Mariners Moose Tracks, 4/17/20: Joe Kelly, bilingual prospects, and pioneer apples

Fridays still exist! Hoping you’re all safe and well.

In Mariners news...

• The Mariners bullpen is staying in touch just about the same way many of us are these days.

• Julio Rodriguez hopped on to deliver a message to fans. First, in English...

... and second, with an outfit change, in Spanish.

• If getting a sense of player development is your thing, Modesto Nuts announcer Keaton Gillogly’s chat with now-AAA-Tacoma pitching coach Rob Marcello Jr. on preparing minor leaguers for big league mentalities.

• Plenty of minor league content to help fill your ears, as Mariners RHP reliever prospect Bryan Pall hops on the West Virginia Power podcast to go into depth on the 2019 season, which included star prospects and health, at last.
• And in the big league realm, Ryan Rowland-Smith talks to Justus Sheffield for HIS podcast.
• Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) is a foundational stat for advanced metrics that we rely on, like much of the league these days. The Mariners themselves have a walkthrough on how FIP measures a few notable pitching seasons in their history.
• Excellent photography from Regina Rickert captured a strengthened RHP Juan Then from 2019.

• Corey Brock of The Athletic went in depth on Mario Mendoza, the man whose name was ignominiously lent to a .200 batting average, but had a career and legacy far beyond that.
• Happy 60 years to Cheney Stadium, the home of the Rainiers since 1995, and a rich history of baseball greats, and even a budding soccer streak.

• And just for good measure, another vintage photo of some baseball players from Washington State!

Around the league...

• Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports Athletics coach Webster Garrison is off his ventilator, breathing on his own and slowly improving in his battle against COVID-19.
• Steven Martano from Beyond The Box Score looks at a unique way players can fall through the cracks, in a sense, focusing on longtime INF Neil Walker, who finds himself six days shy of 10 years of MLB service time, keeping him gated from many of the league’s best long-term support systems.
• Several players with Hall of Fame possibilities are heavily impacted by a shortened or canceled season.
• Over at FanGraphs, Craig Edwards digs into how local TV revenues have likely changed in the past few years. Hint: the Mariners are doing very well.
• Zach Buchanan of The Athletic looks at how the Diamondbacks made a splash in the 1996 draft with Travis Lee, attempting to jump-start their expansion contention, briefly exposing the true value of amateur players in a free agent market before MLB changed draft rules to suppress their earning potential more thoroughly.
• Baseball America’s newest update to their Mock Draft remains unchanged with regards to the Mariners, placing them in line to take UCLA OF Garrett Mitchell at No. 6.
• If you like to track Seattle’s rivals, the Rangers system was recently profiled by Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs.
• Seeking an analogue for our current situation, Rob Mains of Baseball Prospectus looks at the 1950 season, in the shadow of a polio epidemic.
• New information on the fatal plane crash that ended the life of Hall of Famer Roy Halladay.
• Oh no, Joe Kelly.

• David Wells is auctioning some of his gear, which I would describe as “at your own risk” buying.
• Ken Davidoff has some advice for fans seeking ticket refunds during this crisis.
• Ginny Searle of Baseball Prospectus reviews arguably the wildest baseball scene in cinema history: the pickup game in Twilight.

John’s Pick...

• Previously believed extinct “pioneer apples” have been stumbled upon, growing trees near Genesee, Idaho. You can read more in the Idaho Statesman here.