*Photo from MLB.com*
The trade season shuffle continues. The Arizona Diamondbacks have acquired OF Kyle Lewis from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for C/OF Cooper Hummel, according to announcements by both teams on Thursday.
Lewis won the AL Rookie of the Year in 2020 but has since been struck hard with injuries, being limited to just 36 games in 2021 and 18 games in 2022. After the Mariners swung a trade for Teoscar Hernandez, the role for Lewis was in question, and now he's off to Arizona.
D-Backs GM Mike Hazen said of Lewis that "We're taking a shot at some upside here with the power potential, he’s gotten on base when healthy, and we feel like this is a good opportunity for us acquire some potential impact. He seems like he’s healthy right now, finished the season healthy. The concussion was a little bit of an outlier when he got hit, but we’re going to work hard to stay on top of his health and how that kind of fits from a playing time standpoint and a use standpoint. But when he’s in the lineup he’s a good fit for our team."
In limited action in 2022, Lewis hit just .143 with a .226 on base percentage and .304 slugging percentage, hitting 3 home runs and driving in another 5 in 18 games for the Mariners, drawing another 5 walks.
Across parts of 4 seasons, Lewis has a .244 average with a .329 on base percentage and .761 OPS, adding 25 home runs and 12 doubles along with 57 RBI's, 58 walks, and 7 stolen bases in 130 games played.
Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said of trading Lewis that "Where we are in our development and where we believe we are on the win curve, we needed some certainty headed into the year, and we didn't feel like we could get that in betting on Kyle in this situation. But we'd love to see him go out there and tear it up."
Coming back to the Mariners is Hummel, someone who can add to outfield depth while also playing behind the dish. With Luis Torrens being non tendered and Tom Murphy still trying to come back from surgery, Hummel has a strong case to back up Cal Raleigh behind the dish. Hummel moved into the backup catcher role in Arizona to wrap up 2022.
Last year was Hummel's rookie season with the D-Backs at age 27. He wrapped up his rookie year with a .176 batting average, .274 on base percentage, and .580 OPS, adding 3 home runs and 17 RBI's, drawing 23 walks in 66 games played.
Dipoto said of Hummel that "He does a lot of really interesting things in the batter's box. We very much value the the ability to manage the strike zone and he does that about as well as you can do it in the Minor Leagues for sure. And a lot of that, at least from a discipline standpoint, taking your walks, swinging at the right pitches, translated at the big leagues. Now, it's just a matter of giving him enough runway."
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