3 Players to Watch
- SS Brad Miller
One reason the Mariners ought to improve in 2015 is shortstop Brad Miller. Though he hit just .221 with a terrible .288 OBP and .365 slugging percentage, he’s just 25. And in 34 Spring plate appearances, has shown a greater approach leading to a .412 OBP and .679 slugging percentage.
Those numbers will not continue into the regular season, but it is not unreasonable to think he can move to close to a .350 OPB and .400 slugging percentage. If he does, the Mariners will instantly be a better team.
Last year he struck out about 23 percent of the time, but was better in 2013. As long as he keeps that number down, the Mariners will hold one of the better shortstops in the league in their possession.
He also needs to improve defensively—he had the second most errors among shortstops in the AL in 2014—but that is a mere certainty. Assuming he improves as expected, the Mariners will be a better ball club than they were in 2014.
- SP Taijuan Walker
Here’s the greatest thing about the current state of the Seattle Mariners franchise. There is no rush to bring up Taijuan Walker and have him become the ace of the staff that he’s projected to be. Heck, he may never become that, due to the presence of “King” Felix Hernandez, who is still somehow just 28.
But Walker has long been one of the up and coming stars in baseball. Dating back to 2011 he was a top-10 prospect in the organization according to Baseball America and is now considered one of the elite prospects in all of baseball.
Walker was recalled to Seattle last year, and made five starts. In eight total appearances, he was fairly impressive, posting a 2.61 ERA with just over 8 K/9 innings. His 2.68 FIP suggests he benefited from solid play in the field from the Mariners, as does his 4.26 BB/9 innings combined with 81.3 percent runners left on base statistic. Still, he’s just 22, averages over 94 miles per hour with his fastball, over 90 with his cutter and sometimes features a splitter around 88, a changeup around 87 and a curveball around 74.
He has an arsenal of weapons to get hitters out. If he can learn to control those pitches, he will become a star in Seattle. Of course, there’s also the question of whether the Mariners would consider moving him while he’s still a prospect to improve some other part of their team.
That makes him quite the player to watch in 2015.
- OF Dustin Ackley
The second pick of the 2009 amateur draft, Dustin Ackley has been disappointing for the Mariners. He tries to be a slap hitter like Ichiro was for the M’s for a decade. But Ackley does not possess the same kind of hand-eye coordination that Ichiro did.
Interestingly, Ackley’s first season in the big leagues, 2011, was his best. He got on base .348 percent of the time and slugged over .400 for the first and thus far only time in his career.
There are positives with Ackley, though. He strikes out a low rate (90 in 542 plate appearances in 2014) and has had a positive OWAR score in each of his four major league seasons.
For the first time in his career, it appears he is more or less penciled in as the everyday starting left field for Lloyd McClendon’s squad. That should give him the confidence he needs to improve at the plate and in the field.
If there’s a theme to the keys to success for Seattle in 2015, it’s getting production out of long-time Mariners who developed in the organization. The new acquisitions are merely supplementing the young, homegrown talent.
Next: Keys for success in 2015