3 signs for Mariners that Ben Williamson is not the answer at third base

It has been a little over one month since the Seattle Mariners promoted Ben Williamson from the minor leagues. That moment was deserving of significant fanfare, as Williamson was (and indeed still is) one of the organization's top prospects.

Initially, at least, the move looked like Seattle's saving grace at the hot corner. Nary a Mariners fan was surprised to see the 24-year-old Williamson make an instant impact with his glove, but his bat was a pleasant surprise. He hit .310 through his first 11 contests, challenging even Edgar Martinez for the best ever offensive start by a Mariners third baseman.

Cut to now, though, and Williamson is only hitting .234/.258/.309 with -0.2 rWAR. It is obvious just from those numbers that he's mired in a slump, and it has revealed three reasons why the Mariners should be having second thoughts about him as their starter at the hot corner.

Williamson's 1st Major Issue: His approach is easily exploitable

The Virginia native has taken 97 plate appearances, and these have thus far yielded three walks against 25 strikeouts. That is an atrocious walk-to-strikeout ratio, as it ranks among the bottom 10 of all hitters who have taken at least 90 trips to the plate.

This is what can happen when a hitter chases pitches outside the zone at a 38.2 percent clip. That is what Williamson is doing, and it puts him well above the league average of 27.9.

Opposing pitchers have clearly gotten the memo. Whereas they were perfectly willing to challenge Williamson with four-seam fastballs through his first 11 games, his rate of four-seamers has dropped from 33.3 to 27.0 percent since then.

Williamson's 2nd Major Issue: He doesn't make good contact

Williamson's exploitable approach is a big reason why he's hitting just .173 over his last 14 games, but it is not the only one. There is also the quality of his contact, or rather lack thereof.

Nobody expected Williamson to hit the ball hard in the majors, but his 87.4 mph average exit velocity is in the 18th percentile among all hitters and 22nd out of 32 third basemen with at least 90 plate appearances. He also hits more ground balls than the average third baseman at 47.8 percent.

It is therefore not a fluke that he only has one home run, though it is only fair to note that it's thanks to Daulton Varsho that he does not have two.

Another thing to say in fairness to Williamson is that there is something inexplicably pleasing about watching him dunk singles into shallow right field. But sans an occasional walk to help keep his OBP afloat, the aesthetics of that approach don't justify his overall production.

Williamson's 3rd Major Issue: His defense isn't rating well

Defense has always been Williamson's primary calling card, and he has definitely looked the part of a future Gold Glover at third base. He's shown an unusual knack for stopping hot smashes, and that one catch he made in Texas was unreal.

Williamson is nonetheless in the red with -1 Outs Above Average, which specifically rates him as below average at coming in on the ball and making plays to his right (i.e., toward the third base line).

He's clearly not lacking for range, but there have already been a couple instances (see here and here) where he's had playable balls clank off him. A major league third baseman has to make those plays, and he simply hasn't.

If Williamson isn't the answer, what can the Mariners do at third base?

As he doesn't have a better third base prospect breathing down his neck, Williamson should try to relax and do his best to work through the issues he's been having. And the Mariners should give him a little more time, as a 13-game slump isn't quite a five-alarm fire.

But if the Mariners do eventually have to reevaluate, they have more options besides just pulling off a Hail Mary trade for Rafael Devers.

Between Dylan Moore, Leo Rivas and Miles Mastrobuoni, they have the pieces to cover second and third base for the short-term if Williamson has to be sent down. It also feels like just a matter of time before the Mariners will have to give Cole Young a shot. Ranked by MLB Pipeline as the No. 43 prospect in MLB, the 21-year-old infielder has been tearing up the competition with Triple-A Tacoma.

The other option would be to restart the experiment with Jorge Polanco at the hot corner. But with him having not started at third base since April 4, that ship has likely sailed.