After months of patiently waiting for the front office to retool the infield, the Mariners front office ended up signing Donovan Solano. It was an underwhelming move to most. While there’s a possibility that he can add real value to the lineup, the chances that he’s the missing link between Seattle and their first World Series appearance are slim.
However, given his history with Seattle’s most recent Hall of Fame inductee, he could thrive as a Mariner.
In 2015, Ichiro Suzuki signed a one-year deal with the Miami Marlins. The then-41-year-old was clearly at the tail end of his career, but Miami thought he would still provide value as a fourth outfielder behind Marcell Ozuna, Giancarlo Stanton, and Christian Yelich. In the infield sat Solano, then in his fourth season a big leaguer. He would make just 94 plate appearances for Miami that season before becoming a free agent and signing a contract with the Yankees.
Despite their short time together in Miami, Daniel Kramer of MLB.com wrote about how Ichiro had a major impact on Solano, as he tended to do with all of his teammates. Now, with Ichiro spending time with the Mariners in spring training, Solano has gotten an opportunity to reunite with the franchise legend.
“He’s unbelievable,” Solano said, per Kramer. “How he played, how he loved the game, and how he trained his body…I love [playing] that way, because no matter what, you got to put in your 100%. With crowds, without crowds, with friends or no friends. That’d be me.”
Solano has also reunited with Perry Hill, Seattle’s infield coach who was also the Marlins infield coach back in 2015, helping Solano find his way as a burgeoning second baseman.
Finding familiar faces in a new environment is a good thing and will hopefully give Solano the foundation he needs to repeat the success he has had over the past two years. The second half of his major league career has been characterized by great contact skills, posting a batting average of .294 over 1,838 plate appearances since 2019. For a team that struggled with this aspect of the game more than anything else last year, he might be just what the doctor ordered.
Who better to teach and hone this skill than Ichiro, a man whose career batting average never fell below .300 after his third MLB game? To add onto his support system, another one of the franchise’s greatest hitters, Edgar Martínez, will also retain his role in leading the team’s hitting coaches, giving Solano plenty of legendary resources to learn from.
He is currently slated to play first base but the starting spot is by no means guaranteed to him. He’s already expected to split time with Luke Raley, and there’s even more competition for playing time at the role with young prospects starting to hit their strides. But with the people he has around him, Solano should have everything he needs to succeed.