While we wait for the arrival of Felix Hernandez in the major leagues – This month? Next month? Next year? – he’s doing quite well at Class AAA Tacoma.
Hernandez, the 19-year-old whose arrival in the majors is a matter of when and not if, hasn’t allowed an earned run in two starts for the Rainiers.
He’s 1-1 – an unearned run beat him in his first start – and is being brought along carefully. The Rainiers are keeping his pitch count at 80 to 85 pitches.
Hernandez isn’t the only prospect already making an impact with the Rainiers, who won five of their first eight games.
Right-hander Cha Seung Baek is 1-0 with a 1.64 ERA in two starts and righty Jorge Campillo, the veteran Mexican League pitcher who signed with the Mariners during spring training, is 1-0, 3.55 and led the Pacific Coast League with 14 strikeouts.
Abraham Nunez’s team-best .381 batting average, going into Friday’s home opener, was 10th in the PCL. Shortstop Michael Morse was hitting .296 with a home run and six RBI.
Class AA San Antonio Missions: Shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt, the Cuban refugee who signed with the Mariners in the offseason, entered the weekend batting .323 with one home run and six RBI, and catcher Rene Rivera was batting .304.
Left-handed pitcher Thomas Oldham was 1-1 entering Friday and hadn’t given up an earned run in his first two outings. Lefty Bobby Livingston, 0-1 with a 1.38 ERA, ranked third in the Texas League with 10 strikeouts.
The Missions entered the weekend 4-3.
Class A Inland Empire 66ers: Infielder Matt Rogelstad led the California League with a .363 batting average and ranked second with 11 RBI after seven games. Rogelstad entered the weekend with five straight multi-hit games.
B.J. Garbe, of Moses Lake, had a six-game hitting streak for the 66ers, who entered the weekend 3-4.
Outfielder Michael Nesbit was hitting .417 and shortstop Adam Jones was hitting .250 with three home runs. Outfielder Wladimir Balentien was hitting just .207 and had nine strikeouts, but also had hit three homers.
Class A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers: Matt Tuiasosopo, who was in high school at Woodinville this time last year, continues to thrive at the pro game. He ended his first full week batting .417 with one home run and seven RBI that were tied for the Midwest League lead. Tuiasosopo, who hit safely in six straight games, hit a game-winning home run in the 11th inning of the Rattlers’ 3-2 victory over Quad Cities on Wednesday.
The Rattlers were 6-1 and tied for first place with Beloit in the Midwest League Western Division entering this weekend’s games.
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