Seattle Mariners have the first piece of a stellar outfield

Seattle Mariners outfielder Kyle Lewis is must-watch TV in 2020.

One of the more fascinating early storylines this season has been that of Seattle Mariners rookie outfielder Kyle Lewis. For fellow east coast baseball fans who find it difficult to stay up past midnight to watch west coast baseball that isn’t Mike Trout, you’re missing something really special.

As of Sunday morning, the Mariners outfielder ranks second among all major league hitters in Wins Above Replacement at 0.7, sitting behind only San Francisco’s Mike Yastrzemski (1.0 fWAR)

Not exactly a shortlist list of high-profile names, but that’s what makes looking at early-season leaderboards so much fun.

Lewis has played in all nine games for Seattle, putting together a .444/.500/.611 slash line with two home runs and a team-leading eight RBI.

After going 1-4 with a home run in each of his first two games of the season against Houston, Lewis has two or more hits in six of his last seven games. While 14 of his 16 hits in 2020 may be singles, Lewis has found holes all over the field, employing the simple yet effective strategy of “hit ‘em where they ain’t.”

Those 16 base hits lead Major League Baseball, with four players sitting in a tie for second place on the leaderboard with 13, as of first pitch on Sunday afternoon.

Scouting reports on Kyle Lewis coming out college all note his impressive raw power and fans got an early glimpse of that last season as Lewis homered in each of the first three games of his career. Only one other player in major league history has achieved that feat, Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story.

Lewis would go on to add three more home runs, giving him six in 18 September games last season.

The big issue that continues to stand out is his strikeout numbers. Lewis struck out 29.4% of his at-bats at the Double-A level in 2019 and struck out 29 times in 71 at-bats as a major leaguer during his brief stint last season. Those high strikeout totals have continued this season as Lewis currently owns a 37.5% K-rate.

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The strikeouts aren’t likely to go away any time soon, but if Lewis can continue to use the whole field, dump balls into the outfield when he isn’t sending them over the fence, and keep drawing walks (10% walk rate in 2020), the strikeout numbers can be overlooked a bit. Seven of the top 20 qualified hitters in strikeout percentage last season were worth 4.0 fWAR or higher. While Lewis’ numbers have been high, don’t worry about them too much right now.

Put any labels of “injury concern” or worry about his significant knee injury back in 2016 away, as well as any idea that Lewis will have to move to a corner outfield spot now that he’s in the major leagues. Lewis has played all nine contests in center field and played exceptionally well.

Mariners fans may not be as surprised watching Lewis as other fans may be, but the former first-round pick is quickly becoming must-watch late-night TV.

Seattle Mariners have two impressive outfield prospects coming up through the system.

It won’t be long before Lewis has some help in the outfield. The Seattle Mariners have two impressive young outfielders sitting first and second on their list of Top 30 prospects in Jarred Kelenic and Julio Rodriguez.

Kelenic, a 2018 first-round pick of the New York Mets, found his way to Seattle in the 2018 Robinson Cano deal and proceeded to mash his way across three minor league levels last season. Kelenic slashed .291/.364/.540 with 31 doubles, 23 home runs, and five triples in 117 games while also swiping 20 bases.

With above-average to plus tools across the board, Kelenic will bring speed, pop, and a strong arm in right field once he gets his big-league call-up, which won’t be too much longer from.

The Seattle Mariners may be waiting a bit longer for Rodriguez to make his major league debut, the 19-year-old may have the highest upside of this outfield trio. Through his first two seasons as a professional, Rodriguez owns a .322 average and .395 OBP with 17 home runs, 39 doubles, and 13 triples. He’s played in just 143 minor league games.

The pieces are slowly coming together and when they do, the Seattle Mariners will be a regular contender in the American League West. For the east coast crowd, be sure to pour yourself a cup of coffee and stay up for the Kyle Lewis show. You won’t be disappointed.