Mariners Jersey Choice: Kyle Lewis, Jarred Kelenic, or Julio Rodriguez

A Seattle Mariners Kyle Lewis Jersey

Luckily for all of us, not only was Kyle Lewis able to come back from what was a worrisome knee injury, but he was able to do so with grace and an impact. After struggling a bit during his limited time as a call-up in 2019, mostly with his eye, striking out in 41% of his bats and only walking in 4% of his appearances, he stepped up in a major way.

Still years away from his prime, Kyle Lewis was just 24 but showed incredible improvement at the plate. Yes, he still strikes out a lot and his average dropped. When you are hitting bombs and walking a ton, it’s a fantastic tradeoff. Having an OBP 100+ points higher than your average puts you in darn good company… and Lewis is there.

Oh, there was one little thing I forgot to mention. It’s not a big deal or anything, but the Seattle Mariners first-round pick actually won an award this year.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR!

Yeah, Kyle Lewis won one of the top awards in baseball, and he did it across nearly every outlet. Baseball reference gives him a 0.0 on defense, but you could argue he is playing out of position in center field and will improve when he moves to left. He crushed it on offense though, with a 1.8 WAR. He even played well enough to finish 17th in MVP voting.

If you want to take Lewis as your jersey choice, I couldn’t fault you. It might help that he reminds some of The Kid. His smile. The apparent genuine love of the game. Then, the moment last year when he snagged a ball and ran back towards the infield with his glove in the air. 24 years old, reminds us of 24. Doesn’t seem like a bad choice at all for a jersey. Personally, he wouldn’t be my choice, but I wouldn’t fault you for it.