A Glimpse into the Future: 2023 First Half Minor League Recap

With the Seattle Mariners doing their very best to suck all the joy out of the baseball viewing experience on a nightly basis, fans need an outlet that provides a glimmer of hope. Look no further, tortured Mariner fan. The Mariners have had a fantastic first half of the minor league season, seeing major development out of nearly all of their young guns. This has translated into tangible results, with the Seattle system leading all of minor league baseball in a plethora of major offensive categories. With how healthy the pitching is stocked at the major league level and a well established development program for arms, its an excellent sight to see the system overflowing with young bats for a change. With the major league team struggling to take the next step, forget your troubles and take a dive into the minor leagues. I promise you won’t regret it

Tacoma Rainiers

The Rainiers to date have tallied a 44-43 record, not all that dissimilar from their major league counterparts. The roster is primarily filled out as a taxi squad of sorts, a stockpile of minor leaguers that can supplement the major league roster. This being the case, the roster is lacking in prospect pedigree, with just one player on the roster a consensus top-30 prospect (Marlowe). Thus, the performance of the Rainiers is often disregarded by prospect watchers, choosing to focus on the handful of recognizable names. This roster, despite it’s construction, has produced some really interesting results that might not get as much attention as they deserve. Players like Zach DeLoach and Cooper Hummel are easily castoff into the bin of misfit prospects, but both have been having some pretty solid years for the Rainiers and have played themselves into legitimate big league consideration. While it certainly is not the most exciting team to track, by no means should it be cast aside. There is major league talent on this roster, and the Mariners are sure to require some reinforcements through the dog days of summer.

Hitters

Jake Scheiner, 1B/3B: .279/.393/.567/.960

Brian O’Keefe, C: .250/.342/.516/.858

Zach DeLoach, OF: .295/.399/.456/.855

Taylor Trammell, OF: .277/.385/.541/.926

Cooper Hummel, UTIL: .262/.430/.419/.849

Cade Marlowe, OF: .262/.337/.473/.810

Pitchers

Riley O’Brien, RHP: 31 IP, 2.61 ERA, 45 K, 24 BB

Diego Castillo, RHP: 25.2 IP, 6.66 ERA, 24 K, 19 BB

Ryder Ryan, RHP: 33 IP, 3.82 ERA, 29 K, 15 BB

Looking Ahead

Tacoma is likely to remain largely the same for the rest of the season, albeit with the likelihood they lose at least one of their primary offensive performers to big league promotion. Whether it’s Cade Marlowe, Taylor Trammell, Jake Scheiner, Brian O’Keefe, or anyone else that get’s hot in the last few months of the season, it’s a reasonable bet that Tacoma’s lineup may lack some thump for a prolonged stretch of the second half.

Arkansas Travelers

The Travs have been the system’s most successful team in a year that’s seen positive results throughout, currently sitting at 54-29 with a +80 run differential. Very good! The team has been a bit of a pitching factory this year, already producing big leaguers Bryce Miller, Bryan Woo, Isaiah Campbell, and Ty Adcock. Despite these promotions, the bullpen has remained strong throughout the season, a testament to the organization’s excellent pitching development. The starting pitching has been up and down, not bouncing back from the promotions quite as well as the bullpen did. Offensively, they’ve been carried heavily by the top of the order, with Jonatan Clase wreaking havoc on the basepaths and both Isiah Gilliam and Robbie Tenerowicz mashing in the middle of the order. The offense is a bit on the older side without a ton of true “prospects” by most evaluators measure, but the results speak for themselves. They’ve got a deep stable of relievers and a pesky offense. It’s a really good squad, with several guys pushing for a spot on the 40-man this winter.

Hitters

Isiah Gilliam, OF: .310/