Mariners Minor League Recap: Week 5, April 30 - May 5

Everybody is raking

Welcome back to another weekly edition of the Mariners minor league roundup! With the complex league starting early this year, we’ll get a taste of every single player that’s currently stateside (we unfortunately still have to wait for the DSL to start) and no longer have to wait until mid-summer to see how everyone’s performing. That being said, let’s jump right into the major league doorstep, the Pacific Coast League.

Tacoma Rainiers

19-14, 2nd in Pacific Coast League West

Today was a pretty meh week for the Rainiers. Dropping the series to the first place River Cats, they played fine but lacked that final oomph to get them over the top. I can’t lie, there really wasn’t much of a standout performer in this series. Jonatan Clase made his return to the team and scuffled a bit. Blake Hunt, once red hot, wasn’t quite the same as he has been. Ryan Bliss has cooled off after a hot streak and is holding around league average with the stick. Cade Marlowe was fine, but nothing crazy special. Overall, it was just fine. Not bad, not good, just good old fashioned fine.

Tacoma’s pitching has continued to show well over the first month of the season, headlined by the rehabbing Bryan Woo who appears to be all systems go for his big league season debut. Having now logged three starts in Tacoma, Woo finishes his time for the Rainiers having thrown 11.1 scoreless innings with 17Ks and 0BBs. He’s been utterly dominant at Triple-A and is sure to take over Emerson Hancock’s spot sometime soon. Jhonathan Diaz, the season long staff ace for Tacoma, was back to his winning ways this week after his first truly bad start of the year last series. With a season ERA at 2.37 and only 27 years old, the Mariners may have a lefty long man for their bullpen should they need innings down the stretch.

Tacoma will duke it out with Reno this week, Arizona’s affiliate.

Arkansas Travelers

16-10, 2nd in Texas League North

Having Sunday’s game rained out, the Travs took home a 3-2 series win that featured a ton of hot hitting from the biggest names in the lineup. The Travs currently have the second best run differential in the Texas league (behind Midland) and best in their division. You really couldn’t have asked for a better week when it comes to having the stars perform at their best and sparks a ton of promise for what’s yet to come from this Arkansas squad.

The three headed monster (dare I say Cerberus) of Cole Young, Harry Ford, and Tyler Locklear were special this week, with each having a monster series against San Antonio. Young launched his first Double-A homer in grand fashion on Saturday en route to a 6-17 series. Tyler Locklear, the steadiest force throughout this lineup, logged yet another great week where he also went 6-17 with a homer and a double. A truly mammoth shot, his homer was launched cleanly out of the ballpark to LF, a truly difficult feat in Dickey-Stephens Park. Finally, the red hot Harry Ford had a monster week. Logging an 8-14 week with 5 BBs and 4 Ks, Ford has been lighting it up for the better part of three weeks now and his season stats now comfortably sits in the “good without any qualifier” category. Locklear (.989) leads the team in OPS, however after the abysmal start he had, Ford (.914) finds himself knocking on the door and is reminding fans of just how good he can be.

Logan Evans logged arguably his best start as a professional on Saturday, spinning six innings of shut out ball. Allowing only two baserunners (a hit and a HBP) over the length of the outing, Evans K’d nine San Antonio batters and was pounding the strike zone like no tomorrow. Needing just 62 pitches to clear six innings, Evans managed to throw 51 for strikes. If that doesn’t sound ridiculous when you read it the first time, read it again. To show that level of dominance is not something that happens often and speaks volumes about a guy who was making his 12th professional start. Now with a 1.57 ERA at Double-A, he’s fully exceeded any reasonable expectation for a guy drafted in the 12th round of last summer’s draft and will quickly find himself closer to the top of prospects lists than the bottom.

The Travelers’ next opponent is a Wichita team that’s struggled to find much success this year. Look for the Travs to continue their hot hitting.

Everett AquaSox

10-16, 5th in Northwest League

Everett secured their first series win on the year, a 3-2 victory due to Sunday’s game also being postponed due to inclement weather. Interestingly enough, the 10-16 Frogs now officially have a positive run differential and are out of the cellar in the Northwest League. They’ve been playing better ball as of late and can hopefully roll this series win over into next week to really get things firing on all cylinders.

