The carefully orchestrated first pro season for 19-year-old pitching prospect Phillippe Aumont has hit a wrinkle.
The Mariners’ first-round draft pick last year has been placed on the disabled list with Class A Wisconsin after coming down with a sore right elbow. It’s not considered serious, but the Mariners aren’t taking any chances with a pitcher they believe could be an important part of their future rotation.
“We had planned on shutting him down for two weeks in another start or so anyway,” said Greg Hunter, the Mariners’ minor league director. “He got a little sore so we shut him down now. They’re on All-Star break now, so the timing works just as well.”
Hunter expected Aumont to return June 23 or 24.
“He came up a little bit tender so we thought this was a perfect time to do this,” Hunter said. “He hadn’t missed any of the appearances we had scheduled for him.”
Aumont went on the DL June 10, one day after he gave up seven hits and six earned runs in 12/3 innings. He’s 4-4 with a 2.62 earned run average in 12 games, six of them starts.
The Rattlers finished the first half of the Midwest League’s Western Division 31-35, sixth place.
First baseman Ron Garth was named the Midwest League player of the week after six two-hit games that included two home runs and nine RBI. Garth is batting .358 this month after a .185 average in May.
Elsewhere around the Mariners’ minor league system:
Class AAA Tacoma Rainiers: Right-hander Scott Williamson, trying to resurrect his career after elbow injuries, pitched 12/3 innings of scoreless relief Sunday in his first outing with the Rainiers.
The Mariners signed Williamson last Friday, six days after he’d been released by the Braves. He went 2-1, 6.61 in 15 relief appearances with Class AAA Richmond.
Williamson helps the Mariners cope with injuries that have landed pitchers Ryan Feierabend, Eric O’Flaherty and Chris Jakubauskas on the disabled list.
Feierabend has a strained left forearm and is close to returning after being shut down two weeks. O’Flaherty has dealt with back stiffness but has thrown bullpens and is expected to come off the DL today.
Jakubauskas, 4-1 with a 3.06 ERA, was shut down because of tightness in his right shoulder.
“It doesn’t look like anything serious on any of them, but we thought we needed to get a little bit of insurance (by signing Williamson),” Hunter said.
Class AA West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx: Right-hander Shawn Kelley hasn’t allowed an earned run in four relief appearances with the Diamond Jaxx after being promoted from Class A High Desert. With the two teams combined, he hasn’t allowed an earned run his past 16 innings.
Outfielder Mike Wilson had hit two homers and driven in nine runs in three games entering Tuesday, and outfielder Mike Saunders batted .421 in a five-game span, raising his season average to .291.
West Tennessee finished the first half of the Southern League season 41-29 and tied with Huntsville for the North Division first-half title. The teams played a tiebreaker game Tuesday to determine the first-half champion.
Class A High Desert Mavericks: Right-hander Anderson Garcia, signed by the Mariners in February but injured throughout spring training, put together his best start of the season Monday when he gave up eight hits and two earned runs in six innings. It’s the first time this season he’d pitched more than four innings. Garcia is 1-4 with a 6.85 ERA.
Left-hander Stephen Uhlmansiek has a streak of 12 scoreless innings and has allowed one run in 15 innings of relief this season. He’s 1-0 with a 0.60 ERA in 13 games.
Outfielder Carlos Peguero batted .364 during an eight-game hitting streak, giving him a .294 season average with 10 home runs and 60 RBI.
The Mavericks ended the first half of the California League season 32-38 and tied for second in the South Division.
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