Fun on the Farm, 8/1

AAA Tacoma Rainiers (57-56, Pacific Coast League)

James Paxton, who is scheduled to start for the Mariners tomorrow against Baltimore, made his final rehab start with the Rainiers last Sunday (July 27th) against Sacramento.  While he did display some signs of rust, Paxton also showed a good deal of improvement in his 4.1 innings of work.  He allowed 6 hits and walked 3 batters, but he only allowed one earned run and struck out 5.

Jesus Montero went 1-for-5 last night, capping off a sensational month of July.  In 27 July games, Montero went 39-for-104 (.375) with 9 doubles, 8 home runs and 33 runs batted in.  Despite his undeniable success, it's still hard to see where he could fit with the Mariners this season.

Center fielder Xavier Avery is on a bit of a hot streak over his last 7 games, batting .391 with 4 runs scored, 1 double, 1 home run and 2 stolen bases.

Right-handed pitcher Forrest Snow has continued his dominance, allowing just 5 earned runs while striking out 34 batters in 34.1 innings pitched with Tacoma this season.  Snow has held opponents to a .198 batting average, while surrendering 14 walks.

AA Jackson Generals (48-61, Southern League)

Infielder Jordy Lara was promoted from High Desert to Jackson on July 27th and with good reason.  Lara had a 17-game hitting streak when he was called up and had just been named the California League Player of the Week, so the promotion was definitely well-deserved.  Lara hasn't adjusted quite as well as D.J. Peterson did when he made the jump to AA, as he's gone just 1-for-14 in his four games with the Generals thus far.

Speaking of D.J. Peterson, he has cooled off a bit of late, batting just .176 (6-for-34) with 12 strikeouts in his last 10 games.  Despite this recent drop in production, Peterson is still hitting a solid .274 with 5 home runs and 16 runs batted in since his promotion to AA.

Patrick Kivlehan has recorded at least 1 base hit in 18 of his last 21 games, batting .364 with 7 doubles, 4 triples, 3 home runs and 18 runs batted in in that span.

A High Desert Mavericks (52-58, California League)

As of June 8th, catcher Tyler Marlette was batting .261, but since then he has managed to raise his average to .303.  During that 32-game stretch, he hit went 45-for-130 (.346) 9 doubles, 6 home runs, 19 runs batted in, 8 walks and 5 stolen bases .

Right-handed pitcher Andrew Kittredge has struck out a career-high 95 batters in 71.2 innings this season.  He has struck out 90 of those batters with the High Desert Mavericks, 3 with the Jackson Generals and 2 with the Everett AquaSox.  With High Desert, Kittredge is averaging 12.53 strikeouts/9 innings in 32 relief appearances.

A Clinton LumberKings (45-62, Midwest League)

Justin Seager is doing a pretty good impression of his big brother lately.  The younger, bigger Seager went 2-for-5 last night and extended his modest hitting streak to 4 games.  Catcher Marcus Littlewood is another LumberKing riding a hitting streak, although his is now at 9 games.  During the streak, Littlewood is hitting .406 with 1 double, 2 triples, 1 home run and 7 runs batted in.

Right-handed relief pitcher Seon Gi Kim has surrendered only 1 earned run in his last 17.1 innings pitched.  During this stretch, Kim has stuck out 13 and boasts a 0.52 ERA. Fellow reliever Kevin McCoy has not allowed a run in his last 4 relief appearances.  In those 7.0 innings of relief, McCoy has struck out 9 batters and only allowed 4 base hits.

Short-A Everett AquaSox (12-27, Northwest League)

Not much worth noting in Everett other than the fact that righty Kody Kerski hasn't allowed a hit or a run in his last 9.2 innings of relief.  During this impressive stretch, Kerski has stuck out 10 while walking only 3.

Rookie Pulaski Mariners (18-14, Appalachian League)

On top of having one of the coolest names in the entire M's organization, outfielder Arby Fields can also hit.  Fields is batting .433 with 2 doubles, 1 home run, 3 runs batted in, 3 walks and 2 stolen bases in his last 9 games.

Fellow outfielder Estarlyn Morales is batting .404 with 5 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs, 13 RBI, 6 walks and 3 stolen bases in his last 15 games.  Morales has 23 hits in that span and has hit safely in 13 of those games.

Trey Cochran-Gill has basically been a cheat code so far, allowing just 1 earned run in 21.0 innings of relief.  That's not all, though.  Cochran-Gill is 3-0 with 6 saves and an opponent batting average of .125.

Rookie AZL Mariners (17-15, Arizona League)

Outfielder Austin Wilson is back on a rehab assignment with the AZL Mariners, and went 1-for-2 with a home run on Tuesday night.  Last night, Gareth Morgan went 1-for-5 with a home run and a run batted in. Not much else to report out of the AZL camp.