The Mariners announced Friday that they’ve reinstated right fielder Mitch Haniger from the Covid-related injured list and designated righty Matt Koch for assignment in order to open a spot on the active and 40-man rosters.
Haniger, who paced the Mariners with 39 home runs in 2021, was out to a slow start in eight games before he tested positive for Covid-19 on April 16. Haniger missed nearly two weeks’ time and 11 games, and earlier this week told reporters that he was still not quite back up to 100% (Twitter link via Daniel Kramer of MLB.com). He’s apparently back in playing shape now and will return to the lineup and look to improve upon the .176/.200/.471 slash he posted through his first 35 trips to the plate.
The return of Haniger will only deepen a Mariners lineup that has been among the most productive collective units in Major League Baseball so far. The M’s rank eighth in the Majors with 88 runs scored and have the game’s third-best wRC+ at 123, indicating their lineup has been 23% better than average on the whole. Seattle hitters currently lead the Majors with an 11.1% walk rate, and they’re seven in home runs even without Haniger’s powerful bat. He’ll slot back into the outfield/designated hitter mix and ought to jump right back into the heart of the batting order.
Koch, 31, appeared in four games with Seattle and pitched 4 1/3 innings. He allowed four runs on five hits (two homers) and a walk, striking out three hitters along the way. Koch has appeared in parts of five big league seasons, all coming with the D-backs prior to his Mariners debut this season. He was a serviceable arm out of the Arizona bullpen from 2016-18, pitching to a 4.04 ERA — albeit a mark that was not supported by the underlying metrics. Koch’s 13.9% strikeout rate and 1.72 HR/9 mark during that time were both considerably worse than the league average.
The Mariners will have a week to trade Koch, place him on outright waivers or release him.
Kelenic going to need more time in the minors? Any Mariner fan insights welcome. Hope the kid can sort it out.
Honestly, it’s reaching that point for me. His September was fantastic, but it hasn’t carried over to this season. Too many holes in his swing and too high of a K rate. When he makes contact, it’s often good contact, but he simply isn’t making enough.
I’ve said this ad nauseum. Send him down until rosters expand so he can figure out his stance/approach and have some success. Letting him flail away at the ML level doesn’t accomplish much and could hurt
With who? Trammell is on the IL, Souza isn’t impressing, and Hamilton can’t hit AAA pitching.
They absolutely should have done more in the offseason to be prepared for this, but they’re kind of stuck until another team us open to a trade.
Won’t happen until both Haniger and Lewis are on the roster. Until then I think we ride him out. I don’t see another option.
Yeah, at this point you have to give at bats to either Kelenic or Dylan Moore/Donovan Walton. Don’t see them doing anything until Lewis is healthy. AAA options Stuart Fairchild and the injured Taylor Trammell aren’t going to do it either.
He tries too hard. He has this scowl on his face like he is going to kill someone. Jaw is tight and I imagine he is holding the bat with a grip that could break the bat. Almost every K he yells a profanity. That was something he got away from last year. He needs to lighten up and relax. He isn’t going to win every game for us. Needs to have fun. I agree they need to send him down maybe have Griffey or Ichiro spend a few weeks with him in Tacoma.
compassrose, reading that reminded me of a guy the M’s once had named Brad Wilkerson, who had the greatest scowl but never got it going with the bat.
Well, nobody ever said it was easy at The Show.
Most of the commenters here are phonies or wannabes who bandy numbers around in some strange new stat category.
Some make it, some don’t. Period.
(just the right hitting instructor still might help Kelenic)
Step 1 was getting Haniger back.
Now they can concentrate on trying to fix whatever is wrong with Kelenic and getting Julio to establish whether or not he is really ready to live up to all his first impressions.
I think Kelenic needs just the right hitting coach to help him adjust.
And Julio may really be too big and heavy to keep going at CF.
Julio looks like a legit centerfielder and has the fifth fastest sprint speed in the league. I don’t see anything that says he is too big for CF
BuddyBoy, it may be that I have formed the wrong impression about Julio.
I have not actually seen him in a game and I have not found out how much he weighs. Huge upper legs, it appeared to me. Not a typical CF.
I would gladly admit being wrong. I like his cheerful (some say boastful) attitude. He enjoys the game.
BuddyBoy, after thinking about this, I did some searching online and I find that the size issue for Julio had been talked about previously and I missed it.
So now I find that he is about 6′ 4″ and 230 pounds.
I will say it again, I don’t think a guy that size will be a fielder in MLB for very long.
That’s more the size of a power fullback in the NFL.
Too tall. Too heavy.
Julio plays center as well or better than any current options, Kyle Lewis, if healthy can play better. But his body is ailing and might be better of in the corners
Adjusting to hitting curve/slider is Julios issue. Same for Kelnic, though Julio can hit fast balls
Julios speed on bases is elite, he just needs to get on base more.
Good start by M’s but they need to continue to win consistently
mws2010, Kelenic waves at a lot of high fast balls.
He’ll probably see a lot of those from now on.
True, Julio has been hitting the fast balls, but the pitchers are finding new angles and speeds all the time.
The sliders are his nemesis.
I’m eager to see how Julio does today against the crafty Marlins right hander Hernandez.