To this point in the shortened 2020 season Kyle Lewis has gone above and beyond what anyone expected from the rookie center fielder. Expectations were pretty high after he hit six bombs in 18 games late last season. Still, nobody could have predicted the type of season he is having this far. Nobody except for maybe Lewis himself, who doesn’t seem the least bit surprised by the way he has burst onto the MLB scene.
You have to remember for Kyle Lewis, this is what he has always done. When he’s been healthy and given the opportunity, he has been a dominant baseball player. He was named Baseball Americas College Player of the Year after his Junior season at Mercer University in 2016. In that year’s draft, most experts righteously had Lewis as a top-three pick. Instead, he slipped to number eleven where the Seattle Mariners happily took the two time Southern Conference Player of the Year winner. Maybe his stock fell because he went to a smaller school, or maybe just maybe it was the work of a power much greater.
Big Shoes to Fill
The Mariners have not been the most storied franchise in there 43 seasons of Major League baseball. They have one of the best center fielders of all-time, if not the best. Since the franchise has only reached the playoffs four times since its inception, Mariners fans tend to hold on to those team’s memories more than other fan bases. As soon as it was known that Lewis would play in center this year, the comparisons started coming in. Could Kyle Lewis be another Ken Griffey Jr?
To be compared to someone who was a first-ballot Hall of Famer and saved the Mariners franchise in Seattle before you’ve even finished a full season in the big leagues is a bit absurd. Some might even call it ridiculous but, that is the baseball culture in Seattle. Just like every guy who doesn’t throw 95 mph is compared to Jamie Moyer. “Why can’t he just pitch more like Moyer? He didn’t throw hard either.”
Kyle Lewis didn’t even play Triple-A ball and he wasn’t even great in Double-A in 2019. Yet the organization knew he was ready for the big leagues this year. Something about Lewis makes already comparing him to a baseball legend less absurd. Both he and Griffey hit home runs in their first Mariner at-bats at home. Let’s be honest Ken Griffey Jr. wasn’t this good in his rookie season, he was only 19 while Lewis is 24. Comparing Lewis to many of the other guys getting at-bats with the Mariners this season is like comparing a wolf to a sheep. The average baseball fan can sense the difference. Lewis is calm and alert at the plate, while some of the other guys look timid and lost.
The Path Wasn’t Easy
Lewis was not drafted out of Shiloh High School in Georgia. He didn’t register on major college scouts radar either. It seemed nobody in baseball believed Kyle Lewis had a future. After playing sparingly as a freshman in 2014 he went to the Cape Cod League that summer and caught fire. As mentioned previously, he proceeded to have one of the most storybook college careers of his generation. To achieve that level of success without much confirmation from the outside world shows that Kyle Lewis is self-assured and doesn’t need a pat on the back. He knows he belongs.
After stealing Lewis with the eleventh overall pick, a new era in Seattle was underway. Jerry Dipoto‘s first draft pick made his debut with the Everett Aqua Sox. Then, unfortunately, he tore his right ACL after just 30 games as a professional. The road to the show was slow for Kyle Lewis, as he played in 49 games in 2017 and 86 games in 2018. In the spring of 2019 after hitting .423 with three bombs in Cactus League play everyone inside the Mariners understood that Lewis had overcome his gruesome knee injury and was on his way to Seattle. He made his Major League debut in September of 2019 in style. Hitting a home run in each of his first three games, something only one other player has ever done.
Kyle Lewis is Confident
In summer camp before the season started. A good-natured exchange of words between relief pitcher Austin Adams and the outspoken locker room leader Dee Gordon took place. Adams was pitching well and had struck out several batters in a row. If you’ve never seen Adams pitch, he gets pretty animated out on the mound. Especially when things are going his way. Gordon was chirping back at him saying some of the swings and misses were checked and so forth.
Then Kyle Lewis quietly stepped to the plate with his mask on. Choosing not to join in the chirp session, Lewis focused on what he intended to accomplish. He liked the first pitch fastball Adams threw him so he swung and sent it sailing over the right field wall. Lewis didn’t celebrate, he didn’t even stick around to watch the ball. The rookie just quietly walked back to the dugout with his mask on and his bat in hand. In the video, you can hear his teammates going nuts in the background. Not a word from Lewis, that’s not his way. He knows what he is capable of on a baseball field and he doesn’t need to rub it in his teammate’s face.
ROY Would Be Fitting
Even in the Mariners own fan base, he has been overlooked. Despite his incredible debut last season, all the talk before this season was about a couple of guys who were not likely to see any action. While Julio Rodriguez and Jarred Kelenic have tremendous potential, Kyle Lewis is the real deal right now. His OPS is above 1.000 with seven home runs, .446 OPS, and a .360 batting average to this point in his rookie campaign. His play in center field has been absolutely electric. The reaction of Kiki Hernandez to Lewis robbing Justin Turner of a home run was a perfect assessment of his defensive ability.
Right now Kyle Lewis has the inside track to win the American League ROY Award. Wouldn’t that fit the M.O. for how his career has gone to this point? It wouldn’t come as a surprise to his teammates, opposing pitchers, and anybody who is paying attention. The sky is the limit for Kyle, who like all players has weaknesses and deficiencies that other teams will try to exploit. We’ve already seen that he will make the necessary adjustments and stay the course. He feels like the perfect fit for the small market Seattle Mariners and their fans. A superstar caliber player who landed in their laps after being overlooked and counted out.
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