Small Sample No More: Sam Haggerty Has Proven to Mariners He Belongs
Sam Haggerty has been with the Mariners on a full-time basis since June 29, getting called up when outfielder Taylor Trammell landed on the injured list with a hamstring issue. As more ailments have cropped up for Seattle since then, Haggerty has found himself in the lineup with regularity and has inarguably become one the team's most consistent offensive producers over the course of the summer.
The Mariners, however, are starting to get healthier, with the likes of Mitch Haniger, Dylan Moore and Diego Castillo recently returning and Julio Rodríguez and Taylor Trammell right around the corner, and their group of 26 players is starting to tighten as a result. Considering the fact Haggerty entered his age 28 season with a career slash line of .207/.265/.321, some have expected him to cool off at some point, citing the limited nature of his isolated success this year as a means to keep his spot on Seattle's roster in question.
But after hitting his fourth home run of the year in Wednesday's 4-3 win over the Yankees, which broke up a no-hit bid by Nestor Cortes Jr., Haggerty is now slashing .323/.369/.542 with a 160 wRC+ in 103 plate appearances. This is no longer a small enough sample size to discard, especially with 49 games left in the middle of a postseason race.
In fact, the 28-year old utility man is seemingly getting better as the season goes on. Over his last six games, he is 8 for 17 (.471) with a home run, two doubles, three RBI and a pair of walks.
Since the All-Star break, he ranks first amongst all qualified Mariners hitters (minimum 30 plate appearances) in batting average (.349), second in on-base percentage (.391), first in slugging percentage (.628), first in wRC+ (185) and first in fWAR (0.6). That's all while playing all three outfield spots at an average or better clip, too.
The Mariners are simply far better off with Haggerty than without—so much so that it shouldn't even be up for debate at this point. He's undoubtedly one of the 13 best major-league position players in the organization right now.
