If you’re a baseball player who can hit, you force your manager to find a spot in the field simply to keep your bat in the lineup.
Such is the case for Greifer Andrade, the 20th-ranked Seattle Mariners prospect according to mlb.com. The 20-year-old out of Venezuela has hit at every level in which he’s played, including a .338 batting average, .350 on-base percentage and .500 slugging percentage, with two homers and 14 runs batted in during 20 games with the Everett AquaSox this season.
“He’s putting together a really good season so far,” Everett manager Jose Moreno said. “He’s trying to swing at really good pitches and try to apply what he’s learning right now before the game and all the information with the hitting coaches. You can see he’s having some success so far.”
Andrade initially signed with the Mariners as a shortstop at 16 for a reported $1 million bonus. He spent most of his first three professional seasons playing shortstop in addition to spending some time at second and third.
However, with a number of middle infield prospects ahead of him in the Seattle pipeline, plus three All-Star caliber infielders on the big club locked up through at least 2021, Andrade is spending the 2017 season learning to play the outfield.
“The transition has been a process, and I’m still working on it,” Andrade said as teammate Eugene Helder interpreted. “I want to thank (AquaSox bench coach) Andy Bottin for helping me and my center field partner Brayan Hernandez for helping me during batting practice and in the field. I want to thank both of them for making the transition as quickly as possible.”
Andrade went hitless in six at-bats during a four-game cameo last season with the AquaSox, but slashed .341/.396/.549 with three homers and 16 RBI in 26 games with the rookie league Peoria Mariners. That performance came following a 2015 season in which he slashed .307/.369/.409 with three home runs and 27 RBI in 57 games with the Mariners affiliate in the Dominican Summer League.
“The power is going to come later,” Moreno said of the 6-foot, 180-pound Andrade. “He’s learning to control the zone (and) pitch selection, and he has some real good numbers so far.”
“Controlling the zone” is a challenge for many young hitters, and Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto and farm director Andy McKay have made the mantra an organizational staple. Andrade has walked just 29 times and struck out 96 times in 556 professional plate appearances.
Continuing to master pitch selection and learning how to play the outfield are presumably among the reasons Andrade was assigned to Everett rather than Class A full-season Clinton this season.
“The most difficult thing (in the outfield) is reading the ball off the bat,” Andrade said. “Some fly balls I go the wrong direction, so it’s still a process to see it off that bat. That’s been the biggest (issue) right now.”
Andrade credits his cousin, Bealyn Chourio, for sparking his interest in baseball. Chourio, 23, spent parts of five seasons in the Pittsburgh Pirates system.
“He is the one that motivated me to go to the field to practice in the early morning because I didn’t like to practice,” Andrade said. “He was the one who motivated me.”
Chourio may have gotten his cousin to the field. It’s Andrade’s bat that figures to keep him there.
For the latest AquaSox news follow Jesse Geleynse on Twitter.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
Gallery
