It’s a day off for the Mariners, but not from the business of baseball. With that the Mariners have trimmed six from their big-league spring training camp.
Among them is first-round draft pick Dustin Ackley, who has been optioned to the Mariners’ Class AA West Tennessee team.
The other moves are:
Outfielder Ezequiel Carrera, optioned to Class AAA Tacoma.
PItchers Ricky Orta, Danny Cortes, Anthony Varvarro and Edward Paredes, all optioned to Class AA West Tennessee.
This gives Ackley a chance to really dive into his work at second base. The Mariners converted him from an outfielder early this offseason, giving him individual work with coaches since early December here in Peoria.
He played 10 exhibition games and displayed the athleticism that makes the Mariners believe he can make the switch. Ackley also needs repetition to really nail all the nuances at second — the footwork, arm slot and sheer instinct it takes to play there at a major league level. He didn’t show a lot with the bat, going 3-for-19 in the big-league exhibitions.
Two who did themselves well in the big-league camp were Carrera and Varvarro.
Carrerea displayed his speed, stealing three bases and chasing down a lot of balls in center field. He went 4-for-11 with a .467 on-base percentage in nine games.
Varvarro, a right-hander to pitched well for the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League, didn’t allow an earned run in two exhibitioninnings. He allowed one hit and one walk, and struck out two.
The others? Let’s say they got a good taste of big-league camp, and the Mariners hope that will serve them well.
Cortes, the highly regarded right-hander acquired from the Royals in the Yuniesky Betancourt trade last year, allowed five hits and a walk, with one strikeout, in 1 1/3 exhibition innings. He had a 27.00 spring ERA.
The right-handed Orta gave up five hits and two walks, with one strikeout, in 1 2/3 innings and had a 10.80 ERA..
Paredes, a left-hander, allowed two hits, two earned runs, walked a batter and hit one in 1/3 inning.
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