FanPost

On The Farm: 5 up and 5 down

Richard Trask

It's the goal of every single professional baseball player to someday get the call and join a major league club. Sadly, most guys do not get the chance to realize this dream. However, each year on the 1st of September, MLB allows it's 30 clubs to expand their active rosters and bring up any player currently on the 40 man. Having said that, today is the 3rd, and before we get to our regularly scheduled rankings I figured we'd do something different and take a quick look at the seasons put together by the first batch of Mariners September call-ups.

Stefan Romero - RF, Tacoma Rainiers

Player Games At Bats Runs Hits Doubles Home Runs RBI K/BB BA/OBP/SLG
Stefan Romero 116 476 77 139 37 17 79 85/29 .292/.333/.494

Romero is by far the most known quantity of any of the four prospects getting called up. He played in 72 games for the Mariners in 2014, slashing a robust .192/.234/.299 in 177 at bats. The 2010 12th rounder out of Oregon State climbed steadily up the ladder, reaching AAA in just his third professional season. He got off to a quick start this year, collecting at least one hit in 17 of his first 23 games, and at least two hits in 9 of those contests. He's never been a burner, but he's stolen 10 bags in Tacoma, and has only been caught once. He's lowered his strikeout percentage from 21.2% to 16.5% between 2013 (the last season in which he had a meaningful amount of PCL AB's) and 2015. The Mariners control him for two more years, so hopefully he can do something in this last month to give himself a chance to compete for a spot on the 25 man next Spring.

Shawn O'Malley - LF, Tacoma Rainiers

Player Games At Bats Runs Hits Doubles Home Runs RBI K/BB BA/OBP/SLG
Shawn O'Malley 89 310 50 92 11 5 39 47/19 .297/.345/.413

This guy has grit, well maybe or maybe not. The Mariners signed him from the Angels organization in the off-season as an insurance policy in case WFB fell apart from years of trying too hard. Little Willy was actually in line for a promotion in early July, after Bloomquist was DFA'd, but he hurt his hand sliding into second base and spent a month on the disabled list. He doesn't have any standout tools, but he can play both the infield and the outfield, and he can swipe a bag (20SB) and take a walk if needed. He'll probably spend the next month backing up Brad Miller in CF.

Jose Ramirez - RP, Tacoma Rainiers

Player Record ERA Innings Hits Runs K/BB
Jose Ramirez 4-1 4.16 62.2 56 29 66/30

Jose Ramirez had been with the New York Yankees org since signing as an amateur free agent out of the DR in 2007. He's battled injuries for his entire career and was actually just recently shifted from the rotation to the bullpen a couple of years ago. His numbers appeared much better in his time with Scranton than they did with Tacoma (NYY 2.67 FIP TAC 8.66), but he's a live arm and he throws hard. Who cares about that, though? Even if this guy only throws 17 MPH, the M's bullpen has been very bad, and there's a chance he's not, I'll take it.

Tony Zych - RP, Generals (AA)/Rainiers (AAA)

Player Record ERA Innings Hits Runs K/BB
Tony Zych 1-2 2.98 48.1 45 16 55/9

Zych is a guy who pitched his way across two levels to a September promotion. It doesn't hurt that as we've previously discussed, the Mariners bullpen is atrocious, but it's not the only reason that he's here. The 2011 4th round pick by the Chicago Cubs was acquired this past off-season for cash considerations. He has touched 98 mph in the past, and has posted some of the most eye-popping numbers for a M's system reliever outside of the magical Paul Fry. Both Zych and Ramirez will provide the M's an opportunity to look at a couple of potential power arms that become options to compete for spots in what will certainly be a revamped pen moving into 2016.

*Each Thursday throughout the Minor League Season, I take a look at notable performances (both good and bad) and share them with you here. Stats are cumulative across any level, except for MLB played over the last 7 days, players called up to the Major Leagues within the last 7 days are not eligible for inclusion.

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FIVE UP

Jabari Blash - RF, Tacoma Rainiers

Player Games At Bats Runs Hits Doubles Home Runs RBI K/BB BA/OBP/SLG
Jabari Blash 6 18 9 8 2 4 11 4/4 .444/.500/1.222

The more famous of the "Flying Jabari Brothers" has taken over the top spot in this week's rankings. By obliterating all the baseballs, he's hoping to get a shot to join the Mariners before the season ends. The problem is that he's not currently on the 40 man, and the only way to get him on there would be moving someone (Furbush, I think?) to the 60 day DL in order to make room, as two of his recently called up teammates took spots 39 and 40. There are still massive holes in his swing, but the kid can hit for power, as he's now connected for eight dingers in the last two weeks. There's not much more a power hitter can ask for than having seventy five percent of his hits go for extra bases, and he even stole a base, just for good measure.

Ji-Man Choi - 1B, Tacoma Rainiers

Player Games At Bats Runs Hits Doubles Home Runs RBI K/BB BA/OBP/SLG
Ji-Man Choi 7 23 4 8 3 1 8 4/5 .348/.464/.778

Ji-Man is back! After losing a large chunk of time last season (50 games/PED) he was on track to re-establish his value with a full season in Tacoma in 2015, then he broke his leg in a March spring training game while leaping to make a catch against the Padres (assholes). He missed just over five months, playing his first action with the rookie league M's back on August 12th. Since rejoining Tacoma on the 20th, he's done nothing but hit, including starting off this last week going 4/5 with a home run and 7 RBI.

