The Seattle Mariners signed their star Japanese leadoff hitter Ichiro Suzuki to a new 5 year contract worth 90 million dollars just three days after his MVP winning inside the park home run hitting performance at the All Star Game.

He currently leads the big leagues with 128 hits and is second in batting average at .355 and 3rd in the AL with 23 stolen bases.

Ichiro has a reasonable shot at 3000 career hits despite not starting his MLB career until he was 28 years old in 2001. He has never had fewer than 208 hits in a season and has finished either 1st or 2nd in hits every year in the AL.

Despite all of this some feel that Ichiro is overrated due to his low walk ratio and lack of power. His detractors can point out that he has actually lead the league in at bats (4) more times than hits (3.) His career OBP of .379 is not as outstanding as you would expect someone with a .333 batting average to have and his .439 slugging percentage is weak. His career OPS is .818 and OPS+ is 120 which shows that while he is an above average offensive performer, he is probably not as good as most casual fans with a lesser understanding of statistics think.

Oh the other hand his positives include his 258 career steals, his 6 gold gloves (every season so far), and his 109 career intentional walks (14th among active players) which shows that despite his lack of power Ichiro is a feared hitter in the American League.

He's also having arguably his greatest season so far this year. His season to date 134 OPS+ is just shy of his career high of 135 in 2004 when he set the MLB for hits in a season with 262.

Labels: Seattle Mariners