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Mariners Prospect Talk

Mariners Minor League Game Action Recap for July 8

Gohara is pretty much unhittable ... Pike and Huijer also strong on the mound ... Blash Splash 16! ... etc.

Posted by

Spectator

7/9/13

Tacoma and Jackson recaps, and news, in the "Spotlight" post.

Rookie -- Pulaski 4, Princeton 2 -- Box

Luuuuuuuuu-iz!

Obviously the biggest mystery about the International Man of Mystery! -- Luiz Gohara (Talk40 #21) -- is "is he actually any good?"

So far he had one good outing, one bad outing and one brief outing suspended by rain.

Then came Monday:

5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K

Yeah, OK, that'll do just fine.

[He won't turn 17 until July 31.]

Looks like we're on to something here.

And he got offensive help from Jeffrey Zimmerman (third home run, plus a single) and Oregon State product Tyler Smith (single, double, triple). Shortstop Smith was a (relatively) late signee (in the "new-collective-bargaining-agreement" world) due to playing in the College World Series with his Beaver crew.

High-A -- High Desert 7, Lancaster 3 -- Box

It's been a while (June 21, actually), but here comes ...

Blash Splash 16! Also a single for Jabari Blash (Watch List).

Plus three hits for Patrick Brady.

And another scoreless outing for Dominic Leone (Talk40 #25). Yes ... Leone for Bullpen!

Low-A -- Cedar Rapids 5, Clinton 3 -- Box

Tyler Pike (Talk40 #14) allowed a couple more walks than you'd like, but we can't quibble too much:

5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 5 K

The LumberKings went without an extra-base hit, but Jordy Lara got three singles.

Short Season-A -- Everett 3, Salem-Keizer 2 -- Box

Another International Man of (Some) Mystery (But Less Notice) is the "Dutch Master" Lars Huijer. [There's something very "Euro" about a guy named "Lars."]

But the 19-year-old from Haarlem is keeping up with the crowd and fitting right in.

His Monday line: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K.

Austin Wilson was in center field. Were we expecting that, Gordon?

He got a double in four trips, as did D.J. Peterson.

AZL Rookie -- Dodgers 7, Mariners 5 -- Box

Did you forget about Jesus Montero? At first base, he had a double in three at-bats.

Looking Ahead

A light Tuesday schedule. Tacoma's starter is "TBA." It's the "Hultzen" slot, so it's probably Brian Sweeney. The only other games on tap are High Desert and Pulaski.

Blog:

Mariners Prospect Talk

Comments

Austin Wilson can absolutely run

But no, a 250 pound dude isn't gonna play a lot of CF where it counts. Peguero's played some CF even in AA and AAA though, so Wilson will likely find a few more games in center himself as he plays around in the OF.
The more important part is how he fixes his Stanford Swing issues. We've had good luck getting players to modify some things (see: Brad Miller especially) so hopefully Wilson follows along those lines.
I do wonder if we're gonna send him to the AFL to continue the swing work after the season, tho, or just tell him to take some time off and come back in February ready to work. He's got some time.
~G

Progress

I suspect it will depend on if he's making progress -- if he starts to hit with authority, I'd guess they'd want him to go to AA and if it continues, to the AFL. If he's still feeling his way, I'd bet they either let him go home or stick around for the fall development program and be home for Christmas. I hope Dr. Elliott has a program for him to work off the baby-fat and increase his agility a la Carp and Smoak. Wilson at 225 lbs with the sort of agility increases those guys showed would be an absolute wrecker. Now if they can teach him back-spin and loft -- hope they send him home with the wit and wisdom of Teddy Ballgame to study over the break.

I thought Carp worked off his baby fat with Raul

Which would be one of his growing number of positive influence success stories that everybody asked about when he was signed.

Think we're both right

He worked out with Raul using exercises from Elliott, if I understand correctly. One of the reasons I was saying at the first of the year that Raul would be an outstanding coach.