Seattle Mariners News: Are Spring Training Stats a Good Predictor?
By Todd Pheifer
Mar 19, 2014; Peoria, AZ, USA; Seattle Mariners shortstop Brad Miller (5) hits a triple against the Milwaukee Brewers at Peoria Sports Complex. The Brewers won 9-7. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
If only these were regular season statistics.
The Seattle Mariners are hitting. That sentence has not been written for years during the regular season, but we can write it now because it is still March.
Ah, spring training. The sun is warm and oftentimes the bats are hot. Some guys just look so good with the lumber when they are in Arizona. Unfortunately, they then get on a plane to Seattle and hit .230 during the regular season.
Here is a sampling of a few spring training batting averages:
Robinson Cano: .563
Brad Miller: .463
Dustin Ackley: .438
Michael Saunders: .324
Nice, right? Obviously it would be fantastic if these players continued to hit at such a torrid pace. When you look at this particular group of players, they may represent the core that must perform if this offense is going to be consistently productive.
Now, there are also players that are having less than spectacular springs. These include:
Kyle Seager: .188
Abraham Almonte: .154
Corey Hart: .143
The (cautious) assumption is that Seager will be fine once the regular season begins. We all hope so. Almonte is more of a concern, particularly if the Mariners want him to play in center and bat leadoff. Then there is Hart, who is a major question mark after missing all of the 2013. Hopefully he doesn’t turn into another Jason Bay situation. Hart says that he is just rusty. We’ll see.
Maybe these spring training numbers translate to the regular season, and maybe they don’t. We’ll find out soon enough. Hopefully we will see a lot of the first group, and not the second.