Campbell’s injury deals blow to struggling AquaSox pitching staff
Published 1:30 am Sunday, May 1, 2022
The Everett AquaSox’s pitching staff has already had a rough go of it early in the Northwest League season. Now the Sox will be without their opening-day starter for an undetermined amount of time.
Right-hander Isaiah Campbell was placed on the 7-day injured list last week after experiencing discomfort in his elbow during his last start.
Campbell has made four starts for Everett this season, amassing a 1.50 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 18 innings pitched. However, he was removed after throwing just three frames last Tuesday in a home start against the Spokane Indians.
“Campbell felt some discomfort during his last start,” Everett manager Eric Farris said via text message. “With his past injury history we decided to place him on the injured list until further notice.”
Campbell, 24, was considered one of the Seattle Mariners’ better prospects after being selected out of the University of Arkansas in the compensation round during the 2019 draft, and he pitched well in his professional debut with Everett last season, going 3-1 with a 2.33 ERA and 20 punchouts in 19.1 innings. However, he was shut down following a start on June 4 because of elbow soreness. He ended up undergoing season-ending surgery to remove bone chips and clean up the back of his ulnar bone.
Campbell was making a nice comeback this season before his most recent setback. He remains with the team.
Campbell has been replaced in the starting rotation by Brayan Perez, who was called up from Seattle’s affiliate in the rookie Arizona League. Perez pitched for Everett in 2019 when the Sox were a short-season team. He was roughed up in his first start for Everett this year, allowing five runs in 1.2 innings in Sunday’s 9-1 loss to Spokane.
The loss of Campbell is a blow to a staff that’s had a tough start to the campaign. Everett ranks last in the six-team league in runs allowed per game at 6.20. The team is also far behind the rest of the league in ERA (5.61, next worst 4.02), WHIP (1.48, next worst 1.30) and opponent batting average (.261, next worst .244). Those numbers are are no doubt affected by the fact that Everett has played three of its four series at home, and Funko Field is the best hitters’ park in the league.
The issue was apparent in last week’s six-game series against Spokane, when the Sox allowed 43 runs as the Indians took four of six. Everett is now 7-13 and in last place in the league, and the Sox are the only team that doesn’t have a winning record. However, the rest of the teams are all hovering just above .500, meaning Everett is still within striking distance at four games behind first-place Tri-City.
Stars of the week
Hitter: Spencer Packard. The 24-yer-old outfielder, who was the Mariners’ ninth-round pick in the 2021 draft out of Campbell University, batted .350 over the course of five games with two home runs and seven RBI. That continued a strong start to the season that sees Packard leading the Sox among qualifiers in batting average (.299), homers (four), RBI (16) and OPS (.974), and he’s reached base in all 18 games in which he’s appeared.
Pitcher: Bryce Miller. The 23-year-old right-hander, who was Seattle’s fourth-round pick in the 2021 draft, earns the nod for the second straight week after allowing just one run on two hits over five innings, walking three and striking out nine in Thursday’s 9-1 victory. Miller has been lights out through his first three starts, compiling a 1.62 ERA, 0.78 WHIP and a 20/6 strikeout/walk ratio in 16.2 innings pitched.
The week ahead
The Sox head back on the road following two weeks at home, as they travel to Canada for a six-game series against the Vancouver Canadians beginning Tuesday. This will be Everett’s first games in Canada since 2019, as the 2020 season was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, and the Canadians played out of Hillsboro, Oregon, in 2021 because of border restrictions caused by the pandemic.
Vancouver, an affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, is one of four teams in a second-place log jam, just a half-game behind Tri-City. The Canadians’ top prospect by MLB.com’s rankings is middle infielder Leo Jimenez, who’s listed as No. 5 in the Blue Jays’ system, though the 20-year-old is only batting .163 thus far. Vancouver has been led by outfielder Trevor Schwecke, who leads the league in OPS at 1.037, and right-handed pitcher Trent Palmer, who has a 1.69 ERA through four starts with 24 strikeouts in 16.0 innings pitched.
