SEATTLE — It isn’t hard to see what the Mariners liked about Mercer outfielder Kyle Lewis in selecting him Thursday with the 11th overall pick in the major-league draft.
Lewis, 20, is an All-American with projectable size at 6 feet 4 and 195 pounds. He had a 48-game streak of reaching base — Control the Zone! — while batting .395 with a .535 on-base percentage.
He also had 20 homers in 61 games.
“We thought he was going to be picked before us,” said Tom McNamara, the club’s amateur scouting director. “We’re very excited that he made it to us. He’s a 6-foot-4, middle-of-the-order potential bat.”
The Mariners later used their second-round pick, No. 50 overall, to select prep third baseman Joe Rizzo of Oak Hill, Va.
Lewis doesn’t lack confidence.
“I feel I’m a complete player,” he said. “I think I offer a package of power and speed and being able hit for a high average and hit for power.
“Impact in a number of ways. I think I’m a complete player… I think you’re scratching the surface of what I have in the tank.”
A right-handed hitter, Lewis is a center fielder who projects as a right fielder. He was picked the last two seasons as the Southern Conference player of the year and was recently chosen by Baseball America as its college player of the year.
Baseball America also ranked Lewis as the draft’s fourth-best prospect.
“Lewis is a right-handed hitter with plus-plus raw power,” Baseball America reported. “He has some swing-and-miss to his game…but he’s developed a reputation for destroying mistake pitches and working at-bats until he gets the pitch he’s looking for.”
Rizzo, 18, is a left-handed hitter and a preseason All-American who batted .392 as a senior at Oakton High School. He was ranked by Baseball America as the No. 38 prospect. He has signed to play collegiately at South Carolina.
“With his stocky 5-foot-11, 215-pound frame,” Baseball America reported, “Rizzo shows plus raw power in batting practice that plays closer to average power in games.”
The assigned bonus-pool slot for Lewis as the 11th overall pick is $3,286,700, although that amount is negotiable. Clubs often choose to exceed the slot amount for top picks by shorting other draft picks.
Major League Baseball assigns a slot value to every pick through the 10th round, and a club’s bonus pool is the sum of those totals. The Mariners have $7,136,000 in their allotment.
The slot amount for Rizzo as 50th pick is $1,252,100.
Martin scratched
Soggy conditions at Cheney Stadium prompted the Mariners to scratch plans Thursday for center fielder Leonys Martin to test his recovery from a strained left hamstring by playing in a rehab game for Triple-A Tacoma.
Revised plans call for Martin to return for a workout at Safeco Field and a subsequent medical examination. If all goes well, he is still likely to be activated prior to Friday’s game against first-place Texas.
“Disappointing,” manager Scott Servais said. “I’d like to get him the at-bats (in a rehab game), but I don’t want to run him out on a soggy field. I’m not hesitant (about activating Martin without a rehab test).
“He’s not a rookie. The only thing I’m a little cautious about is that he go out there and the leadoff hitter hits a ball into left-center field, and he’s hauling tail after it and does something crazy.
“I want him to hold the reins back a little bit until he gets his legs back under him.”
Martin, 28, suffered the injury May 25 while stealing second base against Oakland. He was batting .262 at the time of his injury with nine homers and 20 RBIs in 44 games.
Pending roster move
The Mariners are leaning toward keeping Shawn O’Malley as their utility infielder over Luis Sardinas if, as expected, they need to clear roster space Friday to accommodate Martin’s return from the disabled list.
Club officials say O’Malley provides the roster with a true utilityman capable of playing the outfield in addition to being able to man all four infield positions.
While Sardinas played some outfield in spring training, and played one game earlier this season in left field, he is viewed primarily as an infielder.
O’Malley was batting .179 (7-for-39) through Wednesday but delivered key hits in recent games. He had the go-ahead single June 2 when the Mariners erased a 10-run deficit at San Diego, and a two-run triple Tuesday against Cleveland.
Sardinas is batting .200 (12-for-60) prior to Thursday’s game.
Hernandez update
Right-hander Felix Hernandez was scheduled to undergo a follow-up examination Thursday to determine his progress in recovering from a strained right calf muscle.
