{"id":13620,"date":"2018-06-21T18:34:31","date_gmt":"2018-06-21T22:34:31","guid":{"rendered":"lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/\/?p=13620"},"modified":"2018-06-21T18:34:31","modified_gmt":"2018-06-21T22:34:31","slug":"mitch-haniger-is-having-a-career-year-with-the-seattle-mariners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2018\/06\/21\/mitch-haniger-is-having-a-career-year-with-the-seattle-mariners\/","title":{"rendered":"Mitch Haniger is Having a Career Year with the Seattle Mariners"},"content":{"rendered":"

Seattle Mariners<\/a> outfielder Mitch Haniger<\/a><\/strong> has been a surprising star in the M’s lineup this year. The 27-year old is having arguably his best season ever since making his big league debut back in 2016 for the Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a>. The Mariners acquired both Haniger and Jean Segura<\/a><\/strong> from Arizona in 2016 in exchange for shortstop Ketel Marte<\/a><\/strong> and starting pitcher Taijuan Walker<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

An All-Star Campaign for Haniger<\/h2>\n

Last year Haniger showed glimpses of brilliance, hitting .282 with 16 homers and 47 RBI in 96 games played. He wasn’t a regular starter, but when he was called upon in 2017, he came through. Fast forward to this year. Haniger is the starting right fielder for the Mariners and a spark plug in heart of Seattle’s lineup. When Robinson Cano<\/a><\/strong> got suspended for breaking Major League baseball’s PED policy<\/a>, Haniger stepped into the number three spot in the lineup.<\/p>\n

Through 73 games this year, Haniger is hitting .264 with 16 bombs already before the All-Star break. He only hit 16 in all of last season. He’s also collected 54 RBI, which lands him second in the American league behind J.D. Martinez<\/a>. Seattle is currently one of the best all-around teams in the big leagues, and a vital reason for that is the production from Haniger. He has been outstanding defensively too, making numerous great plays on a consistent basis.<\/p>\n

What changed?<\/h2>\n

Haniger has always featured a leg kick in his stance at the plate. This year though and even last year, there has been less movement in his hands. In his debut season with Arizona in 2016, he still had the leg kick. But despite that, there was a little more movement when he loaded with his hands. With that, he ended up pulling a lot of balls and not using the entire field. Haniger has relaxed his approach at the plate and is now using the entire field. He’s collecting extra-base hits to the opposite field and even hitting the rare homer to right field. He’s letting the ball get deep in the zone and driving the ball where it’s pitched.<\/p>\n

It’s games like this that have made Haniger an absolute star in Seattle this year:<\/p>\n