Well, at least they have Franklin Gutierrez.
Heading into this weekend, the Mariners’ center fielder was batting .385 with a .429 on-base percentage and a .462 slugging percentage. Which, in Seattle’s lineup, kind of makes him look like Gulliver in the land of Lilliputians — at least before Friday’s outburst.
But even more significant is Gutierrez’s role in the Mariners’ grand experiment. Seattle has been at the forefront of a movement in which teams emphasize fielding, and Gutierrez’s status as baseball’s best defensive outfielder is a big part of that.
Punchless M’s
Here are the Offensive Winning Percentages for 2010, 2009, and career of this year’s Seattle Mariners regulars:
2010 2009 Career
C–Rob Johnson .402 .253 .246
1B–Casey Kotchman .298 .476 .469
2B–Chone Figgins .552 .580 .522
3B–Jose Lopez .341 .420 .396
SS–Jack Wilson .142 .371 .395
LF–Milton Bradley .258 .553 .577
CF–Franklin Gutierrez .734 .487 .454
RF–Ichiro Suzuki .204 .666 .619
DH–Ken Griffey Jr. .114 .464 .666
NOTE: Offensive Winning Percentage indicates a player’s offensive prowess. It reflects a team’s winning percentage with a lineup of nine copies of the same player, if backed by average pitching and defense. An OWP mark of .500 is average.