Sexson's successor? Time will tell
It seems nearly every day in spring training Bryan LaHair offers a glimpse of what he can be and what he still isn’t.Thursday was no exception.
The Seattle Mariners’ first-base prospect had a strong first at-bat, working the count and then fighting off a nasty breaking ball from Milwaukee Brewers ace Ben Sheets with a sharp single to right.
In his next plate appearance, facing left-hander Zach Jackson, LaHair fell behind in the count, flailing at a curveball in the dirt for strike three.
Still, good at-bats have been more common than bad ones for LaHair, whose 1-for-2 performance pushed his average to .462 (6-for-13) with two doubles, four runs scored and three RBI.
Look to the future.
Sexson’s contract is ending, and there is a possibility the Mariners will not re-sign him or he will become a free agent. There is no other first baseman in the organization even close to being ready for the majors, and there are rumblings that Seattle could look to get a first baseman in free agency.
For LaHair to become a viable candidate for the job, he must cut down on his strikeouts (126 in 552 at-bats), find a way to hit left-handed pitching (.193 in 140 at-bats in 2007), hit breaking pitches more consistently and improve his power numbers in cavernous Cheney Stadium, a pitchers’ park like Safeco Field.
“I don’t like to get too far ahead of myself,” he said. “People tell me that I have a chance to be there soon, and I gotta tell myself to stay in the moment. Where I’m at is where I’m at, and I have to focus on that.”
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