Brady's Spin: Dom Canzone is Not Executing Seattle Mariners Philosophy

The Seattle Mariners say that they want to "control the zone" but Dom Canzone just doesn't do it. Something needs to change.

Seattle Mariners Dominic Canzone (8) celebrates scoring against the Miami Marlins in the eighth inning at loanDepot Park on June 22. / Rhona Wise-USA TODAY Sports

One of the principal tenants of the Seattle Mariners organization is the idea of "controlling the zone."

The M's want their pitchers all across the organization to fill up the strike zone, as they believe that throwing constant strikes with all your pitches will yield positive results.

On the offensive side of things, the M's want their hitters to lay off tough pitches and get in advantageous counts so they can do damage.

It all sounds pretty simple, right? If you put yourself in a good count, you have a better opportunity to have the at-bat go your way, in both the hitting and pitching departments.

As nice as that all sounds, Dominic Canzone simply is not executing that philosophy. Canzone is currently running a chase rate of 37.5 percent, which is one of the worst in baseball. As a result, he also has a strikeout rate of 30.7 percent, also one of the worst in baseball. All this can be seen on Baseball Savant.

Canzone has some very nice qualities, and he comes with some very good power. There are clear reasons to like him at the plate, but it's time to start following the philosophy or being held accountable for not following it.

In Friday night's win against the Twins, Canzone had the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth inning of a tie game. The M's needed a competitive at-bat and instead, Canzone swung at basically everything thrown to him, regardless of location. He's getting himself out far too often and making life easy for the pitchers.

Take this at-bat from the recent Rays series, which was put on social media by @MarinerMuse:

Canzone swung at every red ball here pic.twitter.com/tO6Jotcze7

— Mariner Muse (@MarinerMuse) June 26, 2024

Canzone is prone to swinging at the high fastball, the changeup fading away from him and the slider/cutter burrowing down on his hands.

The Mariners' hitting coaches undoubtedly help players develop plans of attack at the plate. It's time for Canzone to start finding his - and sticking with it - because the team can't afford to have non-competitive at-bats in which he gets himself out.

If he doesn't start making the adjustment, Mitch Haniger, Luke Raley, Victor Robles, Dylan Moore and just about anyone else looks like a better option to play the outfield and take at-bats in key situations.

The Mariners play the Twins on Saturday night at 7:10 p.m. PT.

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