At two on the ante meridium, you’ll find me asleep.
Most nights, this is no guarantee. Fiddling and futzing, filming and flamming, the unobserved hours of night offer me nourishing ease for my brain’s constructive efforts. It’s your fault, really, and Dominic Canzone is one of you, to be so damned compelling that in the decades I’ve determined my own bedtime that I’m rarely able to quell my mind until most of my world is at rest. But I’ve endeavored, dare I say vowed, to sleep soundly tonight. And for this, Canzone must be confronted on his terms: over the heart of the plate, in the light of day.
It’s a terrible gameplan for retiring the 28 year old Buckeye, whose outstanding second half caulked the corner outfield gap left by the injury-ridden seasons of Victor Robles and Luke Raley, as well as the better-the-sooner-we’re-rid-of-him Leody Taveras experiment. Canzone’s zone of influence is over the plate’s inner half, where his lean, wristy swing can deliver maximum impact with his whiplash hacks. Five of his 11 big flies came middle-in last year, and seven were on the inner half overall – just a single one was on the outer third of the plate. When Canzone connects, it’s thunderous.
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Julio’s seemingly-annual second-half surge was a massive part of Seattle’s blistering finish to the season, but Canzone’s scalding September and solid season overall played a mighty role as well. Expected to take a strong-side platoon, if not near-daily role in the 2026 lineup between DH and corner outfield, Canzone was on the outside looking in (with glasses) at this time a year ago. Defensively limited, Canzone was a bat-first platoon man who wasn’t batting. A series of adjustments to his stance and approach, as well as improved health and the opportunity provided by the injuries to Victor Robles and Luke Raley were all necessary to put Canzone back into Seattle’s plans.
Canzone’s quality improved last year with some good fortune: a .354 BABIP that is the dream of the shift-banners, rewarding a hitter who seeks to pull the ball with authority. But accomplishing this task also came on significant strides in his approach. Those mechanical changes seem to have made major strides, with Canzone improving his average bat speed on his swing while lowering the length of his swing. That’s not unheard of, but broadly speaking, bat speed is its best in longer swings, a give and take of impact authority in exchange for adjustability – e.g. Giancarlo Stanton constantly leads the league in average bat speed, but is an infamous whiff risk when contact is not made.
Ryan explored Canzone’s numbers in depth earlier this winter, which I implore you to read, because it gets at why Canzone is not like Stanton, nor even a more comparable feast or famine slugger in the same bat speed range: Teoscar Hernandez. Despite eschewing free passes to a deleterious degree, Canzone is able seemingly to better dominate the inner half of the zone while at least getting a piece of pitches he needs to spoil. In 2025, the slugger who will anchor a plucky Team Italy roster in the World Baseball Classic in less than a month struck out less than the league average, and whiffed barely a tick above the median.
In a slightly more ideal roster, Canzone could be confidently slated to DH for the Mariners heading into 2026. There’s not much sugar-coating Dom’s defensive shortcomings. He runs slowly, has a strong but inconsistent arm, and looks like a student of Randy Arozarena more than Julio or Victor Robles in his routes. In 2025, Canzone was dependent on the performance of others to have a chance at playing a role in the big leagues. This year, a major role has been earned, but the shape of it remains to be seen, ranging from platoon bat to full-time DH/RF given the small gains Canzone showed against southpaws.
Canzone will likely have to see what Robles can deliver this spring, as his fellow 28 year old is unequivocally a defensive superior who can allow Julio to better shade to cover his DH-worthy compatriot in left. Wherever he plays, however, Canzone has earned his way back into the center of the plan, well lit and looking forward.
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