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Mariners Position Battle Update: First Base
Between Dae-Ho Lee, Jesus Montero, Stefen Romero, and Gaby Sanchez, who will win the job to platoon with Adam Lind in 2016?
The Mariners added a lot of depth during the offseason, especially at first base. There is a lot of competition in camp, and it will be interesting to see who separates himself in the battle to platoon with Adam Lind at first base.
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After trading Logan Morrison to Tampa Bay, that left Jesus Montero as the only option. As the winter rolled on, Jerry Dipoto added Adam Lind, Dae-Ho Lee, and Gaby Sanchez as options to play first base. Dipoto and Scott Servais are also adding Stefen Romero to that mix as well. With Lind already with a spot on the roster, who will be his platoon partner in 2016?
Lee was brought in from Japan and is the oldest of the bunch at 33 years old. We are familiar with Montero and Romero as they were once top prospects in the organization, but now are fighting for a spot at first base. Sanchez has 7 Major League seasons under his belt, and would bring a veteran presence to the club.
With Lind as the left-handed first basemen, set to play against righties, these are all right-handed bats who can hopefully mash lefties. Although power is traditionally what is looked for, Servais will be looking for defense in this platoon role. All of these guys can bring some power to the lineup, but none of them are necessarily awe-inspiring with the glove. It will be interesting to see how Servais goes about this competition, and who will be with the big club come opening day.
We will start this off by looking at Dae-Ho Lee, who has already shown some power this spring.
Next: Dae-Ho Lee has shown power this spring
Dae-Ho Lee
The Seattle Mariners signed the 33 year-old to a minor league deal during the offseason. Lee has already shown what he can do at the plate so far in Peoria, hitting .375 in 10 plate appearances. He has one homer, which he muscled over the berm in left field. He has struck out once and walked twice, and has also done a great job at first base.
The Korean native spent 15 seasons playing professionally overseas, spending 11 years playing in Korea and the last 4 in Japan. In 1,720 games, Lee posted a slash line of .303/.387/.514. He has plenty of power, as he slugged 323 career homeruns and drove in 1,157 runs. His best year came in 2010 when he put up a slash of .364/.444/.667 over 127 games, hitting 44 homeruns and driving in 133 runs for the Lotte Giants.
Lee is listed as 6’4″ and 286 pounds, but he supposedly has lost 45 pounds this winter and came to camp in great shape. He is never going to be threat on the base paths, as he had only 9 career stolen bases in his 15 seasons overseas. He will provide plenty of power wherever he ends up this year, and his defense is good enough to be a major league first baseman. It will be interesting to see how his numbers from Korea and Japan correlate to the pitching and playing styles in Major League Baseball.
Next: Can Montero bring more to his game in a platoon role?
Jesus Montero
We all know the story with Jesus Montero. This spring he hasn’t wowed anyone , hitting .294 while going 5-17 with a double and 2 RBI. He has played 19 innings at first base. Montero hasn’t made an error yet, but he also hasn’t done anything out of the ordinary. So far, I don’t think he has done enough to make this club.
Montero will be entering his age 26 season, and the one-time prospect has not lived up to the hype that surrounded him when he was acquired by Seattle. In his first few games with the Yankees in 2011, he showed some promise hitting .328 with 4 homeruns in 18 games. And in his first full season with Seattle in 2012 he hit put up a slash line of .260/.298/.386 with 15 home runs. Since his first full campaign, he has only played 73 games with the Mariners.
Despite his disappointing numbers so far in his career, the Venezuelan native has a career slash of .292/.341/.429 against left-handed pitching in 340 plate appearances. That would be formidable for a platoon player alongside Adam Lind. Although Montero isn’t the most athletic player, he does his job at first base and should provide decent production from the right side of the plate. I think Montero will have to really impress Servais and Dipoto this spring to be awarded a spot on the roster.
Next: Romero looks to continue his hot spring
Stefen Romero
Stefen Romero has played parts of the last two seasons in Seattle, but he has yet to find success in the big leagues. However, this could be the year as he has had a very impressive start to spring training. Through 7 games, Romero is hitting .571 with 8 hits in 14 at-bats. He has slugged 1 home run and has 2 doubles while also driving in 6 runs. In the early part of spring, Romero has certainly made himself noticed in the first base competition.
The Oregon State University product has played in 85 games over 2 major league seasons. He has produced a slash of .192/.241/.308 with 14 homeruns. Romero does have the tools to be a very good platoon player at first base. Over the past 3 seasons in Tacoma, he hit .296/.340/.503 with 40 homeruns and 189 RBI in 245 games. But his career splits against lefties aren’t great, with a slash line of .206/.245/.313.
The Tuscon, Arizona native may be the most athletic of the bunch at 6’2″ and 220 pounds. I’m not sure if he will win the platoon job, but the fact that he is very versatile and can play the outfield as well as some infield should make him valuable. With his athleticism and defense, if his early spring success continues into April, we very well could see Romero playing at first against lefties for the Mariners this year.
Next: Sanchez brings a veteran presence
Gaby Sanchez
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The addition of Gaby Sanchez caught me off guard but didn’t surprise me. It’s always good to have depth and competition in spring training at every position, and Sanchez brings just that. In 6 games this spring, Sanchez has 4 hits in 14 at-bats, hitting .286 with an RBI. Playing mostly DH, he has only played 10 innings at first base. Although he hasn’t been bad, he just really hasn’t impressed anyone.
Being brought in on a minor league deal, Sanchez has certainly had success at the big league level before. He is going into his age 32 season and has a career slash line of .254/.332/.413 with 61 homeruns. His best year came in 2010 when he placed fourth in Rookie of the Year voting with a slash of .273/.341/.448 with 19 homeruns and 85 RBI in 151 games. He was an NL All-Star the following year, but since then he has yet to hit over .254.
Next: Mariners Position Battle Update: Utility Infielder
The Miami, Florida native is on the downward slope of his career but could still provide depth to an organization. I think that will be his role with the Mariners in 2016. He will most likely start the year in AAA and will be called upon if the Mariners need him later on down the road. He is a viable option to have in camp, but come the start of the season, he doesn’t have a great chance to crack the roster.