The Seattle Mariners took a chance on 27 year-old Victor Robles at the midway point of the MLB season. As a Seattle Mainers fan, it's fair to admit that usually the Mariners projects don't end with this good of success story.
Well, for Robles, it's ended up being one of the best moves the Mariners have made in years, and for him it's been the best stretch of baseball in his MLB career.
Remember, back in 2018, he was signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2014, and was MLB.com's No. 6 overall prospect and the only player within the Top 100 with three tools that grade at least a 70 (75-grade speed and 70-grade arm and field). He also ended up winning a World Series with the Washington Nationals.
Then, one June 1st of 2024, he was waived and released by the Washington Nationals, he just wasn't the prospect they expected.
After a couple good months with the Seattle Mariners, his life changed, signing two-year, $9.75 million contract extension with Seattle that includes an additional $2 million in performance incentives.
How did he get that contract? Well, he's been amazing with the Mariners:
Really cool to see the swing adjustments that Victor Robles has made over the years.
— Seattle Mariners ON Tap (@MarinersONTap) September 24, 2024
He's been so special with the Mariners.
in 73 games with the Mariners, he is batting .336 with a 159 OPS+ 🔥pic.twitter.com/vHHM2shGad
Victor Robles has been a spark-plug for the Mariners since he joined the club on June 5, batting .336 (71x211) with 37 runs, 17 doubles, 4 home runs, 23 RBI, 15 walks and 28-for-29 in stolen bases, with a .403 on-base percentage, .474 slugging percentage and .877 OPS.
There is even more, via MarinersBlog:
"Victor has reached base in 14-consecutive games (9/4-c) and is batting .435 (37x85) with 21 runs, 9 doubles, 1 home run, 15 RBI, 7 walks, 15 stolen bases and a 1.077 OPS over his last 26 games (8/17-c), leading the Majors in average during that span (min. 50 AB), ranking ahead of Luis Arraez-SD (.354), but…DID YOU KNOW?…that Victor could become just the 4th hitter in Mariners history to bat .333 or better (min. 200 PA) in a season?…he is on pace to join Ichiro Suzuki (4x, 2001, ’04, ’07 and ‘09), Edgar Martinez (3x, 1992, ’95 and ’99) and Alex Rodriguez (1996)."