On Sunday Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald wrote that the Miami Marlins are likely to exercise a $2 million team option on Ichiro Suzuki. 2017 would be Suzuki’s third season as a member of the Marlins organization. At the start of next season, Ichiro will be 43 years-old.
2016 was something of a bounce back year for Ichiro following three below average offensive seasons. He appeared in 143 games for the Marlins (62 as a starter, 81 as a sub), and hit .291/.354/.376. Ichiro was especially effective against left-handed pitching (.339/.435/.424). In 2017 he will likely have the same role he had this season. From time to time he’ll see a start in the outfield, but he will primarily be a bench bat.
Even though Ichiro wasn’t a prominent figure in Miami’s every day plans, he still received a lot of attention this year. On August 7, he joined the 3,000 hit club with a triple. This made him the 30th player in Major League history to reach that milestone. Earlier in the year Ichiro passed Pete Rose’s record of 4,256 hits (if you count Suzuki’s hits from Japan). The question of whether or not Ichiro was now the “Hit King” spawned a significant amount of controversy.
Next season would be Ichiro’s 17th year in the majors. Since coming to the Mariners as a 27 year-old in 2001 he has been one of the best hitters in baseball. In each of his first ten big league seasons he totaled at least 200 hits, and he led the league in that stat seven times. That debut season in 2001 also earned Ichiro Rookie of the Year and MVP honors.
Clearly Ichiro won’t see regular playing time, barring injury, as the Marlins have one of the most talented outfields in all of baseball. Christian Yelich, Giancarlo Stanton, and Marcell Ozuna all had productive seasons at the plate. That group will form the foundation of a team looking to improve on its 79 wins from 2016. Miami will be attempting to reach the postseason for the first time since 2003.
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