While Dustin Ackley, Nate Tenbrink and other Mariners prospects are putting together a nice showing in the Arizona Fall League, there’s another M’s minor leaguer doing well for himself in Venezuela.
Outfielder Johermyn Chavez, who put up big numbers this year at Class A High Desert, is batting .314 with a .407 on-base percentage and .500 slugging percentage in 70 at-bats for Magallanes in the Venezuelan Winter League.
Chavez, obtained from the Blue Jays last winter in the Brandon Morrow-Brandon League trade, is just 21 and hasn’t played a game above the A-ball level. But the Mariners have a hard time holding back their enthusiasm about the 6-foot-3, 190-pounder.
At High Desert, he hit 32 home runs, drove in 96 runs and posted averages of .315/.387/.577/.964. And, depending on who you talk with from the Mariners, he might have the strongest arm in the organization.
Darin Garner, the Mariners’ minor league infield coordinator who managed High Desert the final five weeks of the season, isn’t bashful when he describes what he saw in Chavez.
“The first half of the season, when I would be there, he was figuring some things out,” Garner said. “And then right after the second half started, it was like, ‘Oh my goodness!’”
Garner gives a lot of credit to Tommy Cruz, the High Desert hitting coach who’s a master at helping hitters mentally as well as mechanically.
“Tommy did a nice job getting him to believe and trust what he wanted him to do,” Garner said. “One he did that, he was squaring it up consistently. He has elevated his game. He stayed short, he stayed quick. He stayed with what they were working on.”
It’s wise to cast a wary eye at offensive statistics in the California League, especially with the southern teams like High Desert because the air is dry and the ball carries. Garner says it probably didn’t matter where Chavez was playing because most everything he hit in the second half was on the sweet spot.
“High Desert or no High Desert, it was very impressive,” he said. “There was some pretty good pitching in the Cal League this year. Against the closers, guys with pretty decent stuff, and he didn’t change.”
And what about that arm? Chavez showed his arm strength from the beginning, although he often rushed his throws and lost accuracy because of it.
“He was trying to do too much, probably,” Garner said. “I told him the same thing I tell the infielders, ‘You’ve got to see what you’re doing. Be aggressive but be under control to make the play.’ Once he started doing that, every throw he made to third or home was right on the money.
“I told him at the end of the season, ‘This is where you want to be. You slowed the game down and your arm makes up for a lot. You don’t have to panic. Earlier, you were panicking.’ It’s the same thing with Ichiro. He doesn’t just throw it in the direction (of the play). He gathers it and is looking at what he’s doing and is trusting what he has. I told Chavey, ‘Trust what you have. That’s a special tool. Not everybody has that.’”
After playing A-ball the past three seasons, Chavez is ready for his biggest test next year at Class AA Jackson, Garner said.
“He’s a guy that every year I think he’s going to get better,” Garner said. “When I was there early we talked about slowing the game down, not just hitting but everything _ the defensive part, situational, baserunning. He did that. He’s ready to go to the next level.”
And now, a few morning links:
• This is Gold Glove day, with the Mariners’ Ichiro Suzuki in line to continue his string with a 10th straight.
Ichiro and Torii Hunter of the Angels are looking to win their 10th Gold Gloves, cementing them even further among the game’s great outfielders Roberto Clemente and Willie Mays each won 12, and Ken Griffey Jr., Andruw Jones and Al Kaline have 10 each.
Rawlings will announce the awards – based on voting by major league managers and coaches, at 12:30 p.m.
• Former Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu has landed in Toronto as the Blue Jays’ new bench coach – although it could be a touch-and-go.
Wakamatsu also remains in the running for the Mets’ managerial job, and the Jays will “cheer him on” for that job, new Toronto manager John Farrell said.
The Mets will interview Wakamatsu and Clint Hurdle on Wednesday.
• The A’s won the bidding for Japanese pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma, but there’s another in Japan who might interest the Mariners, middle infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka. Tim Kirkjian of ESPN seemed certain on Monday that Nishikoa would be posted, although reports today said the player and his team, the Chiba Lotte Marines, would talk before the Marines will decide whether to post him.
Good fit for the Mariners? They certainly could use an offensive-minded middle infielder (uh, they could use an offensive-mined anyone). Acquiring a player like Nishikoa, who’s considered better at second base than shortstop, could allow the Mariners to shift Chone Figgins to third base. That’s in the event they don’t bring back Jose Lopez. However, don’t forget that there’s a kid named Ackley hitting nearly everything thrown at him at every level he has played, and he’s going to be the Mariners’ second baseman soon. Ackley’s defense will determine that.
• Guess which aging left-hander is talking about coming back to pitch next year? No, not Jamie Moyer, although I wouldn’t put it past him to find his way back on the mound after an elbow injury.
It’s another former Mariner – 36-year-old Jarrod Washburn – who says he wants to pitch after sitting out all of 2010.
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