Seattle Mariners welcome back Kyle Seager classic
Kyle Seager, Seattle Mariners. (Photo by Blake Handley, via Flickr)
This season the Seattle Mariners have been treated to the 2016 version of Kyle Seager. Where does he fit in the M’s rebuild?
Kyle Seager is back! Well, at least it sure looks like he is. He is reminding everyone of his 2016 version, back when he finished with a .279 average, 30 home runs and 99 RBI for the Seattle Mariners. Seager’s performance that season led to his 12th finish in MVP voting.
This is the best thing any Seattle Mariners fan could have asked for from him. Since 2016 Seager’s batting average dropped dramatically, except for last year when he finished with a .239 BA (which was an improvement from his .221 BA the year prior).
Since 2016, Mariners Nation has not been satisfied with his production. They have all been waiting for him to get back to his All-Star form and status as one of the best third basemen in the Majors.
Is it a real revival?
Great question.
It’s a much better topic than what to do with the Seattle Mariners’ bullpen. This year is not going to be normal. It comes down to two months of regular season baseball.
Baseball history is rife with players and teams that can get hot for a two month or less stretch. Just look at the reigning champion Washington Nationals. The Nats were almost unbeatable in September and October last year.
Even though the season is short, it could easily go down as Kyle’s best. For comparison, here’s Kyle’s 2016 numbers and his current 2020 numbers. Counting numbers are meaningless, so these are the comps for batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS (on-base plus slugging).
| AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | |
| 2016 | .278 | .359 | .499 | .859 |
| 2020 | .288 | .377 | .492 | .868 |