In First Year With Mariners, Eugenio Suárez Has Been Perfect Kyle Seager Replacement

His Baseball Savant page shows some very nice trends, including a 73rd percentile xwOBA and a 95th percentile barrel rate. Suárez has plenty of swing and miss in his game, but it doesn’t show up as badly when he takes his walks and doesn’t chase. This season, he ranks in the 71st percentile in walk rate and the 79th percentile in chase rate, which are both improvements from 2021.

Another bright spot has been his defense, and his work with Mariners coach Perry Hill has paid off. Although he has made a few glaring mistakes, multiple web gems and solid production have Suárez firmly planted as a slightly above-average defender. His UZR and DRS both currently sit at 1, meaning FanGraphs sees value and run prevention in his defense over the average defender.

Suárez brought his “good vibes” to the Mariners clubhouse as well. His commitment to playing the game in a fun-loving and enjoyable way seems to have rubbed off on his teammates. 

As mentioned, he led Seattle to multiple come-from-behind wins down in Arlington, though none exemplified the spark he brings better than Sunday afternoon's stunner. The Mariners wound up fighting back from a 1.2 percent win probability, led by a ninth-inning Suárez double to tie the game and send it to extra innings—where the team eventually won by a score of 6-5.

Clutch home runs, solid defense, and thump in the middle of the order have far outweighed the slumps from Suárez. A change of scenery and the move back to third base following a dreadful 2021 at shortstop may have revitalized his career.

The swing and miss is inevitable at this point, but it's been more good than bad at this point for Suarez in 2022. His fWAR ranks fourth on the club, well ahead of trade partner Jesse Winker (-0.2). And there is no reason to think anything Suárez has done this year is unsustainable; this has still been somewhat of a regression from his career-best seasons, but he's found a good middle ground to provide value. 

All of this together has made Suárez the perfect match to replace Seager, especially if it just means eating his contract. Seager’s presence and production would no doubt be hard to replace, but Suárez has done more than fill those shoes thus far.