Dustin Ackley: 5 Second Basemen the Mariners' Prospect Could Develop into

The Dustin Ackley era is officially under way for the Seattle Mariners, and it appears to be off to a good start. I think four games gives us a big enough sample to start comparing Ackley to other middle infielders around the league.

Seriously though, we still don't truly know what kind of player Ackley will turn into. If he indeed turns into the guy most people are expecting—good average, decent power, good, but not great speed—there are a few guys in the MLB that Ackley resembles.  

Orlando Hudson

This would probably be one of the more worse-case scenarios for Ackley, but Orlando Hudson is a similar player in that he sacrifices power for average.

Hudson is a career .279 hitter, but has had plenty of seasons right around .300. The 33-year-old journeyman is much more of a gap-hitter, as he usually produces somewhere around 30 doubles and about 10 home runs.

Through the first month of this season, Ackley was certainly hitting a lot of balls into the ground. An Orlando Hudson comparison looked right on, but Ackley has been steadily increasing his pop since May, and he looks like a guy with 15-20 homer power.  

Kelly Johnson

Kelly Johnson poses many similarities to Dustin Ackley.

Johnson is a .264 career hitter, but if you take out an injury-plagued 2009, he has mostly hit somewhere around .280. Johnson, however, walks a fair amount, which puts his career OBP at a nice .356. Ackley has established himself as someone who gets on base any way possible.

Johnson's power is probably similar to Ackley's as well, as he has shown the ability to hit anywhere from 12 to 26 homers. 

Johnson holds a career -2.7 UZR over at second base, so his defense seems to be on par with Ackley's, too. 

All-in-all, Johnson has been fairly inconsistent throughout his career, with flashes of brilliance along the way. If I had to make a prediction, I would say that I imagine Ackley becoming a more consistent version of Kelly Johnson.  

Placido Polanco

Placido Polanco has always been the perfect role player.

He plays terrific defense over at second base—unlike Ackley—and he's an on-base machine—much like Ackley.

Polanco is a .302 career hitter with a .347 OBP. He doesn't have a whole lot of pop, but he has shown that he can add that dimension when needed, as he hit 17 home runs back in 2004.

Polanco reminds me of Ackley in the way that they are both very smart players and know what to do to win ball games. Neither are overly flashy, but neither will go out there and strike out four, or three or usually even two times in a game.

Michael Young

As far as defensive versatility goes, Michael Young and Dustin Ackley are far apart. Young, although he can cover multiple positions, has been a below average defender throughout his career, and therefore resembles Ackley very much in that regard.

On the offensive side, the Mariners second baseman could end up looking very similar to Young. The Texas utility man is a career .300 hitter and has put together five 200-hit seasons. His power, on average, sits around the high-teens to low-20s, a place where Ackley's numbers will likely fall.

Ackley might prove to have more speed than Young, as his career high in stolen bases is only 13, while Ackley can probably get closer to 20. 

Dustin Pedroia

This has to be the best-case scenario for Dustin Ackley, as the Red Sox star second baseman has already won an MVP in his young career.

Pedroia's numbers during that season were stellar—.326, 17 HR, 83 RBI, 20 SB, 118 R, 54 2B.

If I had to imagine a ceiling for Dustin Ackley, and while I don't want to limit him to anything, those numbers would be awfully close to anything I would think of.

While Pedroia's defense is on another level right now than Ackley's, they are extremely similar players. Good average, good walk and strikeout rates, more gap-power than over-the-wall-power, deceptive speed and both are prototypical No. 2 hitters.

Oh, and both are named Dustin. I actually almost missed that. It's like fate.