In his first season managing the Seattle Mariners, Eric Wedge was the face of patience as he played rookies at most every position and allowed game after game to be won – or lost – by youngsters.
Two weeks into spring training, 2012, Wedge has dropped a major change on his team – installing Chone Figgins as the Mariners leadoff hitter and making Ichiro Suzuki a No. 3 hitter in the lineup.
“It’s like going home again, emotionally and mentally. It was very emotional for me,” Figgins said.
His best seasons came with the Angels, when he was batting first, and Figgins said the transition to hitting second in Seattle didn’t go well – not because of where he was hitting, but because he got away from what he did best.
“I’m not a pure hitter. My style leading off? To make you work. To be a pain in the butt for the opposing pitcher from the first pitch of the game on,” Figgins said. ” I’m not a pure hitter, but I’ll give you hell every at-bat.”
At age 34, the 5-foot-8, 180-pound infielder is the likely opening day third baseman, a fact that many Seattle fans may balk at. A career .280 hitter, Figgins signed a four-year, $36 million deal before the 20011 season – and in two years has batted .236 as a Mariner.
Booed last year before he lost his job, then missed the final two months with a hip injury, Figgins may not get the benefit of the doubt from Mariners fans this year. Ichiro, a leadoff man for all but 13 games in 11 seasons, will now bat third.
It doesn’t seem a perfect fit, given Ichiro’s style – he is always among the league-leaders in infield hits. Wedge, however, thought a change at the top was required, and he’s clearly hoping to invigorate both Figgins and Ichiro.
If one or both stumble in their new roles, the new-look Seattle lineup is going to struggle yet again.
I don’t know about the opposing pitchers, but Figgins gave a lot of us hell every at-bat the past two years.
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Figgins’ career OBP is pretty good, .352 or so, only around 20 points lower than Ichiro’s. Both had abysmal OBP’s last year, of course. This is a last-ditch effort to squeeze some success out of Figgins, while giving Ichiro a chance to reinvent himself. I think the odds are not good that either will work. But, when is the last time the M’s had a real, successful #3 hitter? (They had a very good leadoff hitter for 2001-2009; scored over 100 runs each of those years, with good teams and bad.) Perhaps in a year or two Smoak or Ackley will be ready to be a legit #3. Meanwhile, this is an attempt to put some asphalt in a pothole until repaving time.
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So when Figgy is batting .240 at the all star break, will he quit being such a cry baby?
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I’m not crazy about the idea of just handing the lead-off spot to Figgins, and it could go from being slightly ridiculous to sublimely ridiculous if Figgins is struggling mightily and they keep running him out there throughout the summer. But if it works, it works. And if it doesn’t…yikes.
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Hard to buy the “I can’t hit second” spin, since he didn’t hit anywhere in the order.
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They were worried about him in Anaheim because the Angels actually have and had a lineup. Seattle, not so much. Jump up and down on your Smoak and Ackley soap box all you want. By the time they are actually ready for the majors, Figgins will be long gone.
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When they are actually ready for the majors… Interesting choice of words.. Anyway, moving on..
Figgins sounds elated to be hitting leadoff. Better than him being bummed out. Like it or not, he’s here for the time being. They’ll try him there, and it will work or it won’t. Then we’ll try something else. May as well just settle in for the ride, guys. Gals?
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Figgins’s “Going home”? Yeah, that’s my fondest wish as well. Go home and stay there. Or, you could try actually making it on base and then making it to home plate. I’ll give him two weeks. After that, if he’s not performing, bench him.
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I say give him a chance. If it takes that to get him excited, I’m all for the move. Figgins is here for a bit, so try and get SOMETHING from him. And he did get one thing right when he said “To be a pain in the butt for the opposing pitcher from the first pitch of the game on”. Cause if you look back….he was certainly that when he played for the Angels.
Who thinks that if he starts out well, and goes on a tear, that the Mariners trade him mid season? Always a possibility…….
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New definition of insanity:
Having Chone Figgins in the starting lineup.
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I am not really expecting too much but, I think this actually has the potential to work. People forget that Figgins wasn’t that bad his first year here. The first half of his first year was bad but, he bounced back with a really nice second half. I say try him for a month or so. If it doesn’t work out then, you can make a different move. He is here this year, at least, whether we like it or not. I’m not totally convinced that he cannot be a contributor anymore. We are hardly flush with great everyday players. I also believe that this move could revitalize Ichiro for the year as he will be focused on hitting the ball squarely rather than trying to get on base, which he was never elite at in the first place. If Ichiro cannot resurrect his swing then we have our final answer on him going forward. Personally, I think the Mariners are crazy if they are thinking of resigning him for much more than 4-5 mil a year after this season.
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It will be interesting to see if Ichiro can really adapt to the 3 hole and driving the ball. For years, it has been legend that he puts on quite the Home Run Derby show in BP when he wants to. He still has incredible bat and body control so there’s some reason to believe that he could re-tool into a different type of hitter given the time. Personally, I think the ONLY reason this is happening though is because the 200 hit streak was snapped. You could tell how much that meant to the guy and that he was sticking with what worked to get there. Without the streak in place, he feels free to make a change. As much fun as the 200 hits/30 SB’s were to watch, I’d WAY rather see .275/25/100+.
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