At the end of a long, losing season for the Seattle Mariners, there might be a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. It comes in the form of outfield prospect Kyle Lewis, who made his Major League debut Tuesday and has done nothing but hit. In fact, Lewis has a home run in each of his first three games.
He became just the second player in Major League history to turn that debut trifecta. The first was the Colorado Rockies’ Trevor Story, who hit six home runs in his first four games in 2016 (and only one was at Coors Field).
This is absurd. Kyle Lewis with his third homer in three games and third hit of the game
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) September 13, 2019
Some serious power
Lewis, 24, always has shown some flashes of power. He was known for it during his college days at Mercer, where he won the Golden Spikes Award as college baseball’s best player, and it made him a top prospect.
But Lewis’ journey through the minor leagues has been wayward (more on that in a second), and his career minor-league slugging percentage is just .417, including .398 at Double-A Arkansas this season.
The power, however, is still there. Lewis has the three homers and a double in his first three games, and the last homer was a 457-foot blast, the longest hit by the Mariners this season. And remember, Seattle had Edwin Encarnacion and Jay Bruce at the beginning of the season, and Daniel Vogelbach has more than 30 homers, too.
THREE GAMES THREE HOMERS
KYLE LEWIS IS THE FIRST MARINER TO EVER DO IT. WELCOME TO SEATTLE ☔️ @MARINERS#TrueToTheBlue pic.twitter.com/deluXNKj95
— Sports ON Tap Seattle (@SONTSeattle) September 13, 2019
A long journey
Lewis’ surprising start is a feel-good story because of how much he’s been through in the minors. After the Mariners took him with the 11th pick in the 2016 MLB draft, Lewis got off to a nice start for Short-A Everett. But then he tore his ACL in a freak collision at home plate.
The injury cost him the rest of the 2016 season and most of 2017. He returned toward the end of the 2017 season, but the knee continued to bother him. Lewis needed a second surgery in 2018 to clean up scar tissue and a bone spur and was limited to less than 100 games for the third straight year.
Finally healthy, he helped Arkansas to the Texas League playoffs this season, then received his long-awaited call-up. Three games in, he’s certainly made the most of it.
Kyle Lewis:
🔺 Junior season: .395 BA, 20 HRs, 72 RBI
🔺 2016 Baseball America College Player of the Year
🔺 Drafted No. 11 overall by Ms
🔺 Tore ACL, medial meniscus and lateral meniscus
🔺 Called up three years later
🔺 3HRs in first 3 MLB games @Mariners @SONTHighlights pic.twitter.com/3YJQDUrfJt— Sports ON Tap Seattle (@SONTSeattle) September 13, 2019
