Mariners Noon Number: .036

Seattle Mariners first baseman Danny Valencia raised his batting average .036 all the way up to .221 after going 4 for 5 with his third home run of the season in the M’s 11-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday.

Valencia, 32, has had his struggles at the plate this season. He entered play with a truly moribund .185/.256/.333 slash line with two homers and six RBIs in 90 plate appearances.

He’s been worth -0.2 WAR (according to the indispensable Baseball-Reference.com). That type of WAR (wins above replacement, for for the uninitiated) would be bad for a slap-hitting shortstop or a backup catcher, let alone a team’s primary first baseman, where offense comes as a requisite.

Valencia has had seasons of competency before. Shoot, last year he hit .287/.346/.446 with 17 dingers in 517 appearances for Oakland, but he was their utility guy – playing first, third, left and right – a destination he’s much more suited for, rather than getting everyday at-bats at the most offensively rooted position on the diamond.

See, his career splits are overwhelming. He’s a lifetime .320/.374/.496 player against left-handed pitchers, while a measly .243/.285/.392 against righties. This season he’s .174/.216/.348 against right-handers. And since there are many more right-handed starters than lefties, it’s no wonder he’s slogging through one of the worst five-week periods of his career.

The Mariners would be much better off using Valencia in a platoon with oh, just about anyone at four different positions. He could even give Kyle Seager (career .242/.247/.298 vs. LHP) nights off against tough lefties.

However, it’s not like he’s getting pushed or the M’s have much option. Dan Vogelbach got a real shot out of spring training and got sent back down, despite having nothing to prove as a hitter down there. Then, in a one-week tryout last week, the big guy failed with sporadic chances to produce.

At some point, maybe when the M’s are so far out of the race it will no longer matter, they are going to have to commit to Vogelbach for an extended period to see if he’s going to cut it at the big league level, offensively and defensively.

But for now, the M’s have to hope that Valencia’s sporadic outbursts come more often than once a month.