Mariners Slugger Cano Continues Spring Hot Streak

One of the Mariners top sluggers, Robinson Cano, was beginning to heat up in spring training before he took off to join Team Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. He continued to improve in the WBC, especially in the second round. In his first game back after the WBC, it seems that Cano is still heating up. So, does this mean that Cano will continue to get better and better as the season begins in about two weeks?

In the three spring games before Cano went off to play for his country in the WBC, he was batting .500 with a double, four walks drawn, and no strikeouts. In his first two spring games, he went 0-3 with one strikeout and three walks drawn.

In the first round of the WBC, he struggled to hit his stride in the more competitive games batting .091. with a strikeout, but added three more walks to keep his OBP up. By the second round, he appeared to regain his form batting .556 with a home run, three RBIs, three walks drawn, and one strikeout.

Unfortunately for Cano, who was very energized for this year’s WBC, Team DR didn’t advance to the next round meaning Cano would return to Mariners spring camp for the final 10 games before Opening Day.

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Cano picked up right where he left off in spring ball. In last night’s game versus the Oakland Athletics, Cano did all he could to give the M’s a fighting chance. The M’s would lose, though, 8-5.

He equaled his total spring numbers in this game with a double and three RBIs. He also added a walk drawn and batted 2-3 bringing his overall spring batting average to .333 and his spring hit streak to four games. Another walk drawn brought his OBP to an impressive .565.

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With the regular season opener less than two weeks away, Mariners fans will hope that he can keep this type of play or at least stay near those batting figures in the 2017 season.

An OBP near .500 would be outrageous, but Cano has had an OBP above .380 in three seasons including his first year in Seattle back in 2014. As for a .333 batting average, Cano has had an above-.300  average in eight seasons including six straight from 2009-2014 and had a career-high average of .342 back in 2006.

The Mariners will need Cano to reach or be near both of those career-high numbers to bring home Leonys Martin, Jarrod Dyson, and Jean Segura, who will likely be on base often ahead of Cano hitting in the 9th, 1st and 2nd spots respectively.

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So far, so good for one of the Mariners top hitters. All he has to do now is keep up these numbers and he will have done his part to help ensure the Mariners have a shot at a playoff spot come October.