| Douglas Benton. 14th June, 2007 - 11:33 pm
 The Seattle Mariners are 35-27 and just four games out of the American League West. However, they haven?t relied on their big free agents of first baseman Richie Sexon and third baseman Adrian Beltre, but rather their outfielder trio of Raul Ibanez, Jose Guillen and Ichiro Suzuki.
Seattle is the only team in the American League to have all three of their outfielders in the top 20 of American League outfielders in batting average, RBI and slugging percentage. While the production has been balanced this season, it still starts and ends with Ichiro.
Ichiro, batting leadoff and playing centerfield, is still one of the best hitters in the game and is a terror both at the plate and on the base paths. He is hitting .340 and no matter the result, he always makes a pitcher work to get past him in the batting order. Ichiro is very adept at directing the ball to open spots and is content to keep the ball on the ground and use his speed.
This speed is more dangerous when he gets on base because he can make pitchers uncomfortable with his movements and take their concentration away from the hitter. He also can get into scoring position and move up 90 feet, as seen with his 17 steals in 19 attempts this season.
The other holdover from last year is leftfielder Raul Ibanez. Now in his mid-30s, Ibanez is building on his outstanding 2006 season. Ibanez is known more for his defense, but his bat still has some doubles power left in it and he is bringing some power to the middle of the order. He leads the team with 41 RBI and at a .290 batting average, is a nice complement of power to the speed found at the top of the line-up.
Right fielder Jose Guillen though is what completes this group, as his power arm and power bat have been a welcome addition to a team lacking power. Guillen is a supremely aggressive hitter who strikes out too much, but is the only true home run power threat in the line-up. He will have to prove he can keep his emotions in check over the long season, but the talent is very evident for Guillen in Seattle.
Still, this outfielder just doesn?t hit, but they also defend with three very good outfielders roaming the grounds of Safeco Field. Ichiro is gold glove good and Guillen has a cannon for an arm in right field. With Ibanez, he is a converted centerfielder to leftfield and his range in left is better than most.
Whether Seattle can carry this on is up for debate because their starting pitching depth is troubling at best, but with this outfield at the top of the order and playing the field, the Mariners will make the American League West a three team race heading into the late summer.
Douglas Benton can be reached at Douglas.Benton@RealGM.com |
