3 Seattle Mariners Players that Beat 2020 Expectations

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SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 17: Dylan Moore of the Seattle Mariners looks on. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

Seattle Mariners players that beat 2020 expectations

The Seattle Mariners finished third in the AL West, but there were a few players that beat 2020 expectations. These players made a big leap and almost helped the Mariners make the playoffs in the final stretch of the regular season. Let’s meet the first player….

No. 1: Dylan Moore

Dylan Moore made his MLB debut with the Seattle Mariners in 2019, and he was nothing more than a role player. Moore played every single position except catcher in 2019, which is very reminiscent of former Mariners utility player Willie Bloomquist. But his offensive numbers were lacking and if it weren’t for his defensive versatility, he would not have been playing.

In 2019, he batted .206, slugged .389, hit 9 home runs, and stole 11 bases. His offensive WAR was just 0.1. Moore’s barrel percentage was just 6.5%, and his strikeout rate was 33% which is very high for a non-power hitter. Lastly, his hard-hit % was not all that impressive sitting at 36.1%

With his 2019 stat line, expectations were set low for Moore who was a 7th round pick in 2015 by the Texas Rangers. I was expecting him to have another typical utility player season: helpful on defense but useless on offense. But, he proved everyone wrong in 2020.

He was able to increase his offensive WAR to 1.4 this past season. He finished with a .255 average (49 points higher than 2019) and increased his slugging percentage to .496 (107 points higher).

Dylan also led the team in stolen bases and it wasn’t even close. J.P. Crawford had the second most, but Moore doubled Crawford’s six steals. What is even more impressive is that Moore only played 38 games, but he was still able to produce a good amount in terms of power and base running.

Moore hit 8 home runs and 9 doubles. He might have changed his approach in 2020 because his exit velocity jumped up to 90.4mph (2019: 88.4mph), and his hard-hit percentage increased to 44.7%. He still struck out at a high rate but dropped it down to 27%.

There was a lot to like about Moore in 2020, and he is such a well-rounded baseball player. Runs the bases hard, is scrappy, tough, and is willing to play anywhere on the field. I don’t think Moore was supposed to be a part of the young Seattle Mariners core, but he might have just proved to Jerry Dipoto that he is worth keeping around. Secondly, let’s highlight the performance of our No. 1 option in the pen….

SEATTLE, WA – AUGUST 23: Yohan Ramirez of the Seattle Mariners jogs on the field before a game. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images) /

No. 2: Yohan Ramirez

Yohan Ramirez was the only good Mariners bullpen pitcher this season. The Seattle bullpen was one of the worst in the league, and Ramirez was the lone bright spot. Expectations were pretty low for Ramirez who was a Rule 5 Draft selection in 2019. To be honest, I did not even know who he was until the season started.

When he was with the Astros, his minor league numbers were average. In 2019, he posted a decent 3.99 ERA where he started 15 games and made 12 relief appearances. His K/9 rate was at an amazing 13.4 but his BB/9 was 6.3.

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When the Mariners organization acquired him they knew he had an electric fastball with the potential of becoming a solid reliever. But the question was whether he would be able to find the strike zone more often. And in 2020, Ramirez managed to work around his control issues and deliver a 2.61 ERA. He struck out 26 batters in 20.2 innings as well.

I don’t think Jerry Dipoto or Scott Servais expected the 25-year-old to be as dominant as he was. Hitters had a tough time getting hits off of him. In 2020, he only allowed 9 hits. When looking at some of the advanced metrics, batters’ average exit velocity off of Ramirez ranked in the 81st percentile of the MLB (the higher the better).

His allowed hard-hit percentage was in the 89th percentile. And Yohan’s whiff percentage was in the 73rd percentile. These are all awesome numbers and he definitely blew the expectations out of the water.

I think what was even more surprising was how effective his slider was. Jerry Dipoto knew of his upper 90s fastball, but his slider was the most effective pitch for him in 2020. Hitters hit .031 against his slider. It generated a 42.9 whiff rate.

The best chance hitters had against Ramirez was walking and it will be interesting to see if he can take another step forward and limit his walks in 2021. Yohan was a surprise performance in 2020 and even entered his name into the future closer conversations. Now, onto the third and final breakout player…

Justus Sheffield

Justus Sheffield was another player that outperformed expectations. Sheffield had not found success in the big leagues yet, and many including myself were concerned with whether he can be a starting pitcher. I had the feeling that he would be moved to the bullpen after watching him pitch in 2019.

In 2019, he started 7 games and posted a 5.50 ERA. The highly-touted prospect gave up a lot of hits and walks in his first season with the Mariners. The former 1st round pick in 2014 had some clear adjustments to make for 2020. Going into 2020, I kept my expectations low for Justus because he is still young, and trying to figure out the quirks.

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In his first start this year, he gave up four runs in three innings. He walked four batters and only struck out two. I immediately thought it was going to be another 2019 kind of season for Sheffield. But, he bounced back and became more consistent.

In the month of August, he posted a 3.95 ERA and struck out 27 batters in 27.1 innings. Pretty good right? Then in September and October, he posted a miraculous 2.16 ERA which even propelled him into the ROY voting conversation.

In all, he finished 2020 with a 3.58 ERA and 0.8 WAR. This was a much better stat line than I expected. Sheffield was able to decrease his BB% from 10.7% to 8.6% and opposing batters’ barrel % decreased from 5.5% to 3.7%. Sheffield also changed his repertoire and mindset in 2020 which worked out great for him.

Instead of trying to beat batters with his fastball, he became a crafty lefty instead. 2020 was a really good sign for all three of these Seattle Mariners players who outperformed expectations.

They all had a lot to prove as young players in the organization, and they stepped up in a big way. It will be exciting to see these three grow even further. Last but not least, a few honorable mentions…

Seattle Mariners Honorable Mentions

Marco Gonzales

Marco is on my honorable mention list because although he did pitch amazing, I think it was sort of expected for him to make a big leap in 2020. Marco posted a career-best 3.10 ERA and was the king of throwing strikes. Gonzales would have made his first All-Star game if there was one in 2020.

Justin Dunn

Justin Dunn made just four appearances in 2019, so 2020 was a big year for him. Considering that it was his first full season, Dunn pitched pretty well. He posted a 4.34 ERA in 10 starts and I think fans can say that they are impressed. I was expecting a 4.75 ERA in 2020, but he proved me wrong. In 2019, he had issues with walking batters and he clearly worked on it in 2020. Although he posted a bad 6.1 BB/9, that is much better than walking 9 batters in 6.2 innings as he did in 2019.

J.P. Crawford

J.P. Crawford also deserves recognition for his improvements. Like Marco, I think the expectation was that Crawford would make drastic improvements on defense and offense, and he did both. That is why he won a Gold Glove and batted .255. Crawford’s numbers show that he can be a solid top of the lineup, and turn singles into doubles by stealing second base.

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