Kivlehan finding power would be very good. His home/road splits are still abominable, but with the swing he has he SHOULD have power. I dunno if he is peppering balls around while he works on his batting eye and whiff potential, but it's interesting to watch.
His Ks are actually perfectly acceptable at 18%, not even a year after he was posting a 30% K rate in Everett. Patrick's batting eye too has climbed from .20 to .45 since short-season (and remember, he started his pro career with one walk against 35 Ks). His OBP is always gonna be padded by hit-by-pitch totals, but however you get on base is fine with me. Choi does it too.
It's pretty amazing when you consider Kivlehan's jumped 4 levels in 2 years (if you count last year's college at-bats, which I do) after not playing baseball in half a decade. His learning curve is STEEP and some people would drown. He's not drowning, even while playing 3B exclusively in the field. When he consolidates all this information and starts driving the ball (which might be now based on his recent power surge, but it'll be hard to tell til next year in AA) he should get even more interesting. Not on a national level (he's too old for that) but locally, he's definitely one to watch.
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As for DeCarlo... I already used abominable, so what's worse than that when talking about his K rate? 39 freaking percent? SERIOUSLY?? I love the guy, but he's got to cut that basically in half. I don't know if he's being attacked repeatedly by bees at the plate and has to fend them off with his lumber or what, but jeez kid. RELAX.
Even with that, he's performing well for a teen in pro ball, even if it's rookie ball. I expected him to get to Everett this year and Clinton to start next year, though and that might not happen if his whiff-mastery goes unabated. I hope to see him swing through fewer pitches down the stretch in this season. Go Joe!
And then there's Fontaine. On draft day I basically said, "without the teens, this draft doesn't work." And then we got the teens. The last of the teens I desperately wanted was Fontaine. Lonnie and I were both a little wound up about getting him. Not the greatest bat-speed - it won't scare you - but a great swing and a good baseball player, which is what I care about more. What good is bat-speed if you can't play ball? It's not like Olerud's lack of batspeed ever hurt him.
Lachlan can play, IMO, and I'm glad to see both him and Tank off to good starts in the early going. O'Neill turned 18 less than a month ago, and Lachlan is still 17 until the end of August. Considering both are cold-weather kids too, they're just in their infancy as far as reaching their potential goes.
Glad to have the Canadian kids here. Fontaine, O'Neill and Corey Simpson pair very nicely with Yates, Gabe Franca, Timmy Lopes and Joe DeCarlo for our teenage bat contingent. Even guys like Marlette are only 20.
A couple of those guys are gonna work out, and the journey should be fun to watch over the next few years for sure.
~G
On the field: triples! We love 'em!
Off the field:
- Jesus Montero returns to Tacoma after rehab assignment in Arizona where he hit .267/.351/.304 in eight games.
- Franklin Gutierrez joins Tacoma for his umphteenbazillionth rehab assignment.
- Stephen Pryor also joins Tacoma for a rehab assignment after one outing for Everett.
AAA -- Fresno 8, Tacoma 7 -- Box
Montero went right into the starting lineup at DH, and another Opening Day Mariner was on the mound: Brandon Maurer (Talk40 #9), who continued his OK-but-not-quite-impressive Tacoma outings. His line: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 K.
Abraham Almonte (26intheMix) contributed to the Triple-Fest in the first at-bat of the game, and it was swiftly followed by one from Montero (it would be his only hit in five trips) as part of a three-run 1st.
Later in the game, brief unlikely-Mariner Brandon Bantz got yet another triple, plus two singles.
But the early lead slipped away, and the Grizzlies got the clinching run in the 8th.
AA -- Jackson 8, Mississippi 3 -- Box
More triples!
One from our Taylor Made! new Mariners Prospect Talk icon Chris Taylor (Talk40 #28), who also had three singles and a steal. It was Taylor's ninth triple of the year and his 38th extra-base hit and his 26th steal.
But there's more!
James Jones (Watch List), just returned from the Southern League All-Star Game, got one too. It was his ninth of the year as well, and he and Taylor are tied for the organizational lead in that category.
And last year's triple machine -- Leon Landry (Talk40 #18) -- got one too, but just his second. Landry's my biggest disappointment of the year maybe.
All those triples helped support Anthony Fernandez (Talk40 #23), who's been coming around after a poor start: 6.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K.
April/May ERA: 6.83
June/July ERA: 2.84
That's good to see.
High-A -- High Desert 9, Lake Elsinore 3 -- Box
No triples here, but maybe the bust-out long-awaited by the Kivle-fans.
After two home runs Wednesday, Patrick Kivlehan (Talk40 #33) went Grand Salami Time! on Thursday, as part of a seven-run 1st inning. He now has seven homers on the year, and his July ISO is up to .175, closer to what we need to see from him.
The burst of offense allowed Matt Anderson to cruise (5.0 IP, 2 ER).
Low-A -- Lansing 8, Clinton 2 -- Box
One day after Victor Sanchez (Talk40 #12) dealt a no-hitter on the Lugnuts, Rigoberto Garcia allowed six earned runs in 5.0 IP. But he also had six strikeouts and no walks.
Janelfry Zorrilla had a double, a single and a walk.
Rookie -- Pulaski 10, Johnson City 3 -- Box
Maybe not quite the dominance we've come to expect from the new version of Edwin Diaz (Talk40 #36), but plenty good nevertheless: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K.
And no triples here either, but also a perhaps a long-awaited bust-out game for Joe DeCarlo (Talk40 #22): 3-for-5, double, HR. It was DeCarlo's fourth homer and his OPS is up to .833. He's striking out way too much, but he's also showing some promise.
Jeffrey Zimmerman continues to make an impression, getting two doubles to raise his SLG to .509.
AZL Rookie -- Mariners 4, Dodgers 3 -- Box
The youthful M's won with only one extra-base hit, which was delivered by Canadian teen Lachlan Fontaine, he of the SSI-friendly but not-famous dad. Fontaine is 5-for-11 with three walks in his first four games.
Looking Ahead
Fresno is the next stop on the Taijuan Walker (Talk40 #2) destruction-of-AAA-baseball tour. He'll face former Mariner Yusmeiro Petit, according to the schedule.
Comments
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/brazil-developing-baseball-talent-cou...
I really enjoy your Minor League updates Spec. Thanks, always. Above is a link to an article discussing the great investment return potential of a Brazilian academy (and more Goharas!). I hope Z's group is actively exploring such opportunities and Ownership is giving them the necessary financial flexibility and incentive. I believe wise investments in the future now will allow them to minimize their need for the free agent market later and, hopefully, allow them to become a perennial contender. Easy for me to say though, it is not my money!
This whole Japanese-Brazilian fusion thing could become the hottest thing going.
Gohara is certainly living up to the hype so far (2.3 BB/9 | 12.6 K/9)
SSI on the front wave on this one thanks to our alert and intelligent readers, of course.