Our own D.J. Short passes along this amazing stat:
Mariners shortstops have combined to hit .121 with a .318 OPS this season. National League pitchers have combined to hit .124 with a .323 OPS this season.
So through one-fourth of the season Seattle’s shortstops have been out-hit by pitchers. Think about that.
Brendan Ryan has started 30 times at shortstop, with Robert Andino taking the other 10 starts. Ryan has a great glove, but he’s been one of the worst hitters in baseball for a while now, and Andino has a .611 career OPS.
Meanwhile, shortstop prospect Nick Franklin is hitting .339 with four homers, eight doubles, and a .982 OPS in 30 games at Triple-A. He’d be a downgrade defensively and in fact has been splitting time between shortstop and second base this season, but Franklin ranked among Baseball America‘s top 100 prospects coming into the year and ... well, he might at least out-hit a bunch of pitchers.
