As Thursday’s trade deadline approaches, there has been heavy speculation that the Seattle Mariners are shopping for a third baseman.
One of the targets is Eugenio Suarez, who has 36 homers for the Arizona Diamondbacks and is tied with Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh for the major league high of 87 RBIs. Suarez played for Seattle in 2022-23.
Yet the club’s current third baseman, Ben Williamson, isn’t ready to hand over the job. The rookie will look to record his second straight strong performance when the Mariners face the Athletics on Tuesday night at West Sacramento, Calif.
Williamson starred on offense and defense in Seattle’s 3-1 victory in Monday’s opener of the three-game series.
He went 2-for-3 with a run and made three stellar plays on defense.
The most important one came in the eighth inning when the Athletics had the bases loaded with two outs while trailing by two. Tyler Soderstrom hit a grounder to the right of Williamson and he dove for the ball and gloved it. He then raced to third and beat Brent Rooker to the bag to end the inning.
“He saved us several times with outstanding defense,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “He’s done it all year. It seems like he had a lot of chances and made some really difficult plays look really easy.”
Williamson, 24, is in the majors because of his defense and his average sits at .256. He has just one homer and 21 RBIs and a substandard .315 slugging percentage.
He also hears the rumor mill and declares he isn’t going to let it bother him.
“I’m just going to show up and do my best every day,” Williamson said. “And whatever happens, happens from there.”
What happened Monday made it clear to the opposing manager why his team fell short.
“I thought their third baseman was the key to the game,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said of Williamson.
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak that matched a season best for the A’s. Those wins all came during a four-game set in which the Athletics outscored the Houston Astros 32-7.
Rookie slugger Nick Kurtz was named American League Player of the Week for the second consecutive time on Monday.
Kurtz went 1-for-4 on Monday to extend his hitting streak to 14 games. He is batting .527 (29-of-55) with nine homers, 10 doubles, one triple and 19 runs during a lava-hot stretch.
“It has been really fun to watch,” Athletics infielder Max Schuemann told reporters. The kid is obviously incredible. … It’s been pretty fun to have him in the lineup.”
Athletics All-Star shortstop Jacob Wilson (left hand) has missed the past three games. He has dealt with soreness since getting hit on the hand with a pitch on July 8 against the Atlanta Braves.
Luis Severino (4-11, 4.95 ERA) starts for the Athletics on Tuesday and his name has been mentioned in trade chatter.
He perhaps boosted interest with back-to-back solid road victories. Last Thursday, Severino beat the Astros when he gave up two runs and four hits over seven innings.
Severino, 31, has expressed his dislike of the ballpark in West Sacramento. And the results are atrocious – he is 0-9 with a 6.68 ERA in 12 starts.
He is 2-2 with a 3.82 ERA in six career starts against Seattle. Severino has a 3.00 ERA in two no-decisions against the Mariners this season.
Jorge Polanco (6-for-14) and Raleigh (2-for-6) each have homered off Severino. Julio Rodriguez is hitless in eight at-bats.
Rookie right-hander Logan Evans (4-3, 3.64) is on the mound for the Mariners in his first ever start against the A’s.
Evans defeated the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday when he allowed one run and three hits over five innings.
–Field Level Media
