Seattle Mariners: Just how good has Shed Long been?

While Kyle Lewis has filled practically all recent Mariners-related headlines, another young player has been dominating opposing pitching for the last two weeks as well.

Over the last 10 days, Shed Long has slashed .422/.458/.756 with three home runs, eight RBIs, four doubles, and one triple. Just 36 games into his Major League career, Long’s 0.9 fWAR ranks higher than Dylan Moore (110 games), Tim Beckham (88 games), Mallex Smith (129 games), Dee Gordon (112 games), and Domingo Santana (118 games).

All of the damage Long has done since September 11 has been from the leadoff spot atop the Mariners’ batting order. It’s a spot Long clearly feels comfortable in and it may just be the perfect situation for him given his above-average athleticism and power.

Overall, Long is on a 162-game pace for 23 home runs, 63 RBIs, 50 doubles, five triples, 14 stolen bases, and a 144:63 K/BB ratio. Right now, 50 doubles would put him tied for third overall in Major League Baseball with Rafael Devers, though the overall numbers are a bit more (but definitely not perfectly) comparable to the 2019 offensive seasons of Ozzie Albies and Jorge Polanco:

Now, this isn’t to say Long is going to be an All-Star caliber player in the next one-to-two years, but I’m also not not saying it either. Throughout his professional career in the minors, we have seen Long hit for a solid average while putting his above-average gap-to-gap power on full display, which he’s continued here at the MLB level.

Still, it’s a small sample size, as Long has yet to even shed (no pun intended… maybe) his prospect status, though that will change with his next recorded at-bat, which will put him at 130 on his career and officially graduate him from the prospect pool.

Right now, I think we’re finally seeing Long get comfortable. This season has been full of ups and downs for the 24-year-old, seeing him miss significant time with injuries and not get a whole lot of Major League opportunity due to the backlog of veterans Seattle had for the first half of the year. He was called up to the big league club just days after being activated from the Injured List and has played in nearly every September game for the Mariners. After struggling a bit to get back into the swing of things, Long has now seemingly hit his stride and will hopefully carry that momentum into 2020.

Certain aspects of his current 162-game pace are certainly achievable given his talent, but it’s more likely that he falls in the .260/.320/.470 range, which is still a really solid player in this league. I’ve always likened him to Rougned Odor, the 2015-16 version. While I don’t expect Long to ever break the 30-dinger threshold like Odor did in 2016 and beyond, I think Long could put up similar or better numbers (especially in the on-base department) while playing a serviceable second base.

Long’s defense, of course, will surely factor into how much he sees the starting lineup. To me, he’s looked passable in left field but hasn’t graded out well in his 87 innings there, so second base remains to be the most ideal spot for him. If the Mariners are able to trade Dee Gordon in the offseason, the door should be wide open for Long to take over the second base gig full time.

That’s where Long seems to be the most comfortable and should, in theory, thrive the most in. But even if Gordon stays, I feel fairly confident in saying that Long can survive at other positions to keep his bat in the lineup, or at least hit well enough to force the Mariners’ hand on a nightly basis.