Rickie Weeks another casualty of Seattle Mariners’ left field issues
A week after the Seattle Mariners grew tiresome of outfielder Justin Ruggiano‘s un-productive ways and demoted him, it’s Rickie Weeks‘ turn this week.
Mariners have designated Rickie Weeks for assignment. Was hitting .167 with 2 HRs and 9 RBI in 37 games.
— Tom (@Haudricourt) June 13, 2015
The Mariners acquired Mark Trumbo shortly before the Ruggiano demotion in hopes of addressing a real vulnerability; their outfield.
Nelson Cruz is better suited as the everyday designated hitter, though he has started a substantial number of games in right field for the M’s. But between Ruggiano, Weeks and Dustin Ackley, not one of them was hitting better than .215 at the time Weeks was sent on assignment.
The M’s left field platoon has been especially bad to date. Ackley has 27 starts there, followed by Seth Smith with 15 and Weeks with 10. On the year, on the Oakland Athletics’ left field is the only tandem of player’s hitting lower (.172) than the Mariners’ mark of .197.
Right now it looks as though Cruz is going to continue to get more starts in right field, while Trumbo will be handling mostly designated hitter duties. Center field production has not been great either for the Mariners. The .233 batting average there ranks 28th across MLB, though Austin Jackson did spend most of May on the disabled list. Since returning on May 26, he is slashing .290/.319/.435 with four RBI and two stolen bases.
Weeks was behind the eight ball to begin with upon being signed by the M’s in the offseason. He hit a collective .233 in his final three seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers before moving to Safeco Field for his home games in 2015. Seattle’s park is not friendly to hitters, and Weeks was batting a meager .167 in 37 games for the Mariners this year. With a -0.7 WAR in limited playing time, management obviously felt it necessary to abandon the Weeks experiment in lieu of other areas of concern.
Ideally moving forward, the Seattle Mariners will platoon Smith — who is actually doing okay with a .261-5-16 line this year — in left with Ackley. Jackson will get the bulk of the work in center and the club will hope he stays hot. In right, Cruz will be the go-to guy and manager Lloyd McClendon will fit Trumbo into the lineup between starts at first base, DH and occasionally in right field.
The coinciding move with the Mariners optioning Weeks to Triple-A will aim to strengthen the other area of concern right now for the M’s — the bullpen — with Seattle recalling RHP Danny Farquhar from the Tacoma Rainiers. Given former closer Fernando Rodney‘s recent struggles and the loss of Dominic Leone in the Trumbo deal, the M’s bullpen needs all the help it can get right now.
Next: Robinson Cano must wake up and smell the Starbucks coffee