Mariners Kyle Seager

Seattle Mariner 3^rd baseman Kyle Seager says that when growing up his favorite player was Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter; however, I see him more like Cal Ripken Jr who never missed a game until near his retirement. We can see the same thing in Seager as well where he misses a very few games. In fact the Mariner’s manager has to give him a day off or he will stay in the lineup. Also, he plays third base a lot like Ripken Jr. did too.

Last season Seager had a poor first half a lot like Robinson Cano. The main difference was that Seager had no injury that we know of that put him in that position. With both Seager and Cano along with the pitching the first half of the season put the Mariners behind where they never caught up though both these guys rebounded in the second half.

What makes Seager so special is that he is very steady and consistent usually throughout the season. Last year was not the kind of season we always count out on him. I guess everyone is due one once in a while. This year though the Mariners need to have Seager come out of the box like he played in the second of last season. Often he has started out slow but nothing like last year. It was amazing that manager McClendon always felt the team would go out on a winning strike which never happened and cost him along with general manager Jackie Z. their jobs. We hope under the new regime of Dipoto and Servais the Mariners will come out of spring training with a good April.

Unless he gets injured or a subpar season we expect the same old Seager once again. Now that he has been around several years and is the longest tendered regular in the lineup the Mariners expect him to be the leader on the field at least and possibly in the clubhouse along with Nelson Cruz and Robinson Cano. Depending on spring training Seager will bat either second or fifth. I liked him batting second in the order because he did a lot better hitting when he was switched to the spot in the lineup. What makes Seager good at second in the lineup is that he can pull the ball in hit and run situations along with having power early in the lineup. Most likely if he hits second he will be followed by Cruz and Cano. If he goes back to fifth in the batting order he will follow Cano and Cruz. A lot of this depends whether Marte bats second in the lineup.

Anyway Seager we look forward to another good steady season from you and hopefully the Mariners can make it to the promise land this time. Go Mariners!