Are these young Mariners outfielders fast and furious? Or in over their heads?

The Mariners went into last season with Leonys Martin, Jarrod Dyson and Mitch Haniger as their starting outfielders.

Now it’s projected to be Dee Gordon, Ben Gamel and Haniger.

Of all the Mariners projected position groups, this outfield enters spring training with the most questions. These are some of their least experienced, but most athletic players on the club.

Just a couple of issues with this group:

▪  Will Dee Gordon be a viable center fielder? He’s never played an inning in the outfield in his major league career, although he is a Gold Glove second baseman.

▪  Are the Mariners expecting too much from Haniger, Gamel and Guillermo Heredia coming off their rookie seasons?

The first is a little easier to answer with pitchers and catchers officially reporting to spring training on Wednesday in Peoria, Arizona. Position players report on Feb. 20.

Gordon said he’s spent every day since the December trade working in the outfield with Mariners first base coach and outfield instructor Chris Prieto. He’s even solicited advice from Ken Griffey Jr., and he played for the Marlins last season alongside Ichiro Suzuki. So he’s been around arguably the two greatest outfielders in Mariners history.

“It worked for Chris Taylor, Robin Yount and Billy Hamilton,” Mariners manager Jerry Dipoto said.

Yount would win an MVP with the Brewers and Hamilton has become one of baseball’s best defensive center fielders after switching from shortstop. Mariners fans remember Taylor as a shortstop who made his major league debut with Seattle in 2014 who wound up starting in center for the Dodgers this past World Series.

Gordon is certainly fast enough to do it. He would have been the fourth-fastest center fielder in baseball last year, according to data compiled by Daren Willman, the director of baseball research and development for MLB.

“If you are athletic and familiar playing in the middle of the field, I don’t think it’s as ominous of a move as it was for him to switch infield positions,” Dipoto said. “Because now you are asked to switch the angle the ball comes off the bat. In center field, that’s not the case at all. You have time to adjust.”

The first thing Gordon did was buy an outfield glove. He found out he had been traded and he said he immediately went to his nearest Dick’s Sporting Goods in Miami and picked out a new glove. It was red – because “that’s about all they had.”

“Then the glove wasn’t broken in so it didn’t work,” Gordon said. “So the glove is in the back of the car. I got a new glove and hopefully it works out.”

Now, about the players around him.

The Mariners were the only team in major league history since 1913 to have three rookies make at least 95 starts in the outfield in the same season.

Yes, the only one. And only two other teams had three rookies make at least 80 outfield starts – with the last being the 1969 Kansas City Royals, which featured outfielder Lou Piniella.

What makes that most surprising is that it didn’t feel like the Mariners were making baseball history. Gamel (127 starts), Heredia (104) and Haniger (95) played admirably out there.

Mariners outfielders recorded 12 double plays a year ago, the most in the major leagues. And their 34 assists was the fourth-most in the big leagues.

Dyson had a lot to do with that, and the 33-year-old is now a free agent. The Mariners were the eighth-oldest team in baseball but are getting younger in the outfield (Gordon is 29, Haniger 27, Heredia 27 and Gamel is 25).

“We’re not the decrepit, old club that is getting ready to fall apart as the seams that we’re being portrayed as,” Dipoto said during the December winter meetings.

And Haniger, Heredia and Gamel have each played every outfield spot, which is why Nelson Cruz played just five games in right field last season compared to the 48 he played in 2016 and 80 in 2015.

MLB.com ranked Haniger as the No. 9 right fielder in baseball entering this season. That’s likely assuming he’s healthy after spending two stints on the DL with a strained right oblique and then a lacerated lip. Among players with at least 400 plate appearances, Haniger had the fourth-best OPS (on-base plus slugging) of any rookie at .843 – trailing Yankees AL rookie of the year Aaron Judge, Dodgers NL rookie of the year Cody Bellinger and the Cardinals’ Paul DeJong.

Gamel, who didn’t make the team out of spring training last year, came up when Haniger injured his side on April 26. He put up a solid season with a slash line of .275/.322/.413 while compiling 550 at-bats.

Heredia’s production was a bit less but he showed plenty with the glove. He slashed .249/.315/.337 while battling a shoulder injury that required offseason surgery, and he might not be fully healed by opening day. So Cameron Perkins, who was claimed off waivers from the Phillies, might the the Mariners’ fourth outfielder to start the season, while utility guys Andrew Romine and Taylor Motter are also capable of playing outfield.

But Dipoto said they had a need in the outfield heading into the offseason and he got his man in Gordon and the three years, $38 million owed his way the next three seasons – even if it was pretty unconventional to trade for a player to play a position he’s never before played. He’s projected to be the Mariners’ 11th different opening day center fielder since Griffey started there 11 consecutive opening days (1989-99).

Gordon’s .308 batting average and 60 stolen bases for the Marlins last year already has Mariners manager Scott Servais penciling him atop the batting order, with Jean Segura slated to bat second. But speed is all that goes into playing center field.

There’s also things like taking the correct angle, needing a powerful arm, wearing a different glove and this:

“The biggest thing is learning how to crow hop,” Gordon said. “I know that sounds like it’s elementary. But learning how to crow hop is hard when you finish up on your feet your whole life.”

