Mitch Haniger is just getting started

2021 was a joyous reminder of what Mitch Haniger is capable of. After suffering through no, we will not go there, Haniger became the pillar and essence of the Seattle Mariners, helping carry the team’s lineup from the cold cement basement floor to the second rickety, wooden step on the proverbial stairwell of stick-hits-ball purgatory. Make no mistake, without Haniger last season, either by way of past precedent like injury or otherwise, the Mariners’ lineup would have floundered to another bottom-of-the-league performance in most offensive categories. But this is not to lament what the team reluctantly flirted with, it is to celebrate what Haniger was, and remarkably, what Haniger could still become.

…