Saunders, and his power, are back from Venezuela

The most eventful year of Michael Saunders’ pro baseball life has ended on a positive note. The Mariners’ 23-year-old outfield prospect is back home in Victoria, B.C., after 22 games of winter ball in Venezuela where he revisited his power side.

Playing for Lara, Saunders hit .353 in 85 at-bats with three doubles, three triples and – tadaa!! – two home runs.

OK, there were the 21 strikeouts vs. 10 walks. But Saunders finished with 17 RBI, a .421 on-base percentage, .529 slugging percentage and a .950 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.

If nothing else, it was a good confidence-builder for both Saunders and the Mariners, who need to see some power if he’s to seriously contend for the left field position in 2010.

Called up to the big leagues after batting .310 with 13 homers and 32 RBI in 248 at-bats with Class AAA Tacoma, Saunders batted .221 with no homers and four RBI in 122 at-bats with the Mariners. They shut him down for much of September to allow hitting coach Alan Cockrell to work with him on generating more power.

Saunders and Cockrell continued their sessions last month in Arizona before Saunders joined the Lara team in Venezuela. He finished with a six-game hitting streak, batting .480 in that stretch.

“They worked on some stuff mechanically in the big leagues and he continued to work on it in Arizona,” Mariners minor league director Pedro Grifol said. “Then he went to Venezuela and said he felt really good.”

The Mariners badly need an infusion of power to their lineup next year, and left field is a prime area to add it. Saunders may not become that guy in 2010, but the Mariners certainly haven’t let his struggles at the big-league level this year discourage them.

“He will have power down the road,” Grifol said. “He has raw power. He needs to turn it into game power, which takes time and experience.”