Mariners plan for top prospect Michael Arroyo comes into focus with a twist

This has been a pretty solid year for Michael Arroyo. As the organization's No. 3 prospect, he has largely met expectations in his age-21 season. After posting a 125 wRC+ in Double-A Arkansas, he was promoted in early July along with fellow top prospect Lazaro Montes. Across 187 plate appearances, he has posted a modest 103 wRC+ but his .817 OPS is nearly identical to the .820 OPS he reached in Double-A.

His numbers are good enough for the Mariners to reportedly be considering promoting him for the final stretch of the season. But even if the team could use his help, it seems crowded as is. To complicate the situation further, he has spent this year playing second base and left field, the two strongest positions on the team right now thanks to the efforts of Cole Young and Randy Arozarena. Luckily, it seems like the Mariners know just where to put him.

Michael Arroyo could offer the Mariners considerable positional flexibility if he gets called up

For much of his early career, Arroyo was primarily a shortstop with the occasional stint at second base. However, as Seattle began to invest more into their middle infield core of Cole Young and Colt Emerson, it seemed redundant to have a top prospect limited to being a depth piece. As a result, he has spent more than half his time at left field this year.

This week, it seems like he has also started to get some work at first base. It's a position he has never played professionally.

One could make the argument that if the Mariners want someone who can fill a variety of positions, they could simply recall Leo Rivas who has played nearly every position in the major leagues. However, Rivas doesn't seem to possess the same hitting upside as Arroyo, a key differentiating factor.

Arroyo isn't necessarily a power hitter, but his aggression and contact skills have allowed him to create quite a few opportunities at the plate this year. He's one of the most aggressive hitters in Triple-A, swinging at 54.8% of pitches. Of course, this naturally means that he's chasing at an above-average rate, but his whiff rate of 22.2% is in the 72nd percentile of Triple-A hitters. Although he can't quite match top slugging prospects like Montes in homer capabilities, his home run per fly ball rate has been slightly higher in Triple-A (14.0%) than it was in Double-A (12.2%).

With Colt Emerson on the injured list, there's a chance that Arroyo could return to his natural position of shortstop if the team keeps J.P. Crawford at third base and feels that Brock Rodden isn't able to get the job done. It's unclear where he'll call home if he is brought up to the big leagues, but his versatility should give the Mariners several viable options.

Seattle has just over a month to get back on track and it seems that the front office is choosing to rely on the young prospect talent it has been so adamant about retaining. Kade Anderson was the most recent prospect to be added to the squad — could Michael Arroyo be next?

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