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MARINERS MAGAZINE 17
Making ContactIts true, ater all, Kyle Seager hits.
Even when he doesnt get a hit, he hitsthe ball. Entering June,
the 24-year-oldthird baseman had struck out just 29times in his rst
189 plate appear-ances o 2012, or 15.3 percent o thetime. Pretty
impressive or a player inhis rst ull year, especially when
oneconsiders that Major League hitters
overall struck out an average 19.5percent o their appearances
during thesame period, according to MLB stats.
Heres the thing, said managerEric Wedge, he goes up there [tothe
plate] with no ear, which is a bigactor or me. Hell get out ront
[othe count] and catch a astball. Hesnot araid to swing and miss.
Andwhen they do throw him a breaking
(continued on page 18)
Got Cloutspeaking their minds and letting aplayer know how good
or bad he is.Seager, however, was engaged withthem, even smiling
and occasionallylaughing. Something wasnt right.
Upon closer inspection, onediscovered Seager was speaking
withhis amily. They had come to watchtheir avorite Mariner play and
cheerhim and his teammates, all the while
hemmed in by 44,000 opposing ans.In Yankee Stadium. Against the
teamKyle grew up rooting or and theplayer Derek Jeter who was
Kylesavorite athlete (see page 20).
The moment was, truly, a slice oAmericana. Most poignant o all,
atleast or one person within earshot,was hearing Je Seager, Kyles
ather,praise his son or playing so well andencourage him to keep
doing what hewas doing, to keep on hitting.
Less than an hour beore game-time, on the day beore Mothers
Day,Kyle Seager could be spotted justbeyond the visitors dugout in
YankeeStadium. Batting practice had all butwrapped up and most o
the Marinersplayers had already retired to theclubhouse or a quick
bite and theopportunity to relax beore rst pitch.Fans dressed in
jerseys with names
supporting Jeter, Rivera, Ruth, Mantleand other Bronx Bombers,
present andpast, were beginning to stream intothe ballpark and ll
the air with bois-terous chatter.
Along the let-eld line in oulterritory, Seager stood acing a
groupo seven or eight individuals who hadgathered in the rst ew
rows o seats.Yankee ans are generally a smartbunch who are
knowledgeable aboutthe game, but are also renowned or
Got Clout
Long regarded for his hitting, third baseman
Kyle Seager is turning heads with his power
surge at the plate.By Kieran ODwyer
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18 MARINERS MAGAZINE
ball, and i its a good pitch to hit, hecan hit that too.
O course, plenty o players showno ear at the plate and do not
appeararaid o swinging and missing. Howthey eel internally, whats
goingon in their head, however can be a
dierent matter altogether. Wedgenoted Seagers ability to handle
themental aspect o an at-bat, somethingthat young players in the
Majors canstruggle to integrate with the physicalside o the
act.
[Kyles] up there in a positiveaggressive state o mind, yet his
ocusallows him to be more disciplined.This is where were trying to
get allour guys, and hes there. Were notjust asking guys to be
aggressive; wereasking them to be aggressive with theastball in
their zone and then withmistake pitches. Is he going to
swingthrough some, or strike out? Sure.But hes going to be ready to
hit thepitches hes supposed to hit. And thatsthe dierence.
Hitting MachineBeing disciplined as a hitter has
enabled Seager to succeed at theplate at every level o the pro
gamesince he was selected by Seattle inthe third round o the 2009
drat.From Single-A Clinton to High-AHigh Desert to Double-A Jackson
to
Triple-A Tacoma, he hit andhas a .328 career average inthe
minors to show or hiseorts. And while it couldbe argued that
average wasbolstered by the .345 mark heposted in the
hitter-riendlyCaliornia League where he
won the leagues batting titlethat season and led all
minorleaguers with 192 hits and 126runs scored when he movedup to
Jackson (.312) andTacoma (.387) he kepton raking.
Dustin Ackley never playedwith Seager in the minors, buthe knows
Kyles game betterthan anyone on the Mariners.And thats not just
becausethey were teammates at theUniversity o North Carolina
and drated by Seattle in thesame year.
I grew up playing againsthim since I was 11, 12 yearsold, said
Ackley, himsel anative o North Carolina. Hewas really good even
when
we were younger. His dad coached histeam and my dad coached my
team.Wed always play against each other inchampionships when we
were smaller.He was always one o the best playersand hitters on
those teams. And thenwe started playing together in summerball
around [the time we were in] highschool, then right through
college.
Ive denitely seen him grow. Heswings the bat well. He makes
great
contact, doesnt strike out a lot. Heputs the ball into play, and
when hedoes its hit hard. Thats something hesdone real well. Now
hes hitting ballsarther than I saw him ever hitin college.
Some background on that lastreerence, the one about Seager
hittingballs arther than ever. As Tar Heels,Ackley belted 39 home
runs, includinga ridiculous 22 his junior year. Seagerfashed pop
now and then he hit 17homers in three years at UNC butmuch o his
oensive game centered
around his ability to drive the ball intogaps and to nd himsel
standing atsecond base, a double in hand. As asophomore he smacked
30 doubles,setting the schools single-seasonrecord and ranking
third in the nation.The ollowing year, he ripped another26 to lead
the team.
