3 Seattle Mariners players that missed all of 2020 that will be back in 2021

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JULY 24: Tom Murphy #2 of the Seattle Mariners looks on against the Texas Rangers in the eighth inning during their game at T-Mobile Park on July 24, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JULY 24: Tom Murphy #2 of the Seattle Mariners looks on against the Texas Rangers in the eighth inning during their game at T-Mobile Park on July 24, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
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Seattle Mariners Tom Murphy
ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA – AUGUST 19: Tom Murphy #2 of the Seattle Mariners is congratulated after hitting a three run home run in the first inning during a game at Tropicana Field on August 19, 2019 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Tom Murphy

Similar to Haniger, Tom Murphy will be a welcome sight in 2021 as he is a much better hitter against left-handed pitching than right and the Mariners were the worst hitting team against left-handed pitching last season.

Tom Murphy was a forgotten man last season due to Austin Nola’s success, but now that Nola is in San Diego Murphy will platoon with Luis Torrens according to Scott Servais. Murphy missed all of last season due to a broken foot that he suffered during Summer Camp but Servais said that Murphy will be ready for spring training.

In his first season with the Mariners, 2019, Murphy had a batting line of .273/.324/.535 adding up to an .858 OPS. He had 18 home runs in just 281 plate appearances and his power was unusual compared to his prior years with the Colorado Rockies.

The Mariners will hope that Murphy’s power in 2019 was not a fluke and will carry over into 2021, and they will also hope that Tom has worked on his hitting vs right-handed pitching as he had an OPS of .653 vs righties in 2019.

If Murphy can keep up his great hitting vs lefties and hit better vs righties while keeping the same power from 2019, he will be one of the best offensive catchers in the MLB.

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