The Return Of Kyle Lewis Has The Mariners Thinking Audaciously

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The Mariners have kept the ship afloat without him, but with Kyle Lewis back from a deep knee bruise that kept him off the field for the first 17 games of the season, they look to take the American League West crown and run with it.

 

 

The city of Seattle is one of the best baseball towns in America.  Its fans are no different than the 12’s who spend falls at Seahawks games or the ones who inhabited the SuperSonics arena years ago.  

They are being treated to an excellent brand of baseball on the field. Great pitching, great hitting and all across the diamond, spectacular plays are made on a daily basis.  And it’s being done by some of the best young talent in baseball. 

On Tuesday, the best apple out of that bunch made his 2021 debut. Lewis saw his name in the lineup for the first time in 2021, as he went 0-3 with a walk, in a 1-0 loss to the Dodgers.

The 25-year-old Black Knight hopes to pick up where he left off in 2020 when he became the second rookie in Major League history to lead a team in batting, home runs, run scored, and walks, joining Mark McGwire who did it in 1987 with the Oakland Athletics.  He also was tied for the rookie lead in home runs while leading in walks and runs during the 60-game season. 

 

 

Lewis is no stranger to hardware as he’s filled his trophy case in the last half-decade, en route to becoming a premier center fielder in the game. He won Baseball America’s 2016 College Player of the Year as well as the 2016 Golden Spikes Award to go along with the Southern Conference Player of the Year before being drafted by Seattle in 2016.

He hit the ground running once he arrived in the league.  In his debut on September 10th of 2019, Lewis cranked a home run off 2020 Cy Young winner Trevor Bauer.  He also homered in the next two games,  joining Trevor Story as the only players to hit home runs in the first three games of their career.

 

 

While Lewis was on the Injured list,  the Mariners called up outfielder Taylor Trammell a bit earlier than expected. The rookie is adjusting to MLB pitching and will get to roam the grass at T Mobile Park, alongside Lewis for years to come.  

On Monday night he had his first career game-winning, extra-base hit in a 4-3 victory over the World Series champion Dodgers.

The Mariners’ 11 wins have them currently tied with the Red Sox for first place in the American League.  They are one of the early surprises as they sit in first place in the AL West without the services of their best player. 

As Lewis gets reacclimated to the game, a strong sophomore season can provide the final push the Mariners need to go from pretenders to contenders.