“He’s feeling a little bit better,” Servais said, “but it’s not moving at the pace he was hoping it would. He’s keeping his arm active, which is good. He’s throwing the cage. Keeping it loose. But, again, it’s not the same.”
Hernandez hasn’t pitched since a May 27 loss to Minnesota. He is eligible to return Sunday from the disabled list but isn’t expected back, at the earliest, until the end of the month.
Rotation switch
Servais confirmed plans to shuffle his rotation next week by separating left-handers James Paxton and Wade Miley after Monday’s open date in the schedule.
Paxton will jump ahead of Hisashi Iwakuma in the next cycle and start June 16 at Tampa Bay. Because of the open date, Paxton will remain on his regular work schedule.
Iwakuma will start June 17 in the series opener at Boston, which means he will get two extra days of rest following his scheduled start Friday against Texas. Miley will followed Iwakuma in the rotation in Boston.
Battery power
Battery mates Taijuan Walker and Chris Iannetta achieved a rare feat Wednesday when Walker pitched eight scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts, while Iannetta hit two homers and drove in four runs.
It was only the fourth time since 1913 that a pitcher had 10 or more strikeouts while working at least eight scoreless innings, and the catcher hit at least two homers and had at least four RBIs.
The last time it happened was also at Safeco Field. On Sept. 13, 2006, Toronto starter A.J. Burnett struck out 11 while pitching a complete-game in a 10-0 victory over the Mariners. Catcher Gregg Zaun hit two homers and drove in five runs.
The other occasions:
*Sept. 15, 1968 in Detroit’s 13-0 victory at Oakland. Mickey Lolich had 12 strikeouts while pitching a complete game, and Bill Freehan had two homers and four RBIs.
*April 11, 1963 in Washington’s 8-0 victory over Boston. Tom Cheney struck out 10 in a one-hit complete game, and Don Leppert hit three homers and drove in five runs.
Minor details
Double-A outfielder Tyler O’Neill reached new heights in his breakout season Wednesday when he had eight RBIs, including a walk-off grand slam with two outs, in an 8-4 victory over Pensacola (Reds).
O’Neill, 20, boosted his average to .332 after finishing the game with three hits in four at-bats. He has 11 homers and 51 RBIs in 57 games. He leads the Southern League in RBIs and ranks second in average and homers.
The victory also reduced the Generals’ magic number to one for clinching the first-half pennant in the North Division of the Southern League.
The Mariners selected O’Neill in the third round of the 2013 draft.
Looking back
It was 24 years ago Friday — June 10, 1992 — that Major League Baseball approved the sale of the Mariners from Jeff Smulyan for $100 million to the Baseball Club of Seattle, L.P.
The other club owners approved the sale on the condition that Puget Power chief executive officer John Ellis run the franchise even though Hiroshi Yamauchi, the owner of Japan-based Nintendo, put up a majority share.
The Mariners are currently undergoing an transition that seeks to reduce Nintendo’s share with the ownership group and make John Stanton the franchise’s new chairman and chief executive officer.
The current transition is scheduled for consideration by other club owners in August.
Short hops
When Chris Iannetta hit two homers in Wednesday’s victory, he became the sixth different Mariner this season to have a multi-homer game. The others are Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz, Dae-Ho Lee, Adam Lind and Seth Smith. The only club with more than six multi-homer players is Toronto, which has seven…the Mariners, through Wednesday, had 123 two-out RBIs, which matched Boston for the most in the majors…the Mariners, through Wednesday, also lead the majors with 34 two-out homers.
On tap
The Mariners open a three-game rematch against first-place Texas at 7:10 p.m. Friday at Safeco Field. The Rangers swept a three-game series when the two clubs played last weekend in Arlington, Texas.
Right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma (4-5 with a 4.13 ERA) will face Texas lefty Derek Holland (5-4, 4.53). It is a rematch of last Sunday’s series finale when Texas benefited from two unearned runs in a Rangers’ 3-1 victory.
The game can be seen on Root Sports Northwest and heard on 710 ESPN.
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