Seattle Mariners Move Former World Series Champ Up in Lineup For Game 2 vs. Astros
SEATTLE — It's hard to feel optimistic about anything going on with the Seattle Mariners offense right now. But one thing that has been a positive is the consistency of outfielder Victor Robles.
The former Washington National and 2019 World Series champion was signed by the Mariners on June 4 and got limited time during his first month with the team. He was used mainly as a pinch runner and as a spot-starter against left-handed pitchers.
Over the last two weeks, Robles has worked his way into the starting lineup and earned his fifth-straight start for Saturday's game against the Houston Astros. The one thing that was different when the lineup released was where Robles was batting in the order.
Robles has been typically slotted in the bottom half of the lineup. On Friday he batted ninth. For Saturday's game, he was moved up to the two-hole.
"He's been hot," Seattle manager Scott Servais said in a pregame interview Saturday. "When you're hot, you move up. That's the way it goes right now. Victor's been great. ... He's been working really hard to make some adjustments. He's got good tools — ball jumps off the bat, he's got a really good approach right now and he makes things happen."
Robles is 7-for-15 in July (.467 average) with two doubles, a home run and two RBIs. Since joining the team in June, he's batting .382 with four steals and a 1.050 OPS — which ranks third in the AL behind Aaron Judge (1.176) and Heston Kjerstad (1.141), according to Mariners PR.
Even if Robles wasn't able to put together the kind of stretch that he has, his experience and his attitude has been something that's proved invaluable to the Mariners.
Robles, as stated before, is a champion. He knows what needs to be done for Seattle to go to the ultimate destination. He's also brought in a good energy to the team — which has been good for moral.
"(When) he came over to us — he'd only ever been with the Nationals," Servais said. "Anytime you go to a new team, you have a different set of eyes on you. Maybe coaches throw different concepts or ideas at you. And Victor was very receptive to some of those things and he saw some immediate results, which doesn't often happen. ... I think a lot of what he's done has (been) just through work ethic."
Robles will continue to show the fruits of his labor during Game 2 of the series against Houston at 6:40 p.m. PT on Saturday.
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