WHO’S IN CAMP? (6 on 40-man roster)

NELSON CRUZ

Bats right, throws right, 6-feet-2, 230 pounds

He can play some right field, but he won’t if the Mariners can help it. The 37-year-old played five games in right last season but he’s become a full-time DH at this stage of his career and how the roster is constructed. He led the AL in RBIs last year (119) His 166 homers since 2014 are 13 more than any other player. Option status: Not applicable.

BEN GAMEL

L-L, 5-11, 187

Gamel is the likely starter in left field and showed the ability to hit both righties and lefties last year (.275). But did teams figure him out? Gamel hit .356 with a .412 on-base percentage combined in May and June, but he tailed off, hitting .219 with a .255 on-base percentage the next three months. Option status: one remaining.

DEE GORDON

L-R, 5-11, 170

He’s the Mariners’ biggest offseason acquisition after last year becoming one of nine players in MLB history to have at least 200 hits and 60 stolen bases in the same season. Nobody has stolen more bases since his debut in 2001 and the Mariners hope that speed translates well to his first time playing in the outfield.Option status: Not applicable

MITCH HANIGER

R-R, 6-2, 204

Haniger is slotted for regular duty in right field. Was limited to 96 games but did plenty – 25 doubles, 16 homers and 49 RBI –when he played. Option status: two remaining.

GUILLERMO HEREDIA

R-L, 5-10, 180

Regarded as a defense-first player when signed last year after defecting from Cuba, but his bat exceeded expectations. Better against lefties (.310) than righties (.218). Option status: one remaining.

CAMERON PERKINS

R-R, 6-5, 195

Another player who can play all three outfield positions. He was claimed off waiver from the Phillies after hitting .288/.374/.447 in 295 plate appearances at Triple-A Lehigh Valley last season. Option status: two remaining

NON-ROSTER INVITES (5)

John Andreoli (R-R, 6-1, 210): Minor-league pick up from Triple-A Iowa (Cubs), where he spent the past three seasons. 27-year-old hit .244 in 119 games last season.

Andrew Aplin (L-L, 6-0, 205): 26-year-old played the rest of the season with Triple-A Tacoma after the Mariners acquired him from the Houston Astros in late May. He hit .243 in 47 games.

Braden Bishop (R-R, 6-0, 175): the Mariners third-round pick in 2015 out of the University of Washington had a slash line of .306/.393/.413 between Advanced-A Modesto and Double-A Arkansas last season.

Ian Miller (L-L, 6-3, 190): Jerry Dipoto awards spring training invites to the club’s top PTPA winner. That stands for Productive Team Plate Appearances. That was Miller last season, the 25-year-old who spent 41 games at Triple-A Tacoma, where he hit .268.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis (L-R, 6-3, 225): 30-year-old has played in the big leagues each of the past six seasons, including 125 games when the Brewers were rebuilding in 2016. But he appeared in 16 games for the Brewers last season and was twice designated for assignment before being outrighted to Triple-A.

SPRING TRAINING PREVIEW

TODAY: Outfielders

SUNDAY: Infielders

MONDAY: Bullpen

TUESDAY: Catchers

WEDNESDAY: Rotation

IMPORTANT DATES

Wednesday: Pitchers and catchers report to spring training.

Feb. 20: Position players report.

Feb. 23: First spring training game.

March 29: Season opener (vs. Cleveland at Safeco Field).

FRONT AND CENTER

Dee Gordon is projected to the Mariners’ 11th different starting center fielder on opening day since Ken Griffey made his 11th consecutive opening day start in 1999. Here’s a look at each of them, according to Baseball Reference.

YEAR	CENTER FIELD	LEFT FIELD	RIGHT FIELD
2000	Mike Cameron	Ben McLemore	John Mabry
2001	Mike Cameron	Al Martin	Ichiro Suzuki
2002	Mike Cameron	Ben McLemore	Ichiro Suzuki
2003	Mike Cameron	Randy Winn	Ichiro Suzuki
2004	Randy Winn	Raul Ibanez	Ichiro Suzuki
2005	Jeremy Reed	Randy Winn	Ichiro Suzuki
2006	Jeremy Reed	Raul Ibanez	Ichiro Suzuki
2007	Ichiro Suzuki	Raul Ibanez	Jose Guillen
2008	Ichiro Suzuki	Raul Ibanez	Brad Wilkerson
2009	Franklin Gutierrez	Endy Chavez	Ken Griffey Jr.
2010	Franklin Gutierrez	Milton Bradley	Ichiro Suzuki
2011	Ryan Langerhans	Milton Bradley	Ichiro Suzuki
2012	Michael Saunders	Mike Carp	Ichiro Suzuki
2013	Franklin Gutierrez	Mike Morse	Michael Saunders
2014	Abraham Almonte	Dustin Ackley	Michael Saunders
2015	Austin Jackson	Dustin Ackley	Seth Smith
2016	Leonys Martin	Nori Aoki	Nelson Cruz
2017	Leonys Martin	Jarrod Dyson	Mitch Haniger

This story was originally published February 9, 2018 at 3:01 PM with the headline "Are these young Mariners outfielders fast and furious? Or in over their heads?."