From the Oh No, Not Again Department, fans of Phillippe Aumont can relax.
The Mariners’ highly regarded prospect is OK despite having gone most of July without pitching. Aumont, the Mariners’ first-round pick in the 2007 draft who’s now being groomed as a reliever, last pitched July 8 before going home to Canada to deal with a family situation.
Aumont, 1-2 with a 3.24 earned run average and two saves, returned to the team last week but the Mariners decided to have him throw a few bullpen sessions before putting him back into a game. He pitched a scoreless inning in the first game of Tuesday night’s double-header against Mississippi.
“He missed seven or eight days, and once he came back we decided to err on the side of caution,” Mariners minor league director Pedro Grifol said.
While Aumont was out, Ricky Orta and Anthony Vavaro each recorded a save for the DiamondJaxx.
Why not use Josh Fields, the star closer at Georgia before the Mariners drafted him in the first round last year, to finish games?
The Mariners prefer to use their relievers in multiple innings if possible and refrain from designating a closer at every level except Class AAA Tacoma (where Randy Messenger is third in the Pacific Coast League with 20 saves).
“When guys get to big leagues, they don’t break in as closers,” Grifol said. “They’ll break in as guys who might have to pitch a couple innings at a time, then work their way into closing. Once they get to Triple-A, you can start to groom guys for those situations. But from Double-A down, there’s not a closer per se.
“The only reason we’ve (closed games) with Aumont is that he just made the move to the bullpen and we want to take it slow with him,” Grifol said. “But we’ve instructed our minor league staff to go multiple innings with these guys.”
Fields entered Tuesday 2-2 with a 5.90 ERA, having allowed 10 hits and seven earned runs in his past four innings.
Class AAA Tacoma Rainiers
Jeff Clement has spent most of the season at DH and first base, but he could be catching again in about a week. Clement had soreness in his surgically repaired left knee early this year, but the knee was pronounced fine last week and he began catching bullpens. He caught two bullpen sessions Tuesday.
“We’re going day-to-day with Jeff, but we’re hoping to get him into a game within the next week to 10 days,” catching coordinator Roger Hansen said. “We’ve got to go off how he feels, but there haven’t been any setbacks at all.”
Clement is batting .286 with 14 home runs and 67 RBI, and entered Tuesday batting .357 in his previous 10 games.
Catcher Adam Moore had a .291 average with six homers and 30 RBI, and left fielder Bryan LaHair led the Rainiers with 18 homers.
The Rainiers, who lost outfielder Michael Saunders when the Mariners called him up Saturday, brought up Mike Wilson from Class AA West Tennessee. Wilson, injured most of the first three months, was batting .247 with five homers and 12 RBI in 26 games with the DiamondJaxx.
Rainiers pitcher Steven Shell, hit in the face by a line drive Sunday, suffered a small fracture to his sinus. Shell was hospitalized overnight and is expected to miss considerable time. He’s 3-3 with a 6.98 ERA.
The Rainiers entered Tuesday 49-53 and seven games behind Colorado Springs in the PCL Pacific North Division.
Class AA West Tennessee DiamondJaxx
Right-hander Dan Cortes, the promising starter obtained from the Royals in the Yuniesky Betancourt trade, had his best outing Tuesday night since the trade, holding Mississippi to five hits in six shutout innings.
Going into the game, Cortes had gone 0-2 with a 9.64 ERA in two outings since the trade.
In his second start, Cortes gave up five runs on six hits in five innings Thursday night in West Tennessee#146;s 6-4 loss to Jacksonville. He walked three and threw three wild pitches, and catcher Guillermo Quiroz had two passed balls while Cortes was on the mound.
Right-hander Kyle Parker was placed on the disabled list with a toe injury, and right-hander Brodie Downs was moved to West Tennessee from Class AAA Tacoma and will start tonight. Also, the Mariners moved second baseman Calix Crabbe from Class AAA Tacoma to the DiamondJaxx.
The DiamondJaxx went into Tuesday#146;s doubleheader against Mississippi 16-14 and second in the Southern League North, a half game behind Chattanooga.
Class A High Desert Mavericks
Third baseman Alex Liddi continued to lead the California League with a .350 average, with 21 home runs that ranked third and 79 RBI that were fourth. Outfielder Tyson Gillies’ .343 average ranked third in the league, and outfielder James McOwen was fourth at .335. Since his record 45-game hitting streak was snapped, McOwen has batted .259.
Right-hander Donald Hume was 11-5 with a 4.39 ERA.
The Mavericks were 18-14 and led the South Division by three games over Inland Empire.
Class A Clinton LumberKings
Three pitchers continue to lead the LumberKings — Brett Lorin at 5-4 with a 2.44 ERA, Kenn Kasparek 7-5 and 2.49, and Aaron Pribanic 7-6 and 3.21. Second baseman Luis Nunez led the team with a .304 average.
The LumberKings were 13-16 and four games behind first-place Cedar Rapids in the Midwest League Western Division.
Class A Pulaski Mariners
Third baseman Vincente Catricala was batting .297 and was tied for third in the Appalachian League with six home runs. Catcher Stephen Baron, the Mariners’ third pick in the June draft, had a .129 average in 31 at-bats. The Mariners were 16-17 and 5½ games behind first-place Danville in the Appalachian League East.
Rookie-level Peoria Mariners
Second baseman Kevin Mailloux was batting .354 and first baseman Evan Sharpley .327 with six home runs for the Mariners, who were 19-11 and first in the Arizona League West, 4½ games ahead of the Goodyear Indians.
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