If you remember back to the 2025 season, the Seattle Mariners tried to move Jorge Polanco from second base to third base in spring training. It didn't go particularly well, and because Polanco ended up injured for a stretch at the beginning of the season, the experiment was quickly abandoned, with Polanco spending much of his season at designated hitter and then back at second base.

Heading into the 2026 season, the Mariners attempted to move Brendan Donovan, a known Swiss Army Knife, into a regular role at third base. Donovan is currently injured, but the transition certainly had its ups-and-downs prior to injury. And now, with the emergence of Colt Emerson, there's no guarantee that Donovan ends up back at third when healthy.

Furthermore, J.P. Crawford has said he's willing to move from shortstop to third base. We still don't know how that transition will go, and Crawford is on the injured list as well.

This week, we've seen Cole Young move from second base to shortstop despite having only two innings of major league experience at the position before Monday's game.

On a recent edition of the 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast, we asked former Mariners INF Ryon Healy how difficult learning a new position is, in addition to how hard it is to rotate between positions. 

(*This interview was taped before Young's move to shortstop for Monday and Tuesday.)

"I'll tell you one of my, my pregame routines.

I was always more stressed when I was playing third than if I was playing first. I felt like I could play first blindfolded. But third base, it took every ounce of me.

And then once I knew a position I was playing, I'd look at the opposing lineup. I'f I'm playing first base, how many left-handed hitters are up there?'

If there's seven lefties, I'm like, 'I'm gonna be busy today, let's be locked in, let's make sure we're pre-pitching, make sure I know the plays, the opportunities.'

If I'm playing third base and there's eight righties in the lineup, I'm like, 'I'm going be busy today.' Yeah, there's a couple lefties in there. Okay, yeah, I'll shift over. I have some different responsibilities, but the stress that comes with different positions is real.

It's not a fair comp from myself to a JP Crawford, though, who has been a Gold Glove shortstop of the major leagues.

I think defense is a lot easier for him than it ever was for me. I remember talking with Matt Chapman, we were coming up together. He's like, 'dude, if I just had the same confidence in the batter's box that I have on defense, he goes, I, uh, would be an All-Star every year.'

So guys can be more confident on either side of the baseball. And to give you a comp for that, think about a guy like Bo Bichette who has been, I would say a good big league defender at shortstop for his entire career, signed a big contract to move positions in a big market.

And I think that stress and that pressure that comes with that transition of the game looking completely different from third base for shortstop was a lot for him to handle. And then I think it affects your offense a little bit more than you want to lead on.

That's at least what I saw this weekend. And then by the last game of the series (Mariners vs. Mets), he had three or four hits. You're like, 'oh, there's Bo Bichette He's not gone, he's just been underwater and a lot on his plate.'

The Mariners enter play on Wednesday at 36-32 and in first place in the American League West. They'll play the Baltimore Orioles in game three of a four-game set.

The newest episode of the 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast is out, featuring Part 2 of our conversation with former M's infielder Ryon Healy. You can listen to it here.

You can also watch the episode below:

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