EVERETT — Joseph Rosa doesn’t consider himself to be a “power guy.”
And, as a middle infielder listed at 5 feet, 10 inches and 165 pounds, the switch-hitter doesn’t necessarily look the part, either.
Nevertheless, Rosa belted his team-leading fourth homer Tuesday, turning around a 97-miles-per-hour fastball from Tri-City reliever Andres Munoz in the eighth inning.
“I just tried to barrel up the ball and get short to it, and that’s what I got,” Rosa said. “I’m not really a power guy, but I’m just trying to look for a fastball, get barrel to the fastball and it’s giving me good results right now.”
Entering Wednesday’s game, the 20-year-old Rosa was slashing .301/.370/.589 and led the team with seven doubles and was second with 13 RBI. His four homers were second in the Northwest League and his 13 RBI were tied for fourth in the league. He led the league in slugging with .598 and his on-base-plus-slugging percentage of .959 was third in the league.
“He has the skill, has the talent, is very athletic and he can play anywhere in the middle infield,” said AquaSox manager Jose Moreno. “Right now it’s just a matter of time and just playing the game.”
Already Rosa has experienced the nomadic life of a professional baseball player. He played the 2015 season with Seattle’s team in the Dominican Summer League. Rosa spent most of 2016 with the Mariners affiliate in Peoria, Arizona, but he also played four games last season with advanced Class A Bakersfield.
A rash of roster moves in the Seattle Mariners organization this season meant Rosa played four games with Class AAA Tacoma and two with Class AA Arkansas.
“I think he’s more mature and he’s been able to go to different levels this year,” Moreno said. “The only way you’re going to get that experience is playing the games. So being around older players and now he’s more mature and getting stronger, you can see the results.”
Rosa said there was a stark difference at the Class AAA level where he went 1-for-14 with a double for an .071 batting average. He was 2-for-7 (.286) at Arkansas.
“Arkansas was a little better than (Class A), but pretty similar,” Rosa said. “Tacoma was way better. I got to face some big-league guys. The pitching is way better up there. You gotta be more experienced to be in Tacoma.
“It was pretty good being up with those guys,” Rosa added. “They showed me a lot of stuff up there. They told me about a lot of fielding stuff, a lot of hitting stuff and how it was going to be different.”
Born in New York, Rosa moved to the Dominican Republic during elementary school. That’s where he grew up before signing with the Mariners as an international free agent in 2014.
Rosa’s best friend and fellow Dominican Republic native Chris Torres joined the AquaSox roster Wednesday and played shortstop as the duo formed the middle infield combination in Everett’s game against the Tri-City Dust Devils.
That’s just another perk for Rosa, who is enjoying his season with the Frogs.
“I like the fans, we have a lot of fans always,” Rosa said. “The temperature is good, and we have a good team.”
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Everett manager Jose Moreno (left) congratulates Joseph Rosa after Rosa hit a home run in the third inning of a game against the Canadians on June 26, 2017, in Everett. (Kevin Clark / The Herald)
