Mariners Should Avoid Drastic Decisions on Colt Emerson During His First Real Slump

We’ve noticed that Colt Emerson isn’t lighting the league on fire right now. The batting average is hovering around .200. The strikeouts have piled up, which should be a surprise to none. That was a problem before his callup, and there was no way it was going to magically disappear. The last couple of weeks have been a pretty clear reminder that major league pitchers aren’t going to be forgiving no matter how badly a fan base wants their next young star to arrive and do some damage.

But this is where the Mariners and the fans need to be careful. There’s a difference between a young player struggling and that same player getting exposed. Emerson looks like the former. If Seattle starts making drastic decisions based on the first real punch the league has landed, then the problem isn’t Emerson. The problem is the Mariners not having the stomach for the exact development path they signed up for.

Colt Emerson Is Being Tested, Not Exposed

Emerson has hit .152 over his last 15 games. There’s no need to dress it up. 42 strikeouts in 115 at-bats through 36 games are pretty concerning. But the Mariners should be looking deeper before doing anything dramatic. The encouraging part is that Emerson hasn’t looked like a hitter completely lost in the strike zone. He is still showing a feel for what pitchers are trying to do. And he has enough plate discipline to keep the OBP at .281 and his wRC+ at 106.

A young hitter chasing everything, losing the zone and handing away at-bats is a completely different conversation. Emerson getting beat by a league-wide adjustment is not ideal, but it’s also not shocking. It’s just the next step. Pitchers have adjusted, and now he has to adjust back.

This is where Seattle’s history makes everything feel more dramatic than it probably should. The Mariners have spent the last several seasons trying to build around young, controllable talent. This is part of the package that comes with that. You don’t get the exciting call-up without having to wait out the adjustment period.

If the Mariners believe Emerson is a core piece, which they’ve shown they do with an eight-year contract extension, then they have to give him room to be imperfect. That doesn’t mean handing him unlimited rope. But that does mean he should have plenty of runway to adjust to major league game-planning.

To be fair, it’s not like his slump is happening while the rest of the lineup is tearing the cover off the ball. He’s not the only player who needs to improve. The Mariners only have 5 players hitting over .250, and their team batting average (.231) ranks 26th in the majors. So before we jump on Emerson, perhaps we need to take a look at the bigger picture.

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