(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
The Seattle Mariners have been playing this entire season so far without their unanimous Rookie of the Year Kyle Lewis.
The Mariners had three of the brightest young players in the MLB last season with Lewis being RoY, and Evan White and JP Crawford, who both won gold glove awards last season.
Kyle Lewis has the missed the first 17 games of the season with a bone bruise in his knee. He had also missed some time late in spring training. In the absence of Lewis, Mariners #6 prospect Taylor Trammell, who came over in a trade with the Padres. (In that trade the Mariners had given up Austin Nola, Austin Adams, and Dan Altavilla for RHP Andres Munos, Trammell, C Luis Torrens, and INF Ty France)
Last season, Kyle Lewis hit .262/.364/.437 with 11 home runs and 3 doubles. The Kyles were fun to watch last season as they almost as they almost led the Mariners to the playoffs for the first since 2001.
Currently the Seattle Mariners are sitting in first place in the American League West. They are a game and a half ahead of both the Los Angeles Angels and the Oakland Athletics.
Adding Kyle Lewis back into the mix will be a welcome site for the team. With Lewis in the fold, they should only get better offensively. Lewis is returning at just the right time, Mitch Haniger has been tearing the cover off of the ball, Kyle Seager has played well early on, Ty France has been phenomenal, while Crawford and Whites bats are starting to come around.
What will happen with Trammell?
Taylor Trammell has not done all that great in replacement of Lewis; he’s currently hitting .184/.298/.408 with 2 doubles, 3 homeruns, 9 RBI’s. He has struggled to control the zone as he has struck out 23 times in 49 at bats.
With Kyle Lewis coming back to make his season debut tomorrow, I would expect Trammell to shift over to left field. That would leave Mitch Haniger in right. That gives you a pretty good outfield, with Kelenic waiting in the wings. I would expect Kelenic to be brought up later this year. But for now you will have an outfield of Haniger, Lewis, Trammell, and currently Braden Bishop as the fourth outfielder.
If the Mariners get the the Kyle Lewis that popped onto the scene in 2019 and played very well for a majority of the 2020 season, then they may have a chance to make the playoffs for the first time in 20 years. But if they see the Lewis that they saw at the end of the season last year, then they will have to wait another year.
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Northwest Sports Desk 