Seattle Mariners: 3 Reasons Why Evan White’s Rookie Season was a Fluke

Evan White’s worst baseball for the Seattle Mariners is now behind him

Evan White began his 2020 on a high note. It was quite obvious to fans and the Seattle Mariners personnel alike that the first base spot was his to lose. White had historically cashed in before even stepping foot on a Major League diamond, signing a 6 year/$24M guaranteed deal, with club options for 2026, 2027, and 2028.

He entered the 2020 Spring Training at age 23, and essentially as the unquestioned first baseman for the Mariners. White saw success when seeing a majority of MLB-quality arms for the very first time.

When Spring Training was abruptly put on hold, White was 8-for-24 with three double and three RBI’s. That added up to a .829 OPS as well. It seemed as if the jump from Arkansas was not going to come with many growing pains for Evan White, as he also was flashing serious leather.

https://twitter.com/Mariners/status/1231681329634263040

Evan, however, struggled out of the gates. Like many players across the league, there simply were not enough games in 2020 for him to get settled in and turn his slow start around.

Overall, his rookie season was obviously less than ideal, but there was an abundance of factors that potentially led to White’s subpar numbers, beginning with a pandemic that wiped out nearly two-thirds of the standard schedule size.

Through the storm, White flashed plenty of reasons for optimism heading into his sophomore campaign. Here are three reasons why Evan White’s rookie season will be an outlier when his playing days are over.