The power is good, but the joy is also good.
On Friday night, with the game tied at 4-4 in the top of the ninth inning, the Seattle Mariners got a massive blast from rookie slugger Lazaro Montes.
The fourth home run of his big league career gave the Mariners a 5-4 lead over the Colorado Rockies, a lead they would hold onto for a win just a half inning later.
The Mariners are now 72-82 on the season and though this has been a very disappointing year, they are still trying to end it strong with eight games to go.
With the home run, Montes gave the Mariners exactly what they needed, at the exact time they needed it. But even beyond the performance on the field, he's giving the Mariners something else they need: Joy.
Montes plays the game with a smile and a joy that is hard to ignore, and it's something that's been sorely missing from this Mariners team for most of the year.
As the injuries and poor performances have piled up, so much of this Mariners season has felt like a chore. It hasn't felt like the Mariners have been having any fun, and that's kind of understandable, isn't it? Who would have fun when you're going from World Series contender to missing the playoffs?
Who could have fun when you've spent the entire second half of the season blowing leads, and struggling on offense when you weren't?
But Montes's personality doesn't seem to care about those things. He just comes to the park and plays the game with an infectious energy, and it's been a welcome deviation from what we've seen most of the season.
About Montes long-term
Look, there are questions about Montes's long-term ability, and about how he fits into the Mariners long term.
He's only got a 35 plate appearance sample size, but he's already got a 42.9 percent strikeout rate, a 46.8 percent whiff rate and a 32.8 percent chase rate, which are exceptionally high. The swing-and-miss is a real concern, but his power is undeniable. The same was true in the minor leagues.
How do the Mariners balance those two things out? That remains to be seen. He also isn't seen as a great defender, which complicates things even further.
Can he keep that same joy?
We will see, but it's certainly hard. Julio Rodriguez and JP Crawford have played with that same joy before, but as the years go on, the dollars get bigger, the media obligations get more, the struggles get more pronounced and the scrutiny gets bigger. All of that can wear on you.
Guys like Adrian Beltre and Victor Robles are two examples of people that have always kept that same joy, we'll see if Montes can as well. The team is better off with it.
Of note
The latest 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast, featuring ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney, is now out. You can listen here, or you can watch in the YouTube player below. There will be three more new episodes next week.
