This spring Kyle Seager is working on hitting the ball the other way instead of pulling the ball. Since teams started putting on the shift against most players several years ago they have played Seager to pull the ball. Now with hitting the ball the other way he is hoping teams will play him straight up in the same manner they do Robinson Cano.
Actually this is not the new Seager he goes back to being the old Seager. You see when he first came up to the major leagues he hit the ball the other way however being moved to third base he felt it was important to pull the ball to hit more home runs since it is considered a power position. In the minor leagues he played mostly second base and really started knowing third base in the major leagues his rookie season.
I have thought the last couple years that Seager should have started hitting the ball the other way already so it is good that he is doing so now. Being a veteran player now though just reaching thirty years old he should be able to handle hitting the ball the other way and when needed depending in the situation can pull the ball. Robinson Cano has been doing this for several years so now Seager doing it will help the offense. This should allow him to get off to a better start in the season instead of waiting until May or June to produce. It wasn’t like he was doing a bad just but a better start would help out the Mariners. The last couple years the Mariners have been off to poor starts as well when it comes to their record. We hope with Seager’s start this season will put in the Mariners in a very position as well. Another thing is with the offense the Mariners have they have other players capable of hitting good share of home runs.
Of course they still have Cano and Nelson Cruz ahead of Seager who both hit their fair share of home runs and then acquired first baseman Ryon Healy who hit twenty-five home runs as a rookie for the Oakland A’s along with right fielder Mitch Haniger and catcher Mike Zunino. Haniger hitting ahead or behind Healy should be able to get at least twenty home runs himself if he can stay healthy for the season and Zunino continues to hit like last season could hit thirty home runs along with a lot of doubles.
The Mariners now have more speed with Dee Gordon leading off and Jean Segura batting second behind Robinson Cano this should allow the Mariners to score runs without depending on home runs. With the power in the line up they should be able to hit quite a few home runs just by pitchers making mistakes.
Speaking of pitchers making mistakes and giving up a lot of home runs this was a big problem for the Mariners pitching staff. What would make the pitching much better would be for them to cut down on the home runs given up. I found last year I was frustrated because so many of the runs the opposition scored were because of the home runs. So if they could cut down to some degree on the home runs the earned run average of the pitchers should decrease.
So back to Seager I consider him a more mature hitter this season and he recognizing that going back to hitting the ball the other way he might be able to get close to having his average around three hundred. This would be very good for the Mariners as well. We know that with Dee Gordon and Jean Segura at the top of the batting Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager able to drive them in. Another thing is important is how they will perform with runners in scoring position. Another thing hitting the ball the other way Seager will have less strikeouts. We got to figure that Healy and Zunino will have their fair share of strikeouts so having someone like Seager not doing so will be quite the help.
Friday Marco Gonzales is making his second start of spring training. He said himself that he is about ninety percent healthy this year after having Tommy John surgery two years ago. Last year he felt that he was around sixty-five percent. Also he has made a little change in his delivery so if things go well he could be a solid four or fifth starter. Being out of options Gonzales has to make the roster as a starter or long reliever or the Mariners would have to put him on waivers and another team likely would pick him up. His first outing he pitched two innings without giving up a hit so he should be going three innings this time out. Having him will be a good thing and we hope that he can go six innings before the team goes to the bullpen. Last season when he started for the Mariners he struggled often where he had problems going five innings.
Ariel Miranda who started on Wednesday has a good shot to be in the rotation as well or at least the long reliever. Felix is expected to return after missing a start which would have been this Saturday probably will start next Thursday. No announcement has been made officially when he will start again.
Outside of Felix and Erasmo Ramirez who is still on the mend the starting rotation looks like it is rounding into shape. We know that Paxton and Leake will be in the rotation as long as they stay healthy. At this point the other three spots are in question however we should know better in the next week or so. Go M’s.
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