Today’s Game
Opponent: Vancouver Canadians
When: 7:05 p.m.
Where: Everett Memorial Stadium
Radio: KRKO (1380 AM)
Probable starters: Everett right-hander Andres Esquibel (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Vancouver right-hander Joselito Adames (1-2, 4.15)
Trio banished
Three core members of the Everett AquaSox have been sent home.
Starting pitchers Taylor Lewis and Nick Czyz and catcher Guy Welsh were suspended indefinitely by the Seattle Mariners organization for off-field actions that violated organizational rules.
“They were suspended indefinitely for conduct detrimental to the organization, for breaking the rules of the organization, and we’ll deal with it internally,” said Mariners director of minor-league operations Pedro Grifol, who declined to elaborate on the specifics of the transgressions.
“We have rules and policy in place, and any incidents off the field, or even on the field, that break the rules and hinder the integrity and character of the organization are going to warrant suspension.”
The loss of Lewis, Czyz and Welsh significantly shakes up a team that was off to a strong start.
Lewis and Czyz were Everett’s Nos. 1 and 2 starters. Lewis, a right-hander, was the Sox’s opening-day starter and had three strong starts before struggling in his past two. He was 3-1 with a 7.82 ERA. Czyz, a lefty, was solid in all five of his starts, going 2-2 with a 3.34 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 292/3 innings.
Welsh, who’s in the process of converting to catcher, was being used part-time behind the plate and also doing occasional designated hitting. In 16 games he batted .271 with one home run and eight RBI.
Grifol said it was yet to be determined whether Lewis, Czyz and Welsh will eventually be allowed to rejoin the Sox this season.
Filling in the rotation
With Lewis and Czyz no longer with the team Everett had to fill two spots in the rotation, and they did it with one former and one current member of the staff.
Right-hander Andres Esquibel, who spent a brief stint with the Sox earlier in the season, returned from Clinton of the mid Class A Midwest League and will start today. He’s pitched at four different levels this season, including one electric three-inning relief appearance in Everett. In eight appearances (one start) with Clinton he was 1-1 with a 4.91 ERA.
The other spot is being filled by right-hander Andrew Carraway, who had been a stalwart in Everett’s bullpen. In seven relief apparances for the Sox Carraway had yet to give up a run in 102/3 innings, walking just one while striking out 17 as he racked up two wins and a save. He will start Friday.
Everett manager John Tamargo said Esquibel and Carraway are not stopgaps and will remain in the rotation going forward.
Jones among newcomers
It wasn’t just players headed out the door as outfielder James Jones, Seattle’s fourth-round pick in the June entry draft, topped a list of six newcomers to Everett’s roster.
Jones, a 20-year-old native of Brooklyn, N.Y., was noted for his ability as both a hitter and a pitcher at Long Island University. Many admired his strong left arm and expected him to be drafted as a pitcher (despite a 1-7 record and 7.40 ERA this spring at LIU), but the Mariners coveted his athleticism and bat. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Jones batted .364 with nine home runs, 32 RBI and 20 stolen bases in 47 games for the Blackbirds.
In addition to Jones and Esquibel, the other newcomers are left-handed pitcher Fray Martinez, who had been playing in the Dominican Summer League; catcher Brandon Bantz, Seattle’s 30th-round pick this year who had been playing for Pulaski of the rookie Class A Appalachian League; infielder Deybis Benitez, who was on Everett’s roster for the first series of the season before going to High Desert of the high Class A California League; and outfielder Matt Cerione, Seattle’s 13th-round pick this year out of the University of Georgia.
All but Cerione joined the team Wednesday. Cerione was scheduled to join the team today.
No longer streaking
Sox catcher Juan Fuentes came one game short of putting himself into the Everett AquaSox record book. Fuentes had his 16-game hitting streak snapped Monday in the finale of Everett’s five-game series at Tri-City, going 0-for-3. That left him one game away from the franchise record of 17 jointly held by Greg Dobbs, who had his streak in 2001, and Tyson Gillies, who matched it last season.
Nick Patterson, Herald writer
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