Video: Mariners have DH problem that has nothing to do with Jay Bruce or Edwin Encarnación
May 14, 2019, 12:32 PM
The Mariners have a number of players whose primary position should probably be designated hitter ahead of any spot in the field, including Daniel Vogelbach, Edwin Encarnación and Jay Bruce.
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There’s one more, according to 710 ESPN Seattle’s Bob Stelton: Domingo Santana, Mariners left fielder and the lowest-ranked player in all of baseball in defensive WAR (minus-10.6, according to Fangraphs).
Santana’s bat is valuable, there is no doubt about that. He is hitting .281 with eight home runs and an .848 OPS, his 37 RBIs rank second in the American League, and he hit the game-tying double and then scored the winning run on Omar Narváez’s walk-off single in the 10th inning of Monday’s 6-5 win over Oakland. But Santana’s defense continues to be an issue in left field, the spot he has the least experience playing in the outfield but where the Mariners want him to play going forward with Mitch Haniger in right field and Mallex Smith (when he returns from Triple-A Tacoma) in center.
In Stelton’s latest video, he breaks down what he’s seeing from the struggling Mariners, his thoughts on Santana’s defense and where his future with the team should be.
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