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Just pointing out: Only three guys in all of MiLB (outside of the Indy leagues) have more doubles than Pizzano's 40.
Just saying.
Back to your regularly scheduled programming.
moe
Mariners Minor League Game Action Recap for September 1
Hultz appears ... Romero slugs ... Avery enjoys Rainiers ... Eddie avoids the dark side ... etc.
Almost at the end of the regular season ... but Pulaski extended its season by sweeping its best-of-three playoff series. And a surprise pitcher popped up for Tacoma.
AAA -- Tacoma 10, Sacramento 9 -- Box
Well ... the schedule said the starter would be James Paxton (Talk40 #3), but instead it was ...
Danny Hultzen (Talk40 #4): 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
Now that's good to see. Hultzen will head to the Arizona Fall League.
Then came Paxton: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Given that Taijuan Walker (Talk40 #2) will only get three MLB starts, I would expect that Paxton might get a couple later in September, but we'll see.
The bullpen gave up a torrent of runs, but offense kept right on slugging:
- Stefen Romero (Talk40 #11): 2-for-3, 2 HR (his 10th and 11th), 2 walks
- Xavier Avery: the new guy went 5-for-5 with a homer (his fourth), a double and two singles
- Ty Kelly: the less-new guy went 3-for-5 with a homer as well (also his fourth)
- Leury Bonilla: the journeyman had his second homer in as many days after not hitting any for the entire season prior to that (odd, that)
AA -- Huntsville 7, Jackson 0 -- Box
The Generals wrap up their season Monday, and let's hope it's a better outing than this one.
Trevor Miller (26intheMix) gave up 6 ER in 4.0 IP. Chris Taylor (Talk40 #28) did get two more hits, to take him to 164 on the season.
Athletic but offensively challenged Cavan Cohoes got a taste of AA, taking the roster spot vacated by James Jones (Watch List), who was promoted to Tacoma. He Went 0-for-1.
High-A -- Lake Elsinore 11, High Desert 1 [7 innings] -- Box
High-A -- High Desert 8, Lake Elsinore 7 [7 innings] -- Box
Game 1 was not pretty and could have been ended after seven via mercy rule. No, there is no mercy rule, just seven-inning double-header games. Kevin Rivers got three hits.
Game 2 was much better for the Mavericks. At least for the offense.
Rivers homered, to reach an even 20 for the year.
Jabari Henry (26intheMix) also went deep (his 11th overall), as did veteran Patrick Brady.
Low-A -- Clinton 3 Cedar Rapids 1 -- Box
A pitching gem emerged from a tag-team of relievers:
- Lefty Blake Holovach: 3.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K
- Righty Mark Bordanaro: 3.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K
Both have struggled with getting hit and giving up walks, but they came together nicely as a starting combo.
They got offensive help from Gabriel Guerrero (Talk40 #16), who hit his third home run.
Short Season-A -- Everett 3, Spokane 2 -- Box
Nate Koneski pitched five scoreless frames, but the offensive help didn't come until after he was gone.
Koneski: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K
In the 8th, a two-run blast from Chantz Mack was key. It was Mack's second of the season.
Appalachian League Playoffs -- Pulaski 6, Bluefield 4 -- Box
The Mariners advanced to the championship series!
Pulaski Mariners anyway.
Eddie didn't exactly cruise, but he had the strikeouts going:
Eddie Campbell: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 9 K
And since I keep making all these "Eddie and the Cruisers" references, I might as well embed the song by John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band, the pseudo-Springsteen song very popular in 1983 as a result of the "Eddie" movie:
Our new favorite Aaron Barbosa had a triple, a single and a walk, while Gabrial Franca (Talk40 #30) had two doubles.
Looking Ahead
Victor Sanchez (Talk40 #12) will have one final chance to set his vector for Clinton. Then the season is done for everyone except Everett and Pulaski.