Alex Jackson - RF, Everett AquaSox

Player Games At Bats Runs Hits Doubles Home Runs RBI K/BB BA/OBP/SLG
Alex Jackson 5 13 5 6 1 2 4 4/5 .462/.650/1.000

Alex Jackson is the M's #1 prospect, so it's REALLY NICE to see him put together a fantastic week, despite the miniscule sample size. He started off the week with a four game hit streak, including a two homer eight total base salvo. He also continued to show the good plate discipline he's had all season. At this point, I have no idea where he'll start next season, but my guess is they'll be aggressive and start him in Clinton, and if he doesn't falter there he may skip the CAL league altogether and taste some AA possibly in the second half.

Austin Wilson - RF, Bakersfield Blaze

Player Games At Bats Runs Hits Doubles Home Runs RBI K/BB BA/OBP/SLG
Austin Wilson 5 23 3 9 3 1 5 8/0 .391/.391/.652

Austin Wilson makes it on the list thanks to a monster night in which he collected six hits in seven trips to the plate. He crushed 3 doubles, and had 12 total bases. He didn't walk very much (zero times) and continues to strikeout, but at least he can reaffirm that his swing does a lot of damage when he makes contact. He's still very raw, but is amongst the most physically gifted prospects in the entire organization. He's one to keep an eye on.

James Jones - CF, Tacoma Rainiers

Player Games At Bats Runs Hits Doubles Home Runs RBI K/BB BA/OBP/SLG
James Jones 6 23 5 10 3 0 4 3/5 .435/.536/.565

Jones is unlike a lot of guys on this list, in that he has appeared in quite a few major league games. However, after recently returning from injury, he's doing everything he can to convince the Mariners he deserves a spot on a 25 man roster. He's making contact, stealing bases (3-0) and generally being good. He's a fourth OF/late game defensive sub/pinch runner, but he has his usefulness, and I like James Jones. We'll see if he gets called up in the next wave.

I strike out everybody mention...

Paul Fry - RP, Jackson Generals

3 G/3.0 IP/0.00 ERA/1 H/0 ER/8-4 K-BB

One very good start mention...

Enyel De Los Santos - SP, Everett AquaSox

1 G/7.0 IP/2.57 ERA/6 H/2 ER/6-0 K-BB

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FIVE DOWN

Luiz Gohara - SP, Everett AquaSox

Player Record ERA Innings Hits Runs K/BB G/F
Luiz Gohara 0-1 10.80 3.1 5 4 5/3 3/1

Gohara retains the top bottom ranking for the second straight week, and makes his third appearance on the list in our abbreviated season. He's had a rough go of it in Everett this year, and in his only start this week, lasted again less than 4 innings, giving away hits and walks as if they were candy, and this were Halloween. I'm not sure if he's a mentally tough kid, but his confidence has got to be taking a beating with each passing start, let's see what he does in his last turn of the year.

Edwin Diaz - SP, Jackson Generals

Player Record ERA Innings Hits Runs K/BB G/F
Edwin Diaz 2-0 7.36 11.0 17 9 11/0 9/5

This is a perfect example of why pitcher wins are THE MOST IMPORTANT STAT OF ALL! HE WON 2 GAMES THIS WEEK! GREATNESS!! /end Sarcasm Diaz won a couple of starts where he got knocked the hell around because Jackson's offense finally decided to start scoring some runs. Other than not walking anyone across eleven innings, he was really bad, hits, runs, hard hits, hard runs, you name it. He's still striking guys out, but right now that's about it.

Ian Miller - CF, Jackson Generals

Player Games At Bats Runs Hits Doubles Home Runs RBI K/BB BA/OBP/SLG
Ian Miller 5 22 4 4 1 0 1 4/0 .182/.182/.227

Miller took advantage of his few times on base this week, he scored four runs while getting only four hits, and he didn't walk once. The speedy CF has seen his average slowly fall for the last month or so, and he's not showing the same patience he did earlier in the season, he's got 46 stolen bases in 2015, but he's also been caught running 17 times.

Tim Lopes - 2B, Bakersfield Blaze

Player Games At Bats Runs Hits Doubles Home Runs RBI K/BB BA/OBP/SLG
Tim Lopes 5 17 4 2 1 0 3 4/2 .118/.238/.176

Lopes is doing his best Ian Miller impersonation, also crossing the plate four times this past week on two hits and two walks. The 2012 6th rounder is in his 2nd tour of duty in the CAL league, and while he has improved his average by almost 40 points, he doesn't really flash any standout skill. In a further nod to Ian Miller, he's also been caught stealing 17 times this year (63% 35/52), but unlike Miller (73% 46/63), he's not quite as successful, if that's the right word.

Chris Mariscal - 3B, Clinton Lumberkings

Player Games At Bats Runs Hits Doubles Home Runs RBI K/BB BA/OBP/SLG
Chris Mariscal 4 15 1 1 1 0 0 8/0 .067/.125/.133

This was a short week to pick on a guy, only four games. That said, while there were plenty of "meh" performances across our system in the last seven days, Mariscal tried REALLY REALLY hard to be terrible. He had one hit, it did go for extra bases, but he punched out eight times while not reaching base via a walk once. My guess is pitchers just throw fastballs down the middle to a guy who's in a funk like this. There's really not much to say here, other than sans the double, this is pretty much the pinnacle of offensive ineptitude in a vacuum, dude's been in a funk.