Everett’s lineup is largely carried by Ben Williamson, however Jared Sundstrom and Brock Rodden have begun to pick it up as of late and were able to chip in with some offense, Sundstrom (6-15), Rodden (6-22), and Williamson (6-17) combined for four doubles and a homer in a series that saw the Frogs consistently scoring, a sight we just haven’t seen reliably for much of this year. Should this team be able to keep up this level of play, they’ll be back above the .500 line in no time.

The pitching has been a bright spot for the AquaSox this season, with both their starters and bullpen flashing some great development. Reigning pitcher of the week Ryan Hawks, last year’s 8th rounder out of Louisville, is off to a nice start this year with a 2.66 ERA through his first five starts. The stuff isn’t overpowering, but he can certainly spin a slider and has consistently performed since being drafted. Additionally, Ty Cummings continued his excellent pitching this season and spun five innings of one run ball. He and Hawks have been incredibly stable atop Everett’s rotation and are helping this team claw back into relevancy.

Everett takes on a middling Vancouver team next week, a Toronto affiliate.

Modesto Nuts

19-6, 1st in California League North

The Modesto Nuts are truly a force unlike I’ve ever seen in the minor leagues. There’s been some amazing squads I’ve seen in my time tracking the minor leagues, all of them sporting multiple future big leaguers. This Modesto team, however, just feels a little bit different. Many of the super teams featured in the Mariner system relied heavily on pitching. Last year’s Arkansas, for example, won the first half championship with a rotation featuring Bryan Woo, Bryce Miller, and Emerson Hancock. While that’s fun and all, having a lineup that features a relentless onslaught of sluggers that scores runs at a ridiculous rate every single day just hits a little different. Taking 5 of 6 this last week, the only game they dropped was the first leg of a Sunday double header.

This lineup isn’t necessarily carried by any one hitter, but Lazaro Montes certainly had a week good enough to carry an entire team. Clocking in with a 10-22 stretch, Montes clobbered three homers, a double, and walked more times than he struck out. Montes is comfortably the California League leader in both HR (6) and RBI (36) and has arguably been the best hitter in the entire league (though his teammate and Cal League player of the month Caleb Cali has something to say about that). The strikeouts are way down, the contact is up, and the power is very, very real. He’s been amazing to watch as of late and is not only living up to his lofty expectations, but exceeding them.

Even with the lineup as dominating as it is, the Modesto pitching staff has also shown quite well. Having allowed the second lowest number of runs in the league, they’ve played a crucial role in the Nuts’ success this season and are a big reason why this team has a +96 run differential through 25 games. Will Schomberg, an undrafted free agent out of Davidson from last year’s draft, was unhittable this week. Spinning six innings of no-hit, one run ball, Schomberg dismantled a tough Quakes team with ten K’s and currently holds the fourth best ERA among qualified pitchers in the California league (behind second place teammate and April’s Cal League Pitcher of the month Elijah Dale). Jesse Wainscott, another UDFA from last year’s draft out of Arizona State, was recently awarded the Mariners’ minor league reliever of the month and has been a lockdown option out of Modesto’s ‘pen. The talent they appear to have accrued in last year’s draft alone is pretty ridiculous and is beyond exciting to dream on.

Modesto takes on Fresno next week, the team closest to them in the standings.

ACL Mariners

0-1, T-Doesn’t Matter It’s One Game

The baby M’s finally get to start at a reasonable time of year! With the schedule changes moving the complex leagues up into the beginning of May, we’ll get earlier access to even more young players that are sure to light up the box score each and every night. Unfortunately, the only video highlights we’ll ever get from this level will have to come from second hand sources as there isn’t a live stream, however we’ll still provide a run down of the in-game happenings to help familiarize everyone with the next wave of talent.

Phenom Felnin Celesten made his stateside debut and went 2-4 with 2 BBs while wiry middle infielder Dervy Ventura homered and walked twice in a 3-4 performance. On the mound, Jeter Martinez debuted for the ACL squad and allowed 1 ER across three innings with a strikeout. Last year’s most consistent starter in Modesto, Tyler Cleveland is on a rehab assignment and pitched two innings, striking out four and surrendering a run. The baby M’s managed to lose this game after being up 10-4 in the ninth inning, but that’s just kind of what happens in the complex league. I fully expect stranger things to happen as we continue on through this season.

That’ll do it for this week! Enjoy your week and GOMS!