Mariner Infielders

First of all I have to honor my dad today February 2 is the 100^th anniversary of his birth. He has been gone for over twenty-two years so we all miss you.

He was not a big baseball fan however he did coach my little league team for one season. Also, while I was growing up he took me to some Tacoma Triple A games every year. I got to see some of Gaylord Perry, Willie McCovey and the Alou brothers playing for the Tacoma Giants. We went to a few Mariner games together when I became an adult. The most memorable time was seeing a double header against the Kansas City Royals and the scores were 2-1 and 1-0. We decided never go to another double header again. Actually it may have been the last scheduled double header the Mariners have played. So Happy Birthday Dad!

Today I am writing about the Seattle Mariners infielders. The only change is at first base which I have already written about. It is where there will be a platoon situation where newly acquired Adam Lind will play mostly against right handed pitchers. So the competition is who will play against left handed pitchers and batting right handed. The primary candidates are Jesus Montero, Stefen Romero, and Gaby Sanchez.

The competition for the utility role to play behind Robinson Cano, Kyle Seager, and Ketel Marte are Chris Taylor, Sean O’Malley, and Luis Sardinas. Whoever gets the job will spend most of their playing time playing shortstop behind Marte. Since Marte has only two months of service time in the major leagues last August and September it is hard to say how he will do this year despite the talent he has so the utility player will need to be ready any time. The two players who do not make the opening roster likely will start the season at Tacoma in triple A.

We all know that last season Robinson Cano had a very poor first half and then rebounded in the second half. We found out that he had been hurt most of the season and had surgery after the season was over. We do hope that Cano will recover and have the kind of full season he did in 2014. At this point he is looking to bat third again in the lineup although he hit a lot better when the Mariners moved him to fourth in the batting order after Nelson Cruz. I am sure that could change depending how things work out even in spring training. I expect not only will his bat be like in the second half of last season that his glove will be more like in 2014 and in the previous years with the Yankees. It shows though the success of the Mariners is a lot on his back though Nelson Cruz had an outstanding season last year.

Kyle Seager had a poor first half of the season and rebounded like Cano in the second half as well. His bat or glove was as good as we had seen for his career. He did not have an injury like Cano so maybe it was just Kyle having a poor start of a season for the first time in his career. Knowing his work ethic I am sure Kyle will bounce back for a good full season. He may bat either second or fifth depending where the Mariners put Marte in the lineup.

Speaking of Marte this will be his first full season and he is only twenty-two years of age so it is only a guess how he will do. The utility players mentioned above will need to be ready in case he falters. What I like about Marte is that he looked very mature for his age especially when batting. He was the best leadoff hitter the Mariners had all last season since they did try several options however I won’t go into it since those guys are not here any longer. This year though he might bat second or lower of the batting order. What I like is that he is willing to take a walk when necessary and can bunt as well. Batting second though bunting more likely to happen than taking a walk; also, we will see if he is able to hit and run too. We can hope that his fielding will continue to approve too.

Anyway that is the infield next time I write about the Mariners we will look at the outfielders. Go Mariners!