Seattle Sports Insider

Mariners Minor League Game Action Recap for August 13

Gotta keep this one short

Posted by

8/13/13

Family obligations today.

High-A -- High Desert 10, Rancho Cucamonga 1 -- Box

In old movies there'd usually be a down-home character that would say Land o' Goshen! as an expression of amazement, since they couldn't say what they say now even in PG-13 flicks.

We say it today about Stephen Landazuri (Talk40 #24), who was pitching near his hometown and was just awesome there: 6.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 12 K.

Kevin Rivers: HR, double, single

Steven Proscia (26intheMix): HR, double

AAA -- Tacoma 4, Round Rock 3 [12 innings] -- Box

Abraham Almonte (26intheMix) homered and had two singles and two walks.

One of his singles drove in the winning run in the 12th.

AA -- Jackson 2, Montgomery 1 [14 innings] -- Box

A Blash Splash! tied it up at 1-1, where it stayed until the 14th. It was the second homer for Jackson for Jabari Blash (Watch List).

John Hicks (Talk40 #27) came home on an error in the 14th after singling.

Short Season-A -- Everett 5, Vancouver 3 -- Box

Austin Power! from Austin Wilson put the AquaSox ahead and they never gave up the lead.

It was Wilson's second pro homer. He also had two singles.

Justin Seager had three hits and a walk.

Rookie -- Burlington 5, Pulaski 4 [7 innings] -- Box

Rookie -- Pulaski 7, Burlington 4 [7 innings] -- Box

Emilio Pagan is still perfect as a pro after another scoreless inning in Game 2.

AZL Rookie -- Dodgers 3, Mariners 2 -- Box

Just the box score.

Looking Ahead

Edwin Diaz (Talk40 #36) for Pulaski.

Blog:

Mariners Prospect Talk

Comments

Almonte: Can he play CF

Spec,
Is Almonte a MLB CF type? He's of the correct split, as well. He's .310-.396-.493 vR. Good stuff. Can he play CF in Safeco and do so with some flashy leather? If so, then Almonte in CF and Saunders in RF mean we only need to find a LF, in-house or FA.
Ackley/Choi/Romero might be in-house options.
Have't seen him play.
Is Almonte a Kirby Puckett in CF?
One of the interesting things about him is that his MiLB numbers are better at every level as he's moved up. Better at A than Rookie; Better at A+ than A; Better at AA than A+; Better at AAA than AA. The right progression for sure.
Check it out: http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=almont001abr
moe

To copy some shouts in here - Abe is adequate on D

I've seen him several times. Abe's defense is okay. He's not brilliant, but he doesn't fall down out there. Abe is very fast but doesn't always have the best routes, a la Ackley. Guess who was a 2B conversion to the OF? That's right, Abe.
Now, he converted several years ago, but it's still doesn't feel quite like his natural position, watching him. He makes up for it better than Ackley right now, though, and can handle center with a stronger arm than Ackley shows. He won't look like Guti but he is a CF, not a corner OF lumbering around in center. Because he's a switch-hitter I absolutely expect him to be in the mix for a bench OF spot, but as a starting CFer in an outfield with no corner OF, I guess I'm waiting to see how that plays out.
I was seeing him and Ackley in the same OF for part of the time, and both guys had trouble reading some of the balls hit in the altitude here. For the first few years of his career Adam Jones was a "Doesn't fall down out there" CFer, so I guess when a guy has speed and can make up for some miscues I don't consider it a drastic problem. I don't consider Abe plus with the glove but I do consider him adequate, and he has the tools to get plus. Positioning is a big thing as well, something focused on a lot more in the bigs and something that would no doubt help.
But Abe has had health issues his whole career (one full season played, came stateside at 19, is now 24). He's very fast, and if he can stay healthy he's got decent skills. He doesn't know what a line drive looks like but the rest of his game is pretty solid.
He's an option. I still expect him as the backup OF since he's a switch-hitter who can fill the Endy Chavez role of late-inning D and injury replacement who can get on base without counting on him for 162 games (when he's only played more than 115 once).
I'd give him the shot to play his way onto the team and into more playing time, though.
~G