Comments
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There has been much change in the M's system this year (more than usual is my impression). Could you provide your thoughts on who the top-ranked prospects are at this time? For example, where does Avery rank and does he make sense for the 40-man roster? I believe that 2012 was his first option year, and that this year he will spend the entire year in the minors (I think this should matter, but really don't understand option rules). Is there a danger of the Ms running out of time with Avery (as happened with Carp, Thames, and Wells)? Also, Almonte went from unranked to an early call-up. Do you think he would make BA's top 100, if the ranking were made today? I am only curious as both players were acquired in trades, and OF prospects appear to be an ongoing weakness in the M's system. Finally, how does Avery compare to the level of talent the M's might have procured had they traded Morse at the deadline this year?
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Good questions. Sorry didn't respond right away.
You are right on that there are huge changes at the top of the prospect list, with almost all of the "near-ready" guys either graduating or fading into the ether (Catricala, Liddi).
But if you still classify Walker as a prospect, he's easily #1; if not, well I'm a big Danny Hultzen fan and think he would have made a big impact if he'd been healthy.
For whatever reason, they haven't had a ton of outfielders coming up through the system, so they've made a lot of acquisitions in that area as sort of an ongoing "casting call" ... Casper Wells, Trayvon Robinson, Eric Thames, Leon Landry, A. Almonte (as you mention), now Avery.
I had high hopes for Landry, but he faded fast this year, and A. Almonte has kind of taken on those hopes (don't confuse him with Denny Almonte -- the guy the M's picked instead of Giancarlo Stanton -- who's been a bust). But no, Abe is not a BA Top 100 kind of guy. He could be a nice role player who can play centerfield, but he doesn't project to perennial all-star or anything.
I had Landry as the #18 prospect, and I don't think I'd put Avery that high even though he's closer to the majors. Avery has potential for power, but he hasn't shown it, and guys who can't figure out how to cut down on strikeouts by age 23 rarely "get it" after. As I mentioned somewhere, Avery is probably ahead of Landry and James Jones, but behind A. Almonte.
But if Avery is not really a center fielder, then he's much lower. And I haven't really analyzed it too closely yet.
Avery is already on the 40-man roster. I'm not sure how many options he has left.
Maybe they could have gotten more for Morse earlier in the year, but once he was hurt and struggling, Avery is about the level of player they would have gotten, probably.
I assume they'll keep acquiring outfielders in trades because the next two hitters with real solid potential are D.J. Peterson and Ji-Man Choi, and neither is an outfielder.
Dan Paolini was coming along nicely, but hit a roadblock at AA. Austin Wilson has huge upside, but he's a long way off. Same for Tank O'Neill, but he's even farther off. Jabari Blash started to show some consistency, but is still a big question mark.
So there are still not really any gold-plated top-shelf outfield prospects in the system at the moment.
Thanks for taking the time to comment, Jeff!
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I have to believe you did that on purpose. *grins*
I think Austin Wilson and Tank O'Neill are our two best outfield prospects (spoiler: I expect big things from Tank). Pizzano still interests me, and I certainly haven't given up on Paolini (his batting eye remained fine and his BABIP was just .215 in his 100-ish PAs in AA - nothing to fear yet).
But Paolini and Pizzano are attempts at Oakland-style corner players, not dominant forces. They're just guys who can do a few things and give you a 100 OPS+ bat for the lineup. Wilson and Tank are bigger talents. Doesn't mean they're bigger contributors, but their ceilings are higher. None of em are likely to contribute in 2014 though.
For the guys that are: not big on Avery. Not feeling Landry, and Jones is such an enigma. I like Abe Almonte but he's got some questions marks in center (not speed cuz he has that in spades, but more reads and jumps). I still think Abe can hang in center, but I dunno if he can stay healthy for 162. I'd like him to be a 4th OF who forces his way into more playing time, which I guess again is Oakland style. Julio Morban is our most-talented upper-majors outfielder, but again, the guy can't stay healthy. Being Juan-Gone-lite doesn't help anyone if you ain't on the field.
Outfield is still a mess. I'm desperately hoping to get corner OF thump in here that'll hold down the fort while we wait for any of our lower-minors hitters to blossom into studs.
~G