2009 Review: Ryan Langerhans

What can you really say about Ryan Langerhans? We gave up in reality someone that was a perennial AAAA player, had no position and brought along a suspect bat for someone who was a defensive specialist playing any outfield position, bringing along an amazing glove with range, and the downside of a below average bat.

While he stepped into a rough situation where Endy Chavez had played a pivotal role with the team up until he was crippled by Yuni, followed by Bad Wlad’s offensive struggles with a marginal glove. Once Langerhans arrived poor Endy and his solid start to his ’09 season was soon quickly forgotten.

In only 38 games Ryan posted a UZR of 5.5 and a UZR/150 of 14.5 while playing all three outfield positions (however spending most time in left field)… While he was absolutely solid out in the field this is not how most people will remember him, as 2 of his 3 home runs this season were walk off home runs.

While he had an ISO of .168 his power is about average and really while he may have worked his way into the hearts of the many seattle fans and even the minds of some the sabermetric folks, we must remember that he is at best just above replacement value. He is a solid bench player and perhaps on certain teams he could start and be a valued member of a team.

Don’t misunderstand me he has been a great utility outfielder this year, played awesome defense and has shown us some grit and hustle out on the base paths and he even won a couple games on great home runs. But, his baseball career is limited and at this point is only a role player for any team that we be build for the future.

I know some people may point out his .219 BA but i would point to his .271 BABIP which was sub-par for the league. He was limited by inconsistent play times and really this is all inside a very small (122 PA) sample size.

Though he has shown in the past to support a sub par BABIP most likely due to his terrible line drive percentage, which leads to the deduction that he has issues making solid contact which is supported by his lifetime 73.5% contact percentage 7% below the league average. The contact problems this year in turn lead into his very high K% (27%), but he does make up for it a bit by posting an above average BB% (12%).

I would like to see the Mariners keep him around as a role player for 2010. He is a fun guy to watch and he plays the game hard. God forbid should something happen to any of our beloved out fielders he is a great candidate to fill-in while they would be away.