Could Mike Ford be the Mariners short-term answer at DH in 2023?

Plenty of Mariners fans are excited about seeing Mike Ford on the team. He was raking in AAA this year, and a lot of us were wondering if he would be able to turn that corner and get away from being a AAAA player. Someone who would dominate AAA, but couldn't get it done in the majors.

Early results were promising. By that, I mean very early. He went 1-3 in his first game, before going hitless in the next three. Then the excitement came, as he would go 5-12 over his next four games with four homers. He hit some big-time blasts against the Angels and Marlins, including a two-homer game in a 9-3 win over Miami.

Since then, he's gone 0-8, dropping his season slash line to .200/.250/.600. You may have noticed how rare it is that he puts the ball in play for a hit as well. He's gone 6-30 so far on the Mariners, with four of those hits going for homers. If he can keep up a pace like that, then it's worth dealing with for the potential for instant offense.

However, 3 of his 4 homers have been solo bombs as well, so he hasn't done a ton to help the Mariners offense. The 12 Ks in 30 ABs doesn't help either, as a 40% K rate isn't acceptable. Yeah, yeah, I know it seems to fit right in line with a handful of the Mariners other hitters, but we don't need another bat like that in the lineup.

I think it would be a lot of fun to see him succeed with the Mariners. He's the latest in the line of big-boy sluggers to man either first of DH for the Mariners, and it would be a boon for this team to see him fall into the range of .235-.250 for an average, swatting a homer a week. Something is bound to change, as a HR rate and K rate that high aren't sustainable, but neither is a .143 BABIP. As the end of June approaches, let's all hope that Ford can pick it up. Otherwise, the Mariners may have to keep looking for an answer at DH.