Mariners Minor League Recap: Week 6, May 6 - 12

Some hot streaks, some bad beats, and everything in between

Welcome back prospect lovers! This week was tougher on the M’s farm system, but these are sure to happen over such a long season. Let’s get right into our weekly roundup of future Mariners with Tacoma’s finest.

Tacoma Rainiers

21-18, 2nd in Pacific Coast League West

Tacoma has hit a bit of a downturn after a good start and yet again could not secure a series win, this time against a middling Reno squad. They still sit in second among their division, however would like to get back to their winning ways much sooner than later. It’s been somewhat of a slowly sinking ship the past couple of weeks.

The rehabbing Dom Canzone got his first action back from the IL this weekend and looks to have his timing in a good spot, going 3-8 with a pair of doubles. He’s really rocketing the ball around the diamond and has posted excellent exit velocities thus far, averaging a hefty 101.9 MPH in his very limited sample size. When Canzone was injured, he was arguably the team’s second best hitter and should provide a big boost to a lineup that’s been highly inconsistent to start the season.

Perhaps the squad’s most consistent hitter all season, Michael Chavis had another great week at the dish. Going 11-24 and collecting a hit in each game of the series, he managed to raised his season OPS up to a .922 mark. He’s had plenty of big league experience and has bounced around quite a bit in his career, but the journey man is still only 28 years old and just might have a shot to help the big league club. If the M’s need to call a hitter up due to injury, they’ll have a few enticing options down in Tacoma with Chavis leading the way.

The Rainiers take on a lowly Bees team this week at home.

Arkansas Travelers

18-14, 2nd in Texas League North

The typically steady Travs couldn’t keep up their winning ways and only took two of six from Wichita last week. The pitching staff had a couple blow up games and the offense was pretty subdued as a whole, usually a bad combo for winning games.

Harry Ford cooled off a little bit after previously winning player of the week, however he remained solid and put up a respectable 5-24 series with four walks and two strikeouts. It certainly isn’t record breaking work, but it’s plenty good to keep his season totals afloat. Additionally, the lefty slugger Spencer Packard had a great week against Wichita, totaling an 8-25 line with a homer. The now 26 year old will need to keep this level of hitting if he want to continue up the minor league ladder as he’s limited defensively, however he’s a valuable depth piece to have in your organization.

Logan Evans was again masterful this week, going five innings without allowing an earned run. This now marks his second straight start without an earned run and has lowered his season ERA to a teeny-tiny 1.34 with a WHIP just over one. Evans, who entered the season absent from most top prospect lists entirely, will firmly find himself inside the upper echelon of the system rankings in the midseason adjustment period. His remarkable rise has given a Seattle system mostly devoid of upper level pitching prospects a truly exciting option to develop into a useful big league piece.

The Travs take on their in state rival this week, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals.

Everett AquaSox

13-19, 6th in Northwest League

Another week, another AquaSox series split. The Frogs have been playing better as of late, but still can’t seem to break one open and take home a series outright. They’ve lost some heartbreakers and they’ve seen some growth from many of their hitters, but overall remain a bit of an amorphous blob of ‘is this a prospect?’.

Last year’s ninth and tenth rounders, RJ Schreck and Jared Sundstrom were both excellent last week. Schreck, who started pitifully this season, has really picked it up as of late and logged a 6-19 week with eight walks. Schreck is slashing .313/.477/.625 in the month of May and has turned into a real threat for the Everett lineup. Sundstrom, who’s been more consistent than Schreck so far this season, went 9-24 with four doubles and a homer. The hulking outfielder raised his season OPS up to .890 and is demonstrating an impressive combination of OBP skills and mammoth power. He’s been fun to watch all season.

Everett’s rotation has been surprisingly good this season, with right hander Ty Cummings being perhaps the biggest development. He’s been steady all season and posted another great outing of one run ball across six innings. His two seamer has induced a ton of ground balls and his tight slider has looked nasty. With his season ERA sitting at 2.40 in his first professional year, it’s tough to not be intrigued.

Everett will take on Eugene this week, a tough San Francisco affiliate.

Modesto Nuts

23-8, 1st in California League North

Surprise, surprise. The Modesto Nuts won another series. After a brutal 1-0 walkoff wild pitch loss in Sundays game, Modesto only managed to win four of the six games, but the juggernaut that are the Nuts just continue to string together wins. While the lineup gets most of the attention (for good reason), the pitching has been the league’s best and should allow them to weather the inevitable promotions of their most fearsome sluggers.

Jonny Farmelo had himself a nice series last week, going 8-26 with a double and three walks. The speedy centerfielder has posted excellent exit velocities this season and is displaying some on-base skills atop the lineup. He’s still pretty raw as a player and will need to refine his game as he gets older, but at just 19 years of age, he’ll have plenty of time to do so. The combination of defense, speed, and raw power is a really exciting package to dream on.

Across the six game series, Modesto starting pitchers allowed only five earned runs against an above average offensive club in Fresno. If you aren’t familiar with the guys in the rotation, you’re probably not alone. Tyler Gough, Ashton Izzi, Brody Hopkins, Elijah Dale, and Will Schomberg all aren’t considered atop most prospect rankings, but they’ve all proven that they’ve got some juice in the tank. The stuff is sharp and inning count has improved as the season’s progressed. Most probably still aren’t going to be all that high on any lists, but the fact they might be in the conversation is exciting by itself.

Modesto will face San Jose this week, San Francisco’s affiliate.

ACL Mariners

2-3, 3rd in Arizona Complex League West

The big fish in the ACL pond is Felnin Celesten and he’s been nothing short of phenomenal thus far. Securing a hit in every game this season, Felnin has a .364/.481/.591 slash so far and has an outside shot at an early-ish promotion due to him being a bit older due to his injury last season. Far from a guarantee, but seeing an extended stretch run in Modesto is far from out of the question.

The other big name, Jeter Martinez, has been solid if unexciting in his two starts so far, posting nearly identical outings of 3.0 IP and 1 ER. The physical right hander is one of the top pitching prospects in the system and many people here at LL are higher on him than the rest of the industry. He’s still a ways a way, but there’s tremendous upside.

GOMS!