Mariners Minor League Game Action Recap for July 24
Maurer, Elias & Anderson all strong ... Jones & Almonte advance their cause ... Diaz a tad wild ... etc.

 

All kinds of moves, up and down, that we'll cover in a separate News post.

Thoughts and prayers to Eric Wedge and family.

 

AAA -- Tacoma 5, Tucson 3  -- Box

So where does Brandon Maurer (Talk40 #9) fit in going forward?  Is it still a Big Four? or back to a Big Three? or down to a Big (Tai)One?  The rest of this year will tell a lot.

Wednesday was one in the "Big Four" column: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 8 K.

Maurer was helped by a huge night at the plate from Abraham Almonte (26intheMix): 3-for-4, double, triple.

Franklin Gutierrez got three RBI by driving in Almonte, and Nate Tenbrink (26intheMix) homered for the second night in a row, giving him 10 on the year.

 

AA -- Jackson 4, Chattanooga 3  -- Box

Roenis Elias (26intheMix) turned in another intriguing performance: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 10 K.

Elias has established himself as guy with solid potential or possible trade chip.

And a guy who has firmly re-established himself is James Jones (Watch List).  I had Jones falling behind Leon Landry (Talk40 #18), and pushed farther back by the arrival of Abe Almonte.  But Landry has struggled, and Jones has cut back on both his strikeout rate (under 17%) and his caught-stealing rate (23 SB vs. 7 CS).

Jones went 3-for-5 with a triple (10th) and a home run (sixth).  He's still behind Almonte (Abe, not Denny), but it's possible to see him make the majors as a speedy bench outfielder with some pop.  Of course, that's what Abe wants to be, too.

I've never seen that hope for Ramon Morla despite his admirable power.  He just strikes out too much and doesn't like to walk.  But he got his 14th homer of the year Wednesday, and is slugging .500, and maybe some other team would be tantalized by that.

 

High-A -- High Desert 6, Lake Elsinore 1 -- Box

Matt Anderson is trying to establish his place in the pecking order, and sometimes he puts up some interesting numbers, as he did Wednesday: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K.

The offense got its main boost from a five-run 4th inning, featuring stolen bases from the two ex-defensive backs, now teammates for the first time: Steven Proscia (26intheMix) (all-state as a prep gridder in New Jersey with 13 intereceptions and 70 tackles) and Patrick Kivlehan (Talk40 #33) (one INT and 24 tackles in three years at Rutgers).

The Mavericks also ran out their twin-Jabari attack for the first time, as I'll cover in News.

 

Low-A -- Wisconsin 9, Clinton 1 -- Box

The LumberKings got deposed from their LumberThrone by the Timber Rattlers.

D.J. Peterson made his Midwest League debut by going 0-for-4 as the DH.

 

Short Season-A -- Tri-City 3, Everett 1 -- Box

Tri-City got two in the 9th to break a 1-1 tie.

Not much offense for the Aqua Sox, but Jack Reinheimer had two hits and a walk.

 

Rookie -- Pulaski 7, Princeton 2 -- Box

Edwin Diaz (Talk40 #36) had a bit of wildness, but otherwise kept up his hot streak: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 7 K.

Jeffrey Zimmerman, when not striking out way too much, has interesting numbers (.329/.373/.519), and he got three more hits Wednesday.

 

AZL Rookie -- Mariners 5, Angels 3 -- Box

Well, 27-year-old Joseph Dunigan (rehabbing from Tacoma) doesn't count as a rookie, but his three hits (double and two singles) helped defeat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Arizona.

 

Looking Ahead

Taijuan.

All you need to know.

 

 

Comments

1
blissedj's picture

Excited to see some James Jones love. What an upgrade at 4th/5th OF he could be someday over Endy Chavez. Wouldn't be shocked if he was a more valuable OF than Ackley in a couple years.

2

Ackley has been a plus player at second, and I expect him to be a plus player in center field eventually. Jones is still in AA.  I'm not saying you're WRONG about Jones being able to be a nice 4th OF at some point, but if that's all Ackley still is... Ouch. That would be an incredible flame-out. When a Tim Beckham or Matt Bush flames out as a high-schooler, you think, "these things happen."
But even when a college hitter like Alex Gordon has to change position, he still figures out how to hit eventually.  Ackley not hitting would be worse than Clement, probably.  Clement was a huge reach.  Ackley, the college hitter of the decade, was not.
Still think he's gonna hit.  It might sneak up on us, like Smoak getting his legs under him, but when it happens we're gonna be REALLY tough to stop. Adding a performing Ackley to the rest of our young core would be pretty special.  Of course, if he doesn't hit soon then A) he won't be that young and B) he'll be approaching free agency, so he won't really be "core" at that point anyway.  We'll see.  I expect him to hit any month now.  Annnnny month now...
~G

3
blissedj's picture

He is displaying Endy Chavez type power and is not running AT ALL. What good is a no power/speed OF? I'm not saying Jones will amount to anything, but would not be surprised if he turned out better than Ackley. At this point Jones at least shows some power and steals some bases. Ackley is bringing absolutely zero to the table in 2013. 2 years of rapid decline with no sign of it letting up :( Better watch out or Almonte will be passing you on the depth chart soon Dustin...

4

I like what I'm seeing from Jones, but Ackley would be falling way way short of potential if he just ends up as a 4th-OF/bench guy.
And they had Jones in the hand when they went out and acquired Landry and then A.Almonte, so I don't think they're counting on him much.  And they play Abe as if he is more of a "true" center fielder.  I gotta give Almonte a much higher chance of taking on the "Endy" role down the road, but, as I said, I wouldn't rule out Jones.
Sorry ... not meaning to be piling on.  Always get good input from you, blissedj!

5
blissedj's picture

I never feel like it's piling on if others have a different view. It's only my opinion and I call 'em as I see 'em. After watching enough prospects fail and wasting enough money on certain types of players baseball cards many years ago the increasing reality of Ackley failing miserably comes as little surprise. I certainly hope he succeeds, along with all M's prospects!

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