Without many early contributions from Hernández or Wong, Seattle’s position player group hasn’t been especially good. Public defensive metrics can be wildly variable in small samples, but it’s a discouraging start for the 32-year-old’s efforts to recapture his formerly excellent form with the glove. DRS has pegged Wong as an MLB-worst eight runs below average through 226 2/3 innings of second base work Statcast has him one run worse than expected. The early returns haven’t been promising, however. Wong attributed his defensive drop to playing through leg injuries, offering some hope he’d turn things around after an offseason of rest. His typically stellar defensive marks dropped off during his last season with the Brewers, as both Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast’s Outs Above Average gave him subpar grades in 2022. At his peak, he’s been a Gold Glove second baseman and a plus baserunner. He’s typically hit around a league average level, compensating for fringe power with plus contact skills. The lefty-hitting Wong has long been a quality, well-rounded regular. 262/.337/.439 showing he put together over two years in Milwaukee. The Mariners weren’t counting on Wong to be an impact bat but surely hoped for something approximating the solid. 171/.263/.186 slash through the end of April. He has played well through his first five games in May after carrying a. He’s yet to connect on a homer in 94 trips to the plate, posting a. Wong, meanwhile, has been one of the least effective hitters in the majors to this point. It’s the 23rd-highest rate among 204 hitters with 100+ plate appearances Hernández was closer to league average in that regard during his last few seasons in Toronto. He has pushed that too far to the extreme through his first few weeks in Seattle, though, as he’s chased nearly 40% of pitches outside the strike zone. He’s always been an aggressive hitter, one who’s willing to trade some walks for power impact. Selectivity has never been Hernández’s specialty. Yet his plate discipline has been rough thus far, resulting in a career-worst 3.2% walk rate and a massive 35.1% strikeout percentage. The middle-of-the-order form he’d shown for years in Toronto still looks to be there. He’s still barreling the ball up and making hard contact when he puts the ball in play. Hernández has popped seven home runs, putting him on a 27-homer pace over 600 plate appearances. This has been a far more significant drop-off than is solely attributable to park factors and Hernández is performing worse on the road than he is in Seattle. His raw slash stats always seemed likely to dip somewhat with the move from Rogers Centre to T-Mobile Park. 283/.333/.519 line he’d compiled between 2020-22 to pick up a pair of Silver Slugger awards and down-ballot MVP finishes. 215/.260/.396 batting line over 154 plate appearances. To this point, neither player has met Seattle’s expectations. Yet both trades were primarily about bolstering the lineup in 2023 while avoiding the longer-term downside associated with a multi-year free agent deal. Hernández, in particular, could eventually net the club a compensatory draft choice by rejecting a qualifying offer and signing elsewhere next offseason. Seattle took on a decent chunk of 2023 money to accommodate Hernández, who’d earn $14MM for his final season of arbitration eligibility (compared to the $1.25MM Swanson is making in his first of three arbitration years). Milwaukee had exercised a $10MM club option on Wong before trading him in what amounted to a roughly cash-neutral deal considering they took back Winker’s salary. Their two most notable transactions took place within the first few weeks of the offseason: reliever Erik Swanson and pitching prospect Adam Macko were shipped to Toronto for slugger Teoscar Hernández, while the M’s dealt Jesse Winker and Abraham Toro to the Brewers for second baseman Kolten Wong.īoth Hernández and Wong are in their final seasons before free agency. Instead, Seattle turned to trade to add to a lineup that had been a bit top-heavy in 2022. The Mariners mostly shied away from the free agent market on the heels of their drought-ending playoff berth.
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