Mariners Analysis: Is it Time For Dae-ho Lee to Play Everyday?

Dae-ho Lee has been excellent this year, and it may be time to give him the Mariners everyday job at first base.

The Seattle Mariners have not had a whole lot of recent success at first base. From Justin Smoak to Casey Kotchman, we have been underwhelmed by their offensive performance.

This year has been different. After bringing in Adam Lind from Milwaukee and signing Dae-ho Lee out of Korea, it was hard to predict just how this would play out.

So far, Lind hasn’t been terrible, but then again, he also hasn’t been great. He’s hitting .245 with 7 homeruns and 24 RBI in 155 at-bats. He has performed better than previous first basemen, but that isn’t necessarily the output you want from the first baseman of a playoff contender.

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Shift focus to Lee and you will be surprised at how well he has performed. In only 103 at-bats, Lee is batting .301 with 10 homeruns and 24 RBI. He also has an OPS of .932, which would rank 12th in baseball between Robinson Cano and Yoenis Cespedes if Lee had enough at-bats to qualify.

In a recent article here on SoDo Mojo, a reader commented and said it may be a good idea to give Lee the starting job for a few weeks. I read his comment and I agree; I think it’s time to give Dae-ho Lee a shot.

Lee has quickly become a fan favorite in Seattle for his loveable personality and success with the bat. After a big 2 HR, 4 RBI night for him last night, it is time for Dae-Ho Lee to play everyday.

According to FanGraphs, Adam Lind has produced a -0.2 WAR this season; obviously not what you want to see. Lee, in just about 2/3 of the at-bats as Lind, has produced a 1.0 WAR. Lee also has nearly twice the wRC+, 154, as Lind, 86.

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Even defensively, Lee has been above and beyond the better player. Lee has 0 errors with 188 putouts and 13 assists. Lind has committed 3 errors with 301 putouts and 21 assists. Although Lee has a smaller sample size, he has shown he is fully capable of holding down first base.

In terms of UZR, Lind has produced a -0.4 while Lee has surprisingly put up a UZR of 2.0. Despite playing slightly fewer games than Lind, Dae-ho Lee has been more productive.

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Now, it is entirely possible that Lee’s numbers drop a bit once he gets consistent playing time. But even if that happens, we’re not any worse off than we are now. Give Dae-ho Lee the starting 1B job, it could pay off big time.