The Rising Mariners Star That Faded Fast: Kyle Lewis

The Seattle Mariners are one of the luckiest franchises in Major League Baseball today because they have one of the most talented star center fielders in the game in Julio Rodríguez. He was a highly touted prospect who came to the big leagues, won the Rookie of the Year award, and has had some great moments throughout his young career.

However, there is another Rookie of the Year who played like a star for a short time before winding up gone.

When Kyle Lewis blew up in Seattle

Kyle Lewis was one of the most exciting players in all of baseball during a dark time in 2020, when the world was in an uncertain state due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He was a flashy, fun, and joyful player to watch, even as there were no fans in the stands.

Lewis was a big, tall, and athletic center fielder who patrolled the outfield of T-Mobile Park with grace and power. Most center fielders are not 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, but Lewis was a big strong athlete out there who could make big plays.

Watching highlights of Lewis now, he looks an awful lot like Rodríguez, who is almost the exact same height and weight. Watching two big strong athletes in the outfield next to each other would have been a sight to see. The "No Fly Zone" that Rodriguez patrols in center field could have been two thirds of the outfield with Lewis playing plus defense next to him.

Unfortunately, injuries derailed the career of Lewis, causing him to currently be out of baseball.

Coming out of Mercer University, the Mariners were thrilled to pick Kyle Lewis with the 11th overall selection in the 2016 draft. He looked poised to be a true five-tool center fielder before his first major injury in July of his draft year, when he tore up his knee on a colision sliding into home plate in a game up with the Everett AquaSox.

That would keep Lewis from looking like a top prospect in the minors until he reached the big leagues at the end of the 2019 season. Then, for the shortened 2020 season, Lewis started with the Mariners as their every day center fielder and had one of the best months in the team's recent memory.

In Lewis' first 31 games of the year, he hit .357/.440/.557 with seven home runs. This was much better than his second half, where he only hit .143/.269/.286 with only four home runs. His first half carried him to the American League Rookie of the Year award anyway, as runner-up Luis Robert had an even worse second half after having a similar hot start to the season.

After 2020, Lewis injured his knee again early in the 2021 season and was ultimately limited to 36 games. That injury was the beginning of the end, because after that he only played in 18 big league games trying to come back from injury in 2022. Then in 2023 he was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks and barely played that year as well. He did not play in 2024 and does not look to be playing in 2025 again either.

It is truly unfortunate what happened to Lewis because he was such a fun player to watch. He had so many of the traits of a player who is a star in baseball today. He had high energy, a big smile, sweet swag, and was making highlight plays and hitting big home runs.

If he would have been able to stay healthy, maybe the Mariners make more than one playoff appearance over the last four years. And for 2025, he might be playing elite outfield defense next to Rodríguez, giving Seattle an elite outfield duo.