5 comps for Mariners OF Jonatan Clase

Since the start of the 2021 season, Jonatan Clase has been one of my favorite Mariners players in the system. There's just something exciting about uber-fast players. Guys who are a danger to move up a base no matter where they are, whenever a ball is in play. Clase is 100% that guy.

Just look through his stops throughout Summer League, Complex Ball, and the Minors. In just 221 games, he already has 130 steals. He's not slowing down as he moves up in levels either, swiping 28 bags on 32 attempts through 37 games this year.

If it was just speed, that would be exciting enough. Someone who can play some high-level defense in the outfield for the Mariners, even potentially supplanting Julio in center at some point because of his speed and range. The arm might need to get a bit stronger, but he's been making strides there as well.

However, he is more than just a speed guy.

After putting in a TON of work, Clase has taught himself how to switch-hit in order to be a more complete and dangerous weapon at the plate. Across A ball and AA in 2023, he is hitting .287/.395/.574 as a lefty and .310/.412/.738 as a righty. If you noticed, those SLG numbers are high. That's cause Clase has also developed a decent amount of power. He has 12 doubles, 3 triples, and 11 homers already this year, in just those earlier mentioned 37 games.

Now, we finally get to the point of today's article. Who are some possible comps for Clase? I'll keep it relatively recent. It's fine sometimes to go back and compare to a guy from way back in the day, but it's a bit more fun when it's a more relatable and better-known name. Let's get to it, moving up the ladder from the relatively low-end comparison to the possible ceiling for Jonatan Clase.

Rajai Davis - 62 HR, 415 SB, .262/.311/.379. 11.8 WAR
Delino DeShields - 80 HR, 463 SB, .268/.352/.377. 24.4 WAR

Delino DeShields was still a dang good player. There is no doubting that. My point here is that I wanted to look at a couple of guys who had long careers, still hit a handful of homers, but were a threat on the bases for a long time.

Rajai Davis played for 14 years as a part of 8 teams, appearing in 1450 games. He was never the best player on his team, was rarely even the best outfielder, but was always a good guy to have. He was going to be a threat to steal whenever he got on, could pinch run, and was a nice addition to the bottom of any lineup. We all want more than that, but having Clase as a 3rd/4th outfielder with legit speed for 15 years would be nice. But I want more.

That's how we get to DeShields. 5 seasons with a WAR of 3.0 or higher. Almost as many triples as homers. Averaged 44 steals over his first 8 seasons. Someone who is going to spend their 20s as a problem on the basepaths. If steals really are back, and that's what it looks like, Clase could be the guy who starts swiping 40-50 bags a season.

Shane Victorino - 108 HR, 231 SB. .275/.340/.425. 31.5 WAR. 4 GG

Victorino's career numbers might seem low to you. I know they did to me. He got a late start, never really making an impact or getting a chance until his age-26 season. Once he did, things were amazing. He would hit .279/.344/.438 over his first 7 seasons, tallying 211 steals and 97 homers. He received MVP votes in 3 seasons, made an All-Star team, and won four gold gloves. An average WAR of 4.1 is pretty impressive as well.

The reason I went with Victorino is that I think we could see something like that from Clase, but possibly starting sooner in his career. 12 homers a season and 30-35 steals for around 10-12 seasons? Yeah, sign me up for that. That would put him around 150 homers and 400 steals. Similar to what we talked about with DeShields above, but with better power.

This is still asking for a really good player to get Victorino for a decade. Clase literally just turned 21 though, and is already playing well in AA. Could he see the majors by 23? It seems like that is the path that he is on, so why not? What happens if the speed sticks and he has more power, though? Well, that's where we go to next.

Johnny Damon - 235 HR, 408 SB, .284/.352/.433. 56.3 WAR

Obviously, predicting that anyone is going to have a 56 career WAR is a big ask, but that's why it's just a comp. Clase has legit next-level speed, switch-hits, and is turning into a good defender. If he can walk as well, that's going to make a big impact. It's part of the reason Damon was so good for so long.

Throughout his career, Damon rarely struck out, while walking at a solid clip. In fact, Damon held a K rate of 10.8% across his first 14 seasons, eclipsing 12% just four times. His career high of 15.1% was in his age-35 season, which is still a great number.

Damon would hit .256 during his lone season in Oakland at age 27. Other than that, he hit above .270 in every season from age 21 (rookie) through age 36. From 23 to 36, Damon would hit .289/.359/.440. That's incredible. A hitter these days would likely have a lower BA, but a similar OBP/SLG, but I would still take that all day.

One of the other impressive stats with Damon is how he held his speed throughout his career. He stole above 30 bases only 4 times, and above 36 just once. However, he was 29/37 at age-34, and 19/25 at age 37. If you tell me that you are going to have an outfielder into their mid/late 30s that can provide double digit steals at an efficient clip, all the while still hitting well, I'd be all for it. Let's just hope that Clase's arm holds up better than Damon's did.

Kenny Lofton - 130 HR, 622 SB, .299/.372/.423. 68.4 WAR. 6 AS, 4 GG

I think this is what I want. Not just because Lofton had an incredible career, one that borders on being Hall of Fame worthy, but because he was also so exciting. Everyone wants another Griffey, but if we could get Kenny Lofton out of Jonatan Clase, I'd be ecstatic.

Loften provided power in the low-teens, hitting double-digit homers seven different times throughout his career. It was the speed that made him amazing though, as he had nearly as many triples (116) as homers (130). That played on the base paths as well, as Lofton would lead the league in steals for 5 straight seasons, accumulating 325 bags over that time frame.

Like Damon, Lofton didn't strike out much. Toss out his rookie year in Houston, and he had a career rate of just 10.9%, remaining incredibly consistent throughout his career. His walks (945) were nearly the same as his Ks (1016), giving him a lot of opportunities to swipe second... or third.

A great hitter as well, Lofton was nearly a career 300 hitter (needed 8 more hits over his career). It wasn't just the bat though, as Lofton was a force on defense as well. It was hard to win Gold Gloves in the 90s, but Lofton still managed to get four of his own. When it was said and done, Lofton finished with a career dWAR of 15.5, although 15 of that was his age 25 through 34 seasons.

Maybe I'm way off. Maybe Clase has 20-25 HR power, and he ends up being Bobby Bonds, hitting 332 HR and swiping 461 bags, joining the rare 300/300 club. Maybe the power takes a larger precedent in his career instead of speed, and he ends up like Carlos Beltran with 435 HR and 312 SB. I don't think those happen, but you never know.

If I had to put my money on it, I'd say he has something in-between Victorino and Damon. A longer career than Victorino, but not as long/impactful as Damon. A great player, combining for 450+ HR/SB. He just turned 21, so he has a lot of baseball out in front of him, and is likely a ways away from even making the majors... although his stock is climbing. Regardless, I'm excited for Jonatan Clase, and cannot wait to see what he does in his career.