What Morosi makes of Mariners’ usage of Rob Refsnyder

The offseason addition of Rob Refsnyder by the Seattle Mariners has not gone as planned to this point.

Seattle Mariners don’t lose veteran utility man after DFA

Known as one of the premier bats against left-handed pitchers in baseball for much of this decade, Refsnyder has struggled against any kind of pitching this season. Entering Friday, Refsnyder is hitting just .137 (14 for 116) with three home runs and no other hits for extra bases in 48 games. He also has a minus-1.0 bWAR, easily the worst of his career.

It’s to the point that any time Refsnyder is in the starting lineup or enters a game as a pinch hitter, there are immediate questions from fans on social media about why.

MLB Network insider Jon Morosi joined Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob in studio on Thursday, shortly after Refsnyder flied out after coming in to pinch hit with the bases loaded in a loss at Pittsburgh, and shared an interesting way of looking at Mariners manager Dan Wilson’s continued usage of Refsnyder.

“That might be the manager saying, I’ve asked (Luke) Raley to get one hit left-on-left, he probably didn’t like the second matchup as much, and the analytics probably said the swing path of Refsnyder was a little better against that particular type of lefty than the previous one was. That’s all very defensible,” Morosi said.

“… But the big picture here, sometimes managers over 162 (games), they don’t sacrifice a game – this is not the case at all – but you do make the point to your bosses that if this guy, if Refsnyder’s on my roster, he needs to play here. This is his spot. This is his job. It’s almost like you’re looking at the front office and saying, listen, if you’re giving me him, he plays right here. This is his role. If Refsnyder’s not going to hit against that lefty, he does not belong on the team.”

Morosi isn’t worried that the Mariners won’t be willing to eventually make a move should it be necessary based on the current front office’s history.

“Either the decision-making has to get better from (Wilson) or the execution has to get better from the guys on the field, or the personnel will eventually change. Whether that’s the coaches, whether that’s the players, we will find out,” he said.

“This is a front office, I guess I would make this this point to say, they made one of the toughest decisions when they let go of (previous manager) Scott Servais that late into (the 2024 season). … If you’re going to make that move, you’d make any move.”

Hear the full Wyman and Bob conversation with MLB Network’s Jon Morosi in the podcast at this link, in the audio player below or the video player at the top of this post. Catch Wyman and Bob from 2-7 p.m. weekdays on Seattle Sports.

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