Mariners Minor League Recap, Week 21: August 26 - September 1

Escape your big league troubles and embrace the farm life

It’s another weekly prospect roundup! With as dire as things are at the big league level, let this be an escape for your fandom while still fulfilling your baseball fix. There’s plenty to smile about down on the farm.

Tacoma Rainiers

30-27, 2nd in PCL West

It was a tough week for the Rainiers, managing just one win against a Chihuahua team who’s had a rough go of it this season. In what could have been a pivotal series that saw them grab the division lead and reinsert themselves right back into the playoff conversation, the Rainiers floundered and lost to an inferior opponent in decisive fashion. Sound familiar?

If there was a positive takeaway from the series, it would be Ryan Bliss’ continued success in the PCL. A 6-24 performance with three doubles might not blow your socks off, but it caps off a month of August where Bliss slashed .304/.398/.478 and swiped nine bags. Bliss has been trending in the right direction throughout the year and will certainly be a piece of the puzzle for next year’s team, but to what extent may largely be determined by how he finishes out this season. At this point, it’s difficult to bank on him being anything more than a supplementary player to the roster, but the ceiling for more has always been there. Here’s to hoping he can finish on a high note.

Arkansas Travelers

34-23, 2nd in Texas League North

With another series win in the books, Arkansas has placed themselves in fantastic shape for a playoff spot. They can’t seem to catch the pesky Springfield team for the division lead, but with Springfield having already clinched their spot, they don’t need to. Now with a 6.5 game lead over third place, it feels safe to start looking ahead at the playoff scenarios that could play out in the not so distant future.

There was plenty of good hitting to go around this week, but nothing was more exciting than seeing Cole Young dominate opposing pitchers each and every game. Finishing the series 10-19 with five walks and three strikeouts, Young looked like the best player on the field and is beginning to come into his own after a steady, yet somewhat boring season. He’ll close the month of August with a .320 average and a .436 OBP across 27 games and over 100 plate appearances, all while playing a solid shortstop. The 21 year old remains firmly in the top three Mariner prospect and will be in serious consideration for a big league role to open next season.

I usually give the Traveler staff their deserved flowers every week, but today, I’m double dipping on the hitting side. Ben Williamson has become a victim of the DSP field dimensions and has subsequently been posting whelming overall stats, but he’s been sneaky good the past month and was crushing the ball all over the field this series. Finishing 11-25 with 8 RBI, Williamson has maintained his sterling defensive chops and would see his prospect stock benefit greatly with a strong finish to the season. He’s not on big league watch until he hits more, but the build of a productive major leaguer is there. Give him some time, and you might just end up with Alex Bregman lite.

Everett AquaSox

29-31, 4th in Northwest League

The AquaSox remain in the middle of the pack of the Northwest League, seemingly unable to leap beyond mediocrity. They’ve gotten some absolutely massive performances from their top dogs in the lineup, but the rest of the bats have been subpar, unable to elevate the floor of this team. Despite being eliminated from the playoffs, I know I’m excited to watch both Lazaro Montes and Michael Arroyo continue their dominant stretch runs.

You probably saw it coming, but it’s impossible to keep quiet about the things Lazaro Montes is doing to baseballs right now. Finishing August with back-to-back two homer games, Montes’ final monthly slashline is an appalling .411/.500/.753. The exit velocities have been loud, the walks are ticking back up, and he’s improving defensively out in right field. Still just 19 years of age, the lefty slugger looks to be his old self once again and remains a tremendously important piece of this Seattle farm system.

More hitting! Arroyo didn’t have quite the month Lazaro did, but damn it did he give him a run for his money. Logging an 11-25 week with three doubles, three homers, and three walks, Arroyo raised his Hi-A OPS to .938 and is the frontrunner for minor league player of the year in this system. Few have raised their prospect stock as much as Michael Arroyo has this season, and the power development is borderline unheard of for a player of Arroyo’s previous skillset. He’s worked diligently to add muscle to his frame, and clearly it’s paid off in a big way.

Modesto Nuts

27-33, 2nd in California League North

It’s been a slow descent for the Nuts, but it’s still disappointing to see a team sink this low after being appointment television just a few months ago. There’s still reason to follow the team and they’ve got the recent draftees doing their thing, but it’s been a far cry from their dominant ways of the first half. They’ll get their shot at the playoffs, but I can’t say I’m feeling confident in their chances.

In a somewhat funky development, Tai Peete has been seeing time in centerfield, perhaps signaling a shift in primary position for next season. He’s been getting more and more time in the outfield as the season’s gone on, but I’ve been skeptical of moving him off a premium position for quite some time. If he’s a capable centerfielder, that issue gets solved and immediately supplements an outfield core that’s lacking top end talent outside of Jonny Farmelo. With another solid series this week that saw him nab four more bases, Peete is well on his way to swiping 50 bags on the year and remains a tantalizing package of tools waiting to be unlocked. The hit tool is still of considerable concern, but I want to believe he’ll get there. Finish strong, Tai.

Pitching hasn’t gotten any run in this week’s roundup, and it’s unfortunately not going to. Perhaps the biggest pitching news of all wasn’t even on the field, as it was reported that Teddy McGraw will be seeing Dr. Keith Meister for arm tightness in his throwing arm. McGraw’s injury troubles have been well documented and I don’t feel the need to harp on them any longer, so I’ll close this week’s issue with a simple “get well soon” message to Teddy. I really, really hope it’s just an abundance of caution, but it’s tough not to get concerned with injuries like this.

That concludes this week’s recap! Thanks for reading and GOMS!