An 'outside-the-box' way Seattle Mariners could alter lineup

The Seattle Mariners are slumping at a point in the season where it could cost a playoff berth if it goes on much longer.

Seattle has lost six of its past seven games and 15 of 21 entering Saturday. It’s gone from tied for first place in the American League West to 3 1/2 games back, and its lead for the final AL wild card berth is down to a half game.

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The Mariners appear to be in need of a shakeup, which could come in the form of changing the batting order.

Former M’s pitcher Charlie Furbush gave what he described as an “outside-the-box” way to try to spark the team when he joined Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob on Thursday. Furbush offered the idea of moving first baseman Josh Naylor to the leadoff spot in the order.

“You can still keep Cal, Julio (or) Julio, Cal (in the second and third spots) and then go right to (Eugenio Suárez),” Furbush said. “I think you bump Randy (Arozarena) back to the five spot, even the sixth spot depending on (Jorge) Polanco and how they’ll matchup (against the starting pitcher). I think it seems like the allure of Randy as the leadoff hitter has worn off a little bit.”

After acquiring Naylor and Suárez, the Mariners moved Arozarena into the leadoff spot July 31. But the left fielder has seen his numbers dip since moving to that role. Arozarena was hitting .249 with a .351 on-base percentage, .822 OPS and 135 wRC+ when he was moved into the top of the lineup. However, he’s batted just .203 with a .277 on-base percentage, .644 OPS and 86 wRC+ since.

If the M’s were to make the move Furbush suggested, it would be a completely new role for Naylor. The left-handed-hitting first baseman has never started a game as the leadoff hitter in 726 career contests at the big league level.

Naylor doesn’t have some of the traditional qualities of a leadoff hitter, but he makes up for them in somewhat unorthodox ways.

The 28 year old isn’t particularly patient at the plate, sporting a 37.3% chase rate that is in the seventh percentile of players, per Baseball Savant. Yet his ability to make contact and at the very least foul pitches off to extend at-bats has helped produce a strong .342 on-base percentage and about league average 8.3% walk rate this season.

Naylor also isn’t a fast runner, ranking second percentile in sprint speed. But he’s shown a propensity for swiping bags with a career-best 23 stolen bases this season, including 12 in 12 attempts over 35 games with Seattle.

“It’s just thinking outside the box of going, ‘OK, could you inject some sort of difference into the lineup where right out the gate you’re having to face a really tough hitter?’” Furbush said. “(It would) maybe give Geno some more chances with guys on base, and maybe he can start heating up. So that was the initial thought.”

Another option the Mariners could go with is last year’s leadoff hitter, Victor Robles. Robles was reinstated from a seven-game suspension Saturday. But the speedy right fielder has played just four games at the big league level since returning from a fracture and dislocation in his shoulder in early April.

“You haven’t had that much game time. And to get back into it after an injury, how the timing is from a hitting perspective, you just don’t know (how it will be) until you get those games under your belt,” Furbush said. “If they can strike gold with Robles getting hot right out the gate, then I think that’s a better option at the end of the day.

“But if you’re trying to think outside the box and saying, ‘alright, maybe we can protect Robles, get him a little bit more lower-leverage at-bats from the bottom of the lineup,’ then maybe we shift Naylor up there and see if we can inject something into the lineup.”

Tune in to Wyman and Bob weekdays from 3-7 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

An ‘outside-the-box’ way Seattle Mariners could alter lineup

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