Edgar knows hitting. The legendary designated hitter is a viable bat fit for Cooperstown, but the DH stigma still hangs over his head. Over the weekend, the Seattle Mariners announced they had hired the two-time American League batting champion to be their new hitting coach. So what does Edgar Martinez returning to the M’s mean for their present and future?
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Martinez was a staple in the Mariners’ lineup and Seattle’s community for almost two decades. Just as he did as a player, he will wear No. 11 as a coach. Papi replaces Howard Johnson in his post, the club reassigning him to somewhere in the minors. Immediately, Mariners fans should realize they get a fan favorite and seven-time All-Star who was a career .312 hitter during his playing days for a guy most casual fans could not even name off the top of their head if asked “who is your teams hitting coach?”
Johnson had some decent seasons in his 14-year career. A switch-hitting third baseman, HoJo never once hit .300 though and retired with a lifetime .249 batting average. So the hiring of Martinez is clearly an attempt to bring some excitement back to Mariners baseball in the Pacific Northwest, and hopefully inspirational enough to revitalize a slumping lineup.
But one has to wonder — was it Martinez who reached out to Jack Zduriencik, or vice versa? Retiring following the 2004 season, Martinez somewhat distanced himself from the game of baseball. He became more involved as a businessman in the area and only worked as a guest hitting instructor during spring training.
The Mariners were a favorite in the preseason to come out of the AL West with a stout pitching staff and a few additions to the lineup. Question marks surrounded Nelson Cruz, but he is proving to be the right-handed bat the organization has needed so badly since essentially the retirement of Martinez. Some figured PED attachments and coming from a hitters ballpark in Baltimore to a pitchers park in Seattle would render Cruz inefficient. Such has not been the case, as he currently ranks inside the top 10 in the American League for home runs (19), RBI (44) and batting average (.315).
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One thing the introduction of Cruz has not done is made Robinson Cano more valuable. The second baseman is slashing only .243/.283/.333 and ranks an alarming fifth on the team in total bases with only 89. Of his 65 hits this season, only 20 have gone for extra bases.
Safeco Park is a beautiful venue for baseball, it’s just not a great one for hitters. Martinez played six seasons within her confines in the twilight years of his career. He hit .293/.404/.475 there, so he knows the park well. He had mildly more success there than Cano has had in his first 1 1/2 seasons (.298/.353/.451).
The Seattle Mariners are the worst in MLB with a .231 team batting average. Two veteran position players have already been reassigned to the minors, and the club has scored more runs than only the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago White Sox this season. Seattle is desperate to make the postseason. Their drought extends back to the 2001 season.
The parallel between Martinez and the ball club is simple — the last time Papi was present in their dugout, the M’s played in an ALCS. Seattle has long had an identity on the mound with Randy Johnson and Felix Hernandez, but not since Ken Griffey Jr. departed in 1999 and Martinez retired in 2004 have they had a true impact from the batter’s box, with the exception of Ichiro Suzuki.