Tacoma Rainiers
Despite a recent injection of much needed talent, the Rainiers dropped their weekly series to a paltry Reno team that’s struggled nearly as much as the Rainiers have this season. The bevy of injuries the Mariners’ big league roster has had to endure this season has severely hampered the Rainiers’ ability to compete at the level they’d like to, and the constant up-and-down for what seems like half their pitching staff is surely not helping things much, either. The prospect promotions make this team a worthwhile watch, but it’s definitely been a tough year on large.
Michael Arroyo continues to be one of the most impressive hitters this system has seen in many, many years. Finally free from the confines of DSP, Arroyo has taken little time to adjust to the elevated level of Triple-A and is already raking, running an OPS north of .930 through his first 15 games. There’s truly nothing he can’t do at the plate; elite contact ability, above-average power, excellent barrel control, and good batted ball distributions indicate he should be one of the better bats this system has produced in the Dipoto era. He’s done nothing but rake throughout his time in the minors, and with a glaring need for a bat of both his handedness and caliber, it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise to see him debut in the bigs sometime later this season.
Not to be outdone by Arroyo, Lazaro Montes has followed suit and has begun clobbering baseballs in the PCL. Stinging the ball with consistency and showing off his tremendous in-game power, Montes popped his third Triple-A homer this week and raised his OPS up to .879 at the level, and excellent mark that’s risen considerably the past week or so. Both he and Arroyo have mashed their way through the minor leagues and look like potential cornerstone players for this franchise; neither comes without their warts, but with definitive big league skills and tremendous youth on their side, the tandem possesses considerable value to this team and makes them a hard inclusion into any would-be trades this upcoming deadline.
Arkansas Travelers
The Travs wound up splitting the series against Wichita this week, an undoubtedly disappointing result given the poor state of Wichita’s roster and a healthy injection of talent via Everett this past week. This roster is plenty good enough to be competing with the best teams in the league, but they’ve struggled to secure wins in games that aren’t pitched by Kade Anderson or Ryan Sloan and lack depth in the starting rotation. The lineup should be incredibly good for the final two months and could easily out hit their opponents on a nightly basis, but they’ll have to get things turned around relatively quick if they want a look at postseason play.
It would be remiss to not mention the heartbreak of Friday night’s near-perfect game. Led by Kade Anderson’s five flawless innings with seven punchouts on just 56 pitches, the bullpen managed to keep the good times rolling all the way up until the 27th out, where a tough play at third base ultimately crashed the party and led to an errant throw. A dominant showing regardless, but a brutal finish to a potentially legendary night.
Jonny Farmelo has taken to the Texas League well and has fit right in at the top of the Arkansas lineup. Having already popped two homers and making a solid amount of contact, Farmelo has an OPS eclipsing the 1.000 mark through his first six games and is conquering the tough confines of his home ballpark thus far. The K% is understandably elevated right now, but with the jump in pure stuff and minuscule sample size, it’s hard to read into anything too deliberately right now. He’s an immense talent that will be among the top five in this system by season’s end.
Everett AquaSox
The Frogs dropped this one by a score of 4-2 this week, now featuring a new-look lineup with some of the stalwarts from the 66ers getting the bump up to Hi-A. Despite the loss this week, the AquaSox remain tied for first atop the Northwest League in the second half and have presently positioned themselves for a spot in the championship series against Eugene at the end of the season. There’s still a ton of season left, but it’s been a great bounce back in the second half for this squad.
Replacing the aforementioned Farmelo in centerfield, Korbyn Dickerson has made mincemeat of Hi-A thus far and is clobbering the baseball through his first five games at the level. Already with two homers and an OPS over 1.300, Dickerson has looked plenty comfortable at the plate in his first taste of the Northwest League and remains one of the more interesting prospects in the “middle tier” of this system. He’s got the tools to really pop and turn into a potential big league regular down the line.
Luke Stevenson continued his hot hitting and turned in another stellar week at the plate with his refined approach. Collecting seven hits across four games that included four doubles, Stevenson raised his monthly slash to .365/.444/.730 and has looked like a completely different player offensively. His lengthy rut saw his passivity at the plate bite him in the butt, leading to too many two-strike counts that left him unable to do real damage at the plate and elevated his strikeout rate considerably. Now looking for contact a bit more aggressively, he’s now getting to loads more power and has simultaneously lowered his K% this month, an excellent sign for the future of his game. A strong finish to this season would be a massive sign for Stevenson who’s already had a very strong introductory season to pro ball.
Inland Empire 66ers
The woeful ways of the 66ers continued this week, with Inland Empire dropping all but one game on the series against a Stockton team that entered play 10 games below .500. It’s just been that kind of year for the 66ers; the Mariners’ top picks last season all ended up debuting elsewhere, and with the most recent class yet to make their way to affiliate ball, the state of the team is in pretty rough shape right now. Hopefully the collection of bats the M’s took a few weeks ago can buoy this team and make them a fun watch to close the year out.
Likely more a victim of roster construction than anything else, Grant Jay seemed like the odd man out on the promotion lists this week and deserves some praise for a strong debut season. The hulking slugger has immense raw power and is slugging his way to an .863 OPS on the year, firmly the best mark left on the team. He profiles best as a corner outfielder with a massive arm, but he’ll have to reduce his whiff as he climbs up the minor league ladder; the power makes it work, but a K% a shade under 35% in A-ball just isn’t going to cut it.
ACL Mariners
The Baby M’s wrapped up their season this past week, falling one run short of an ACL crown to the Reds in the championship game. It was a fantastic season for the M’s this season that saw plenty of promise emerge from some of their best prospects, and though we’re yet to see those guys get a promotion up to IE just yet, it seems likely at least a few names from this squad will earn their way up to affiliate ball in the next week or so. Hopefully Yorger Bautista and Nick Becker can light up the California League and continue their excellent play through the end of the year.
DSL Mariners
This team is one of the more exciting things to come out of this season down on the farm. With an absolutely stacked lineup and two superstar performers leading the way, this wave of talent could provide some much needed depth to this system and ultimately produce multiple big leaguers down the line. It’s obviously far too early to make any definite conclusions about any of these players, but the production has been outstanding to see nonetheless.
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