A Deeper Dive into the Resurgent Season of Victor Robles For Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners are four games behind the Houston Astros for first place in the American League West going into Friday.
The Mariners starting rotation has been the main reason the team has remained afloat. The offense is on track to be among the worst in MLB history in several catergories.
But over the last two series, the offense has seen a noticeable uptick in energy under new Seattle manager Dan Wilson.
There weren't that many highlights with the Mariners offense before Wilson took over. But one of them was Victor Robles.
Robles' story this season has been well-documented. He went from being cut by the Washington Nationals on June 1 — the same team he won a World Series with in 2019 — to being signed by Seattle on June 4. He was used sparingly his first month with the club — often getting a spot-start against left-handed pitching or being used as a pinch runner.
Robles got more opportunities as the season went on and truly cemented his spot in the starting lineup when filling in at center field for the (at the time) injured Julio Rodriguez. He also filled as the lead-off man in the lineup with JP Crawford also out with an injury. Robles' performance over month-and-a-half long stretch earned him a two-year (potentially three-year) contract extension.
Both of those players have since returned and Robles has continued to make an impact. Robles is hitting .421 (8-for-19) with a home run and four RBIs over his last seven games.
Victor Von BOOM 💥 pic.twitter.com/oD1dLy1wXm
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) August 28, 2024
Robles is the definition of consistent. Looking at his stats — he excels in some categories, but he's above-average to good in about every advanced metric.
Robles still hasn't technically qualified on many of Baseball Savant's advanced stats due to his lack of playing time the first few months of the season. But his percentages are still available to see compared to the rest of the league.
According to Savant, Robles is either near or above average in barrel percentage, squared-up percentage and sweet-spot percentage. He also strikes out just 20.2% of the time — 2.7% less than the league average. He has a hard-hit percentage of 30.9% — which is on-pace for a career-high.
For fielding — he's in the 81st percentile in arm value and the 95th percentile in arm strength. He ranks in the 59th percentile of the league in sprint speed when he's on the base paths and is 16-for-16 in stolen base attempts since joining the Mariners.
So, what do all these stats say? They indicate that Robles has been consistently above-average to great in almost every metric.
And in a season where so many Mariners hitters have had up-and-down years or have been hurt — some consistency is extremely valuable.
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