This pattern ollowed suit inthe minors.
(continued on page 20)
(continued from page 17)
Seagers power surge comes as no surprise to Dustin
Ackley. The two grew up playing against each other in
North Carolina and later became teammates at UNC and
now with the Mariners.
As a sophomore at the University o North
Carolina, Seager smacked 30 doubles, setting
the schools single-season record and ranking
third in the nation.
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Adding PowerBy last season when Seager made
his Major League debut, he held hisown at the plate, batting
.258 over53 games. Sixteen o his 47 hits wentor extra-bases. And
though he wasthrilled to have realized his dream o
playing in the Majors, he eventuallyrecognized that i he wanted
to make agreater impact, hed have to expand hisgame, namely by
adding power.
Seager was particularly motivatedby the notion that a number o
theballs he put into play ones that mighthave resulted in extra
bases in thegaps in college and the minors wereending up as
singles, i not outs, in theBig Leagues.
These guys are the best in theworld, the outelders make plays,he
said, reerring to Major Leaguers.There are balls you hit that
probablywould all at other levels, but theydont here. That was one
o the bigthings that got down to why I workedso hard in the
oseason. I wantedthose balls that I dont hit quite perectto still
have a chance.
To that end, Seager engaged in arigorous training program that
empha-sized building core strength withoutsacricing speed and
agility, and addedabout 10 pounds o muscle, much o itin his lower
hal.
It was a good oseason. I made aew minor adjustments to my
swing,but the results I think are mostly romworking hard, he said.
The moreyou play, you just learn how to useyour body better and
thats what Itried to do this oseason.
To say he is driven is an
(continued from page 18) understatement.Consider thatentering
SpringTraining, Seagerwas a playerwithout a guar-anteed positionin
the Majors.He mostly
played secondbase in collegeand the minors,but Ackley waslocked
in there.Third base?Chone Figginswas looking torevitalize hiscareer
at the hotcorner, and risingsluggers AlexLiddi and VinnieCatricala
were dropping jaws withtheir power displays. But Seager wentabout
his business, as players otensay. He took extra BP (spray to
let,spray to center, spray to right, repeat,repeat again!), spent
extra time in thebatting cage, and elded a seeminglyendless string
o grounders, line drives,pop ups, and slow rollers at third.
Hesimply would not be denied.
My dad always preached workingreal hard, on and o the eld,
Seagersaid. Theres no substitute or hardwork and putting in the
time.
Thats something he instilled inall three o us and thats
something wecontinue to do, he added, reerringto his younger
brothers Justin (whoplays at Charlotte) and Corey (a highschool
senior who was selected 18th bythe Dodgers in the rst round o
lastmonths drat).
Hard Work Paying OfThe results have proven eye
opening, and not only to Ackley.Through early June, Seager led
theMariners in doubles, RBI and sluggingpercentage, and was tied or
secondon the team in home runs with seven.Indeed, the doubles
machine wasback in ull swing. He ranked in theTop 10 in the Majors
in two-baggers,with 16. Moreover, he was on pace
or 49 by seasons end rare terri-tory in Mariners history, as
only AlexRodriguez (54 in 1996) and EdgarMartinez (52 in 1995 &
1996) havehit at least 50 doubles in a season.
Regardless o his success thisseason, Seager remains grounded
andhumble, ever quick to credit othersor his development and
personalaccomplishments.
The higher up you go the moreyou learn, and thats what
happenedwith me as I moved through everylevel, he said.
Fortunately, Ive had
really good coaches the whole time andtheyve helped me out a
lot.
Last year I got the experienceand got to see what its like here
[inthe Majors], to see what some o thetop hitters do to be
successul. Thatswhere I want to get to.
Hes well on his way. Great newsto his amily and his rapidly
growinglegions o ans.
Kieran ODwyer is a reelance writer based in New York.
Like many baseball players now in their twenties, Kyle Seagers
avorite Big Leaguer growing up was Derek
Jeter. Seager not only admired Jeters game, he also was a
Yankees an living in North Carolina. My parents
lived in upstate New York beore they moved and my dad was a
Yankee an, he explained.
So what does Seager like about the uture Hall o Famers game?
Hes just so proessional and does everything the right way. He
does it all hits, felds, runs and hes
done it his whole career. Hes all about win ning. You gotta
respect a guy like that.
Jeter, or his part, didnt mince words when asked about Seager:
Hes done a good job. The challenge with
younger players is they have to make adjustments, because the
league is going to make adjustments to them.
He seems like hes done that, so Im sure hes going to be fne.
And when the Yankees captain was inormed that he was Seagers
avorite player when the now Mariners
third baseman was growing up, Jeter paused, considered the
comment, then smiled beore responding: Oh
yeah? It dates you a little bit, but i t always makes you eel
good when guys say that. I tr y to play the game th e
right way and i people look up to you or that, it makes you eel
good.
Upon hearing Jeters comments, Seager replied: Thats really
special. I remember just gettin g the
opportunity to talk to him out at second base and saying Hello.
That was absolutely a th rill.
Mustve been right ater Seager rapped a double.
Through early June, Seager was on pace to have 49
doubles by seasons end.
