Mariners 2022 Report Cards: Grading the season for Abraham Toro

HOUSTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 13: Abraham Toro #13 of the Seattle Mariners warms up prior to playing the Houston Astros in game two of the American League Division Series at Minute Maid Park on October 13, 2022 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 13: Abraham Toro #13 of the Seattle Mariners warms up prior to playing the Houston Astros in game two of the American League Division Series at Minute Maid Park on October 13, 2022 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)

Abraham Toro was a big name amongst GMs at the 2021 trade deadline. When news broke that the Mariners had acquired him mid-series from Houston, fans either scrambled to learn about him or were happy to hear it. Reportedly, plenty of other GMs immediately called Seattle to try and inquire about his availability to see if they could get him from the Mariners.

Heading into 2022, Toro had an offseason with the team, a bunch of time to work with the coaching staff, and would have a shot at proving that he belonged up in the bigs without anyone blocking his way. Unfortunately, things did not go well for Toro. Not at all.

Abraham Toro gets a D- for his 2022 season with the Mariners

There is only one saving grace to me with Abraham Toro. His BABIP was an insanely low .198, 95 points below the league average of .293. It stands to reason that if he had league-average luck, he would’ve hit much closer to last year’s level of .252. The bad BABIP makes a bit of sense when you see his average exit velo is 87.0 mph (1.3 mph below league average) and has a hard hit rate of 29.7% (9.3% below league average).

He’s a bit pull-happy as well, which makes for a bad combination for someone who doesn’t hit the ball hard and pulls it a lot. He finished with a .185/.239/.324 slash line, with 13 2B and 10 HR in 324 ABs. He was doing bad enough that he started getting sent down to the minors, and called up when injuries forced the Mariners hand.

He didn’t play well on defense, either. Many thought that a full offseason of work would turn him into a slightly above-average defender. Instead, he ended up just below average with a -0.1 dWAR. You cannot be a playoff team while fielding a below-average defender with an OPS+ of 63. That’s an awful combination.

2023 will be his age-26 season. If he’s a bit more comfortable at the plate and finds something closer to league-average luck, we could see a season pretty close to 100 OPS+ (league average). Until then, we might see Abraham Toro in the minor leagues instead based on his poor play in 2022.

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