PEORIA, Ariz. — In Friday’s spring training opener, we got the full Michael Arroyo experience for the Seattle Mariners.

Arroyo, not known as a great defender, misplayed a ball at second base, but he also made up for it by rocketing two balls at the plate. One of them was a two-run homer that helped the Mariners to a win over the San Diego Padres.

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On Sunday, it was more of the same. Arroyo booted a simple ground ball and made a very poor throw to first base before getting saved by Josh Naylor. And while he didn’t get a hit, he did hit two rockets for outs against the Cincinnati Reds, including a line drive to left field and a hard ground ball to shortstop.

But, as we noted on the ‘Refuse to Lose‘ podcast on Monday, Arroyo is clearly facing a certain reality. He can’t contribute to this team without improving his defensive ability.

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“The scouting report on Michael Arroyo is as the scouting report has been. He hits well, and the defense is, I would say, not only a question mark, but so far through what I saw last year at spring training, and through what I’ve seen this year, it looks like a potential liability. I’m not going to crush a 21-year-old who’s only barely had a cup of coffee in AA. I’m not going to crush a 21-year-old and say that he can’t get any better. He can. Michael Arroyo can improve. But if he’s going to make a meaningful contribution to this team and to this organization, he’s going to have to improve defensively. Michael Arroyo’s bat is always going to be his calling card. But you cannot be a liability in the field. And those are the questions that we have about Michael Arroyo moving forward.”

Arroyo is going to play in the World Baseball Classic for Colombia, which is probably part of the reason why Seattle is playing him at second base right now. Speaking earlier this week, manager Dan Wilson said they’d move him around and give him reps in the outfield and third base. That should happen after he returns from the WBC.

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That’s all well and good, but simply, he can’t play in the big leagues until he can perform at a satisfactory level in any spot. At some point, a player’s bat is not so good that it completely outweighs defensive issues.

And it’s not even like Arroyo can stake his claim to designated hitter. Lazaro Montes is likely in that spot in the future, making the need for Arroyo to figure out a position even greater.

If it were only based on offense, Arroyo could be up in a meaningful way in 2026. But if he can’t find a defensive home, he can’t.

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The Mariners will play the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday afternoon. Arroyo is not expected to be in the lineup.

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