Mariners first baseman Evan White will soon be undergoing surgery to address a sports hernia, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports. It’s another big setback for White, who underwent a hip surgery last July that cut short his 2021 season.
Though White’s specific case may differ, most sports hernia operations result in roughly 4-8 weeks of missed time. It’s probably safe to project towards the higher end of that timeframe, given that White is also on the way back from his hip procedure, and he has barely played during Spring Training. With these factors in mind, White could be looking at closer to a midseason debut.
The 17th overall pick of the 2017 draft, White drew plenty of top-100 prospect buzz heading into the 2020 season, and his rookie season was highlighted by a Gold Glove Award for his work at first base. At the plate, however, White has remained a major work in progress, hitting only .165/.235/.308 over his first 306 plate appearances against big league pitching.
Between his injuries and the lack of a 2020 minor league season, White’s development has already hit some significant speedbumps, and it was already looking like he would be starting 2022 as either a backup or perhaps even in the minors to get some regular playing time. The Mariners can afford to take their time, as White was already been signed to a six-year, $24MM extension back in November 2019. Much of the money on that backloaded deal has yet to kick in, as White made $2.6MM in the first two years of the extension and is set to earn $1.4MM in 2022.
Ty France is Seattle’s top option at first base, with utilityman Abraham Toro and Luis Torrens also capable of handling the position. Divish also reports that new acquisition Jesse Winker has been working out at first base, which could represent an interesting way for the M’s to juggle their lineup (especially when star prospect Julio Rodriguez is eventually called up). Winker has never played first base in his pro career, though gaining a foothold at a new position could be helpful for Winker considering that defensive metrics haven’t been too fond of his work in the outfield.
That stinks!
That extension has turned out brilliant for Evan White. Jon Singleton comes to mind as well.
Evan has had some bad luck. Singleton basically took the money and ran. This is a good cautionary tale about not signing players to extensions before they actually play an MLB game. Teams are so scared about service time they either hold a player back to keep controll or extend them and pray
Scott Kingery, as well!
I make $30k a month and all I do is post stupid stuff on here. I hope I can make one person laugh if not laugh then a smile. I don’t even get on every day. Just follow the link below.
HDDUH:Moron.scam/go shower your moms basement smells.DOH
Damn, this guy can’t catch a break! He was very smart to sign that long term deal when he did tho.
Good thing he’s more of a depth piece at the moment with ty France at 1b, but hope he can get healthy and contribute in the future.
I’m way more pessimistic on him than most others. He’s on his way to missing almost two full seasons and he’s looked lost when he was on the field. The most we can hope for by now is that he’s part of a trade that brings back a better player.
He hasn’t look lost at all on the field. Surely you meant at the plate.
At the plate he was over-matched. The jump from AA to MLB proved to be too much. He made/makes hard contact, but not enough.
He needs to shorten his swing and show more patience, but there’s still a good hitter in there.
You’re playing semantics but you 1000% knew what I meant. I don’t care how good his glove is at first base when he hits like a blind raccoon at the plate. Especially from 1B. He looked lost at the plate and I don’t really think he’s going to ever hit enough to stick at 1B. If somebody else does then be my guest. With where the Mariners are at in their window of contention I don’t believe we should be wasting a roster spot on him. The Mariners rushed him and that’s fine…let somebody else figure him out.
Me: “Surely you meant at the plate.”.
Way to call me out.
You knew the implication the entire time though. It didn’t require further explanation.
Question is, what would other teams be willing to pay to take on Evan White and his salary? If the Mariners would have to each most of his salary to trade him, shouldn’t they just keep him to see if he can turn it around?
I dont see it as semantics. On the field usually (to me) means fielding. Defense.
Gold Glove on the field toothpick bat at the plate. Here I go making stat nerds mad. I don’t give a bucket of used wiffle balls if he hits below what the stats says he should hit. As long as he plays GG D and hits singles and doubles. In fact I wouldn’t care if we placed last in HRs and first in doubles and singles.
A guy who plays GG 1st will save way more runs than a guy who plays below avg at D and GG at his position.
White was rushed and hopefully he can figure it out after healthy. Probably spend a few weeks in Tacoma when healthy. They need to give him time to get comfortable. He was never projected as a power hitter but more of a single doubles guy with excellent D.
Yeah, good thing they signed him. You’d hate to have him making the league minimum while he recovers from two surgeries and the fact that he wasn’t nearly ready to face major league hitting. Good thing indeed.
Danny hultzen as a position player.
Isn’t this what DJ lemahieu last season ?
Man poor guy has had some awful luck since the start of last season. He was on the Mariners schedule calendar from opening day as one of the “stars.” Gold glover from the COVID shortened season. A hip injury and a Ty France later and he’s not even in the mix anymore. He’s a really, really sweet kid, sending some good juju his way
Sports hernia is a better anticipated diagnosis than other possible outcomes. If recovers goes well, White still has a chance to make an impact in the minors this year with a possible call up at the end of the season.
Baseball is a hard game. No sane person ever denied that.
Only a few guys make it to the top.
We always see aspiring players whose bodies just don’t quite come up to the mark in some way or another.
That is part of the allure of the game. There is more glory and reward if you can succeed.
How about a trade with SD?! Hosmer for a 30/35 level prospect, with SD eating 30-35 mil of salary! Thoughts?
Ty France is a better player.
White for Kingery
He could play a mean first base. Wait a sec, if you’re gifted enough to win a Gold Glove at first base, shouldn’t you be playing a different position where your plus defensive skills can be best utilized??? From what I saw, not only did White win the Gold Glove, but he played demonstrably better than any other 1B in the league by quite a bit. But any old Rope-A-Dope can play first base, is the conventional wisdom…that position doesn’t need elite talent. Just gotta stretch and catch.
Back in the beginning the Mariners had another guy sort of like Evan White. Wonderful defensive first-baseman, a guy who is little remembered today.
Pete O’Brian.
His defense was exceptional at first base, but nothing qualified him for any other position.
Even further back, the Dodgers had Gil Hodges. Couldn’t hit the curve ball, and not mobile enough to play any other position. Gil began as a catcher, but a guy came along who was more mobile there, among other things. If Gil could have hit the curve he’d have been in the HOF in his own lifetime instead of 50 years later, thanks to a last-gasp effort by the Veterans ‘Committee.
A game of inches, someone once said. Or a game of almosts.
We shouldn’t be surprised if White goes no further at the MLB level.
Pete O’Brian was hardly “at the beginning” they signed him as a free agent prior to the 1990 season.
Perhaps like O’Brian White may want to consider the ministry if the bat doesn’t come around
Pete O’Brien came up with TEX. You’re right, he was an exceptional defensive 1B. However, he was a good hitter with TEX but with CLE and SEA after age 30, he wasn’t much of a hitter. Tino Martinez was being groomed for then finally claimed the position.
I wonder if the other players stay away from him for fear of an anvil falling out of the sky