. With a career OPS that has hovered around .700 last year, Moore didn’t necessarily fit the mold of a player who needs to be in the starting lineup every day. However, he perfectly fits the role of a utility player who isn’t a liability to the team anytime his bat is in the lineup.
This year the 28-year-old has hit more line drives and fewer popups so far. His performance shows that he made some significant, positive adjustments over the extended offseason. Moore just might be coming into his own this year. His potential growth into a super-utility player could be huge for the Mariners (think 2017 Marwin Gonzalez or 2001 Mark McLemore).
Nonetheless, he is off to a great start in 2020 with a .313 batting average and 1.023 OPS. Those numbers point to a player who will stick around for a while.
Hey look, another Dylan Moore tweet. pic.twitter.com/qmjDuiGgdQ
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) August 11, 2020