The Seattle Mariners know the performance of their Class AA West Tennessee DiamondJaxx team this year will be a strong indicator of the strength of their minor league system.
The DiamondJaxx have many of the players who helped the Class A High Desert Mavericks win the California League South Division championship last year, and the Mariners expect them to succeed despite the jump to a higher level.
So far, the step up in competition has brought mixed results — an 8-10 record and some inconsistent individual performances going into Tuesday night’s game at Mobile.
“I’m not going to say it’s expected, but we all knew that these young kids would have their ups and downs,” said Pedro Grifol, the Mariners’ minor league director. “They’ll have some real good games, some so-so games and then some bad games.
“Right now, these guys will show glimpses of being real good and then they’ll make some mental mistakes and fail a little and fight though it. These guys had a lot of success last year, but adversity also needs to play its part in player development. These guys are strong mentally and hopefully they’ll be able to get through all of this.”
The biggest success so far has been outfielder Carlos Peguero, who won the Southern League player of the week award. He hit three homers and drove in six runs last week, and went into Tuesday night’s game batting .359 with six homers, 14 RBI, a .446 on-base percentage, .703 slugging percentage and a 1.149 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.
At 6-foot-4, 248 pounds with left-handed power and good speed on the bases, Peguero has the tools that can play well at Safeco Field, Grifol said.
Plate discipline has been Peguero’s biggest issue, and although he struck out 172 times last year at in 491 at-bats at High Desert, he also increased his walks by a huge margin. He drew 42 walks last year, when he hit 31 home runs, after walking only 10 times in 2008 at High Desert.
Through Monday, Peguero had struck out 14 times with eight walks in 64 at-bats.
“He has possibly the best power in the organization,” Grifol said. “He’s not only had a good start, but his approach and his plate discipline have been exceptional thus far. It shows us that he’s maturing as a player, as a hitter. It will be tough to keep up the numbers he’s putting up, but we’re extremely happy with the way his at-bats are coming along.”
With the Mariners’ major league club struggling to produce runs, especially with bona-fide middle-of-the-order power, a guy like Peguero is inviting.
“He’s the type of guy who has the ability to impact the major league club in a very positive way with power and run production,” Grifol said. “It’s our job to get him ready.”
Third baseman Alex Liddi, who tied for the California League batting title last year at High Desert, has struggled early at West Tennessee. He entered Tuesday batting .234 with a .269 on-base percentage, .422 slugging percentage and a .691 OPS. He’d struck out 18 times and walked twice in 64 at-bats.
Second baseman Dustin Ackley was batting .145/.284/.219/493 in 62 at-bats, while shortstop Carlos Triunfel had a six-game hitting streak and outfielder Mike Wilson a five-game streak with four homers and 10 RBI in that period.
Left-hander Mauricio Robles has been the most impressive pitcher, going 1-0 with a 2.84 earned run average and holding hitters to a .200 average in four starts. He has kept his pitch count down, accomplishing one of the organization’s major goals for all their young pitchers.
“How many outs can you get in less than three pitches,” Grifol said. “That’s what we’re really bearing down on these kids, especially the starters. Good starters go into the seventh inning and to do that, they have to be able to get outs in less than three pitches. Robles has great stuff and there’s no need for him to pick and mess around too much. Go after these guys and let them get themselves out.”
The Mariners are limiting their minor league starters to 85-90 pitches per outing, and on May 1 that will increase to 100 pitches.
Right-hander Michael Pineda, who impressed the Mariners in two Cactus League games at spring training, is 1-0, 1.76 in three starts, with 18 strikeouts and four walks in 151/3 innings. He had pitched into the seventh inning in his past two starts entering Tuesday’s outing at Mobile.
Pineda missed a considerable amount of last season because of elbow problems, but he’s not on any pitch-count restrictions this season, Grifol said.
Elsewhere around the Mariners’ minor league system:
Class AAA Tacoma Rainiers
Shortstop Josh Wilson had hit safely in 12 of 13 games going into Tacoma’s double-header Tuesday against Salt Lake. He’s batting .339 with a .348 on-base percentage, .500 slugging percentage and .848 OPS. First baseman Mike Carp led the Rainiers with four home runs and 19 RBI, and had posted hitting numbers of .242/.329/.484/.813.
Two of the Mariners’ top outfield prospects, Michael Saunders and Greg Halman, had struggled. Saunders was batting .217/.228/.157/.385 and Halman .188/.328/.417/.744.
Left-hander Luke French is 2-0 with a 1.44 ERA in four starts and closer Chad Cordero had four saves but a 6.48 ERA. Right-hander Steven Shell is 0-1 in three starts but has a 2.87 ERA and limited to a .228 average.
Class A High Desert Mavericks
The Mavericks were off to a 10-8 start and putting up some good offensive numbers in a hitter-friendly league. Third baseman Nate Tenbrink was batting .400/.455/.643/1.097 and had nine multi-hit games. Left-hander Bobby LaFromboise was 2-0, 2.93 in three starts and right-hander Kenn Kasparek 1-1, 3.09 in four starts.
Class A Clinton LumberKings
In a league where hitters traditionally start slowly because of the cold spring weather, the LumberKings entered Tuesday leading the Midwest League with 19 home runs.
Outfielder Kalian Sams led the league with seven home runs, was tied for second with 12 extra-base hits and third with 43 total bases. He entered Tuesday batting .235/.284/.632/.916 with 27 strikeouts and four walks in 68 at-bats.
Shortstop Nick Franklin was batting .343/.382/.657/.1.039 with four triples, four homers and 12 RBI. First baseman Dennis Raben had four homers and nine RBI and was batting .290/.367/.565/.932.
Left-hander James Gillheeney has gone 1-1, 2.21 in four starts, with 21 strikeouts and 12 walks in 201/3 innings. Left-hander Brian Moran had struck out 14 in 102/3 innings of scoreless relief, holding opponents to a .139 average.
Read Kirby Arnold’s blog on the Mariners at www.heraldnet.com/marinersblog
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