Class AAA Tacoma Rainiers: Despite a roster that has been raided by the Mariners, the Rainiers entered the weekend 70-53 and a half game ahead of Portland in the Pacific Coast League North.
Left-hander Travis Blackley, battered in his short time with the Mariners, struggled early after he went back to Tacoma, but is pitching well again and is 8-4. His 3.47 earned run average is third-lowest in the PCL.
Randy Williams, one of four young left-handers who got a serious look from the Mariners at spring training (along with Blackley, Bobby Madritsch and George Sherrill) is 6-2 with a 3.13 ERA and eight saves.
Outfielder Jamal Strong led the Rainiers with a .324 average and had 19 stolen bases. Outfielder Jeremy Reed, after 44 games since arriving in the Freddy Garcia trade, was batting .309 with four home runs and 30 RBI. Third baseman Greg Dobbs was hitting .286, outfielder Luis Ugueto .269 with 25 steals and first baseman A.J. Zapp .289 with 24 homers and 85 RBI.
Class AA San Antonio Missions: Outfielder Shin-soo Choo stands among the Texas League leaders in several offensive categories. He is fourth with a .310 average, fourth with 30 steals, third with 140 hits and tied for second with seven triples.
The Missions, 26-25 and 1 1/2 games behind first-place Round Rock in the West Division standings, are last in the league with a .264 team batting average.
Pitching has been a strength, with right-hander Chris Buglovsky’s 3.51 ERA ranking him fourth in the league. Rick Guttormson’s 21 saves are third-most in the league.
Right-hander Rich Dorman is 6-4, 3.60 with 124 strikeouts in 95 innings and Felix Hernandez 3-1, 4.23.
Class A Inland Empire 66ers: Left-hander Bobby Livingston remained among the California League pitching leaders, with a 3.48 ERA (third lowest), 128 strikeouts (second), 11 victories (second) and 1652/3 innings (first).
Right-hander Jon Huber is 10-6 and is ninth with a 3.95 ERA and third with 125 strikeouts.
The 66ers, whose 3.85 team ERA leads the league, entered the weekend 21-23, two-games behind first-place Lancaster in the California League South.
Class A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers: Shortstop Adam Jones has held up well in his first extended season, hitting .263 with 10 home runs and a team-high 65 RBI. He also leads the team with 104 strikeouts.
Outfielder Chris Colton’s 10 triples are third most in the Midwest League, and he has 12 homers and 61 RBI.
Right-hander Brandon Moorhead’s 141 strikeouts are fourth in the league, and righty Nibaldo Acosta leads the league with 1532/3 innings but is tied for second with 12 losses. Left-hander Ryan Feierabend is 9-6, 3.96 and lefty Jason Mackintosh 6-5, 3.75.
The Rattlers entered the weekend last in the Midwest League Western Division, 24-28 and 71/2 games out of first.
Rookie Peoria: The Mariners lead the Arizona League with a .294 team batting average, led by Daniel Santin’s .348 average, which ranks him third in the league. He’s also second with 13 doubles. Right-hander Oliver Arias is 5-2 and is second in the league with 51 strikeouts. Right-hander Paul Fagan is third with 46 strikeouts.
The Mariners went into the weekend 28-20 and third in the league standings.
By Kirby Arnold
Herald Writer
When it seemed John Mabry’s career couldn’t get any worse than what he experienced last year in Seattle, there was Memphis.
Just 58 games of playing time last year translated into a season of discomfort at the plate, where Mabry batted .212 for the Mariners. This year was going to be different, even though the best Mabry and his agent could get in the offseason was a minor-league contract with the Cardinals.
Mabry went to spring training ready to win a place on a loaded Cardinals roster, but he’d been in a similar position before and won a job. Two weeks before the season began, however, the Cardinals re-assigned him to their minor league camp.
Here he was, a major leaguer since 1993 who’d become a valued bench player, going back to the minors with no idea when he’d return. It was a stark and sudden reminder that life is a lot different on the other side of pro ball, and it wasn’t easy.
In the minor league camp, he was a 33-year-old who joined teen-agers and 20-somethings.
“I was standing in line 50 deep at spring training to get half a sandwich,” said Mabry.
It wasn’t a whole lot more glorious with the Class AAA Memphis Redbirds.
“You’re getting 3:30 a.m. wakeup calls for buses, you’re sitting through three-hour layovers, you’re traveling at night,” Mabry said. “Damn right it was hard when they sent me down. I’m getting up there in baseball age and it’s physically demanding.”
Mabry could have gone to Memphis and become one of those malcontent former big-leaguers who litter the Triple-A ranks. He could have gone down with such an attitude.
He didn’t. He couldn’t.
Mabry is a player who runs hard on every ball he hits, whether it’s a line drive off the right-field fence or a dribbler back to the pitcher. He works as hard off the field as he does on it, maybe harder because that’s what it takes to be a successful major league backup.
He wasn’t going to quit working now.
“I went down there and told myself, ‘I’m going to do this thing wholeheartedly and earn the respect of my teammates.’ The only way to do that was to bust my butt and play hard.”
He played hard, and he played well.
Mabry tore up Pacific Coast League pitching with a .366 average, 10 home runs and 31 RBI in just 31 games. The Cardinals purchased his contract from Memphis on May 26, and he hasn’t stopped hitting.
Mabry entered the weekend batting .323 with eight home runs and 30 RBI. Best of all, he has contributed to a magical season for the Cardinals, who have such a wide lead in the National League Central that they already can afford to plan for the playoffs.
Mabry already had 155 at-bats entering the weekend, compared with 104 all of last season with the Mariners. He has long said that no job in baseball is tougher than being a bench player, and the key to success is getting a consistent number of plate appearances.
“People look at a bench player and ask why he doesn’t hit, but what they don’t realize is that he’s getting two pinch-hit appearances a week against the other team’s closer, then starts once a week against a guy like Pedro (Martinez),” Mabry said. “You feel as a player that you haven’t lost anything, but the fans are wondering what’s wrong with that guy.”
Playing two months in Memphis was crucial to the success Mabry has with the Cardinals, he said.
“It reinforced the belief in myself that I could play,” he said. “It helped me mentally. When you play every day, you can make adjustments and work on your swing, and your knowledge of the strike zone comes back. Plus, you have a feeling of self-worth.”
Mabry won the PCL player of the month award in May, and he embraced it.
“It was one of most prestigious things I’ve done for myself,” he said. “It reinforced why I worked so hard and did things the right way, and I’m very proud of that.”
Now, he’s back with a Cardinals team that has the best record in baseball.
Mabry refuses to look too far ahead with this team because he knows – from personal experience – how quickly things can change in this game.
“It’s yet to be determined how far we can go, but right now this team is awesome,” he said. “This lineup is full of guys who can get on base, hit home runs, get base hits, hit-and-run and steal bases. The pitching staff has been nothing but quality start after quality start and the bullpen is solid as a rock.
“This is fun to watch and it’s fun to be a part of.”
For two months this spring, Mabry lived the alternative.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
