AquaSox weekly update: Everett drops 4 of 5 to Spokane
Published 12:00 pm Monday, August 9, 2021
The Everett AquaSox have dominated their High-A West opponents this season.
Well, every team except the Spokane Indians.
The first-place AquaSox dropped four of five games to the Indians this past week in Spokane, while getting outscored 39-20 in the series.
Everett is just 3-8 in two series against Spokane this season, but 49-22 against the other four teams in the High-A West. Two of the AquaSox’s three series losses are to Spokane.
Everett’s pitchers struggled mightily this past week, posting a 7.84 earned-run average in the series. AquaSox starters gave up crooked numbers in the early innings of last Tuesday’s and Friday’s losses, while the bullpen blew late leads in Wednesday’s and Thursday’s losses.
Everett ended a season-high four-game losing skid with a win Saturday. Sunday’s series finale was postponed because of inclement weather.
STANDINGS UPDATE
The AquaSox (52-30) saw their lead atop the High-A West cut nearly in half this past week. Everett holds a four-game lead over second-place Eugene (49-35) and an 11.5-game lead over third-place Spokane (41-42).
KIRBY, HANCOCK BOTH BACK
The Seattle Mariners’ top two pitching prospects are both back in action for the AquaSox. A week and a half after Emerson Hancock made his return from a minor injury, George Kirby followed suit.
Kirby, the No. 20 overall pick in the 2019 MLB draft, returned to the mound Saturday after being sidelined for four weeks with shoulder fatigue. The 23-year-old right-hander tossed three scoreless innings in his start and retired nine of the 10 batters he faced. He struck out two batters, walked none and allowed one hit.
Kirby, ranked by MLB.com as the No. 70 overall prospect in baseball, has a 2.38 ERA in 41 2/3 innings pitched this season. He has 52 strikeouts and just eight walks.
Hancock, the No. 6 overall pick in last year’s MLB draft, started last Wednesday’s game. It was his second outing since missing more than a month with a minor shoulder injury. The 22-year-old right-hander pitched 3 2/3 innings, allowing one run and two hits. He struck out three and walked one.
Hancock, MLB.com’s No. 21 overall prospect, has a 2.32 ERA in 31 innings this season. He has 30 strikeouts and 13 walks.
GOMEZ HAS BIG WEEK AT THE PLATE
AquaSox first baseman Dariel Gomez went 8-for-21 with two home runs and three doubles this past series. Since being promoted from Low-A Modesto in mid-July, he’s batting .280 with three homers, two triples and nine doubles in 19 games with Everett. The 25-year-old left-handed hitter from the Dominican Republic has a .345 on-base percentage and a .573 slugging percentage over that stretch.
OTHER STANDOUTS
Here are some other AquaSox players who had notable performances in this past series:
Joseph Rosa: The 24-year-old infielder went 6-for-17 with two doubles in the series, while extending his hitting streak to eight games. He’s batting .257 with five home runs, three triples and 16 doubles in 60 games with Everett this season.
Justin Lavey: The 23-year-old infielder went 6-for-17 with a double last week in his second series since being promoted from Low-A Modesto. In 10 games with the AquaSox, he’s batting .243 with a home run and two doubles.
Connor Hoover: The 25-year-old infielder continued his turnaround at the plate by going 5-for-15 with a home run in the series. After hitting just a combined .148 in May and June, he’s batted .308 since the start of July. For the season, he’s hitting .221 with 10 homers, two triples and 14 doubles.
Kennie Taylor: The 24-year-old outfielder went 5-for-17 with a home run and two doubles in the series. Taylor, a 2019 14th-round draft pick by the New York Mets, has split time this season between Triple-A Tacoma, Low-A Modesto and Everett. In nine games with the AquaSox, he’s batting .276 with a homer and three doubles.
J-ROD WINS BRONZE AT OLYMPICS
Former AquaSox star and MLB.com No. 3 overall prospect Julio Rodriguez helped lead the Dominican Republic to a bronze medal in baseball this past week at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Rodriguez, who starred for Everett earlier this season before being promoted to Double-A Arkansas, batted a team-high .417 in the Olympics, going 10-for-24 with one home run and two doubles.
The 20-year-old phenom blasted a two-run homer in the bronze-medal game, helping the Dominican Republic to a 10-6 win over South Korea. The victory gave the Dominican Republic its first-ever Olympic medal in baseball.
In 28 games with the AquaSox this season, Rodriguez hit .325 with six home runs, two triples and eight doubles. At the time of his promotion in late June, he led the High-A West in both batting average and slugging percentage (.581) and ranked third in on-base percentage (.410).
UP NEXT
The AquaSox return home to Funko Field for a six-game series against the fifth-place Vancouver Canadians (37-47). The series runs Tuesday through Sunday.
