Kyle Lewis Returns to Mariners Lineup: What Will His Role Be?

After months of rehabbing from a torn meniscus he suffered last May, Kyle Lewis will finally be returning to the Seattle Mariners lineup on Tuesday night against the Oakland Athletics.

In an effort to prevent further injury, Seattle Mariners outfielder Kyle Lewis will be limited to a full-time DH role upon his return to the team.

Between Abraham Toro and Luis Torrens, the two fringe players on the Mariners roster battling for playing time, neither has played nearly well enough to be granted consistent at-bats (either as a DH or by forcing a starter into the DH spot). While Toro’s six home runs have been a nice surprise, he’s only getting on base at a .237 clip. Torrens, who exhibited some exciting power in the second half of last season, hasn’t yet left the park and is slugging a putrid .203.

With Jesse Winker and Julio Rodriguez entrenched as everyday starters in the outfield, one would think Kyle Lewis could immediately take the regular right field spot; however, the Mariners are highly unlikely to take that route, and will be more inclined to utilize Dylan Moore’s glove in right or send Adam Frazier to the outfield on days where Abraham Toro starts. With that strategy in play, the M’s will be able to limit Lewis’s injury exposure in the outfield and slot him in as the regular DH.

Kyle Lewis played in 10 games with Triple-A Tacoma during his 20-day rehab assignment, and absolutely raked: he put together a .314/.415/.629 slash line (1.044 OPS) with three homers and 12 RBIs. Clearly, he’s too good to be left in Tacoma and continue rehabbing, and the Mariners are in desperate need of an offensive boost at DH.

Let the second coming of Kyle Lewis commence.