Mariners outfield prospect Dustin Ackley, their first draft pick in June, got two more hits today in his second Arizona Fall League game. Both were singles, one an infield hit, to give him a 4-for-9 start to his pro career.
All four of Ackley’s hits are singles, which already seems to be enough fuel for some doubters to criticize the organization for spending such a high draft pick on a scrawny singles hitter. Ackley is hardly a physical specimen and, even though one of the first things the Mariners introduced him to was the weight room, he doesn’t seem like the kind of player who’ll plant 30 home run balls a year in the right-field seats at Safeco Field when he reaches the majors. That shouldn’t mean he has absolutely no potential for power. There is, after all, a skinny guy at the top of their lineup who has shown he has the hands and bat speed to drive a pitch whenever he wants.
Phillippe Aumont, who pitched a 1-2-3 inning of relief in his first Fall League game, is working specifically on his fastball command. “It’s about him being able to repeat his delivery,” said Pedro Grifol, the Mariners’ minor league director. “There have been some mechanical inconsistencies that we want him to focus on. We want him to command the fastball opposed to just controlling the fastball. Controlling it means throwing it for strikes, but commanding it means being able to put it where you want to put it.”
That’s basically the goal for every pitcher in the organization, with added emphasis on developing an effective changeup. The Mariners required their minor league pitchers this year to throw the changeup 15 percent of the time, up from 10 percent last year. “We feel it is such an important pitch for all our pitchers,” Grifol said.
Few Mariners minor leaguers had a season as adventurous as outfielder Greg Halman, who showed plenty of power at Class AA West Tennessee (25 home runs) but also a huge penchant for striking out (an organization-high 183). When Halman dealt with a heel injury midway through the season, the Mariners used his recovery as an opportunity to send him to their facility in Peoria, Ariz., and attack his issues with hitting instructors, trainers and even a sports psychologist. Once on a pace of nearly one strikeout in every two at-bats, Halman finished the season by striking out a little more than a third of the time. That’s still too much, especially in an organization that won’t tolerate a lack of plate discipline (Yuni Betancourt, where are you?).
Among those concerned with the situation were Halman’s parents back home in the Netherlands. Roger Hansen, the organization’s minor league catching coordinator who was the point man during Halman’s summer work in Peoria, flew to Amsterdam and spent five days there last month to talk with the player and the parents. Halman then returned to Peoria for 2 1/2 weeks of hitting-specific work.
“The parents care so much,” Hansen said. “He’s such a huge prospect that it was good for me to go there and put everything to rest. Basically, I told them, ‘Here’s what it takes to get ready for the big leagues.’ They were very thankful that I came over. They want the truth. They don’t just want to be told, ‘You’re going to be great, you’re going to be this.’ They wanted to know exactly what is the next step to take, where he is headed and what he needs to do on and off the field.”
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