The Fan Hub

The Mariners announced today that Ichiro Suzuki, one of the best contact hitters and base-runners of the past decade, is going to be moved to third in Seattle’s lineup. This move is a complete head-scratcher; the third spot is regarded as a “power” spot in the batting order and Ichiro has as much about as much power as Jessica Simpson has brains.

Ichiro is 36 years old and is small at 5’11’‘ and 172 pounds. According to Baseball-Reference’s Play Index, only 18 players under six feet and 175 pounds have hit over 15 home runs since 1996, and none of them did it at age 36. Ichiro’s career high for home runs is only 15, and the last time he hit double digit numbers was in 2009, when he hit a staggering 11 homers (that was sarcasm).

The 10-time All-Star is still a formidable contact hitter, despite coming off his worst year since coming to the States (batting .272). He should either be left as the lead-off man or moved much farther down in the order because cracking 12 homers is going to be a stretch for the veteran outfielder.

Even though Ichiro was quoted in saying, “If I'm allowed to hit .220, I could probably hit 40 [home runs], but nobody wants that,” it’s hard to imagine this move working out for Seattle.

—“Ryan Gilmore”:http://thefanhub.com/writers/bio/65/Ryan-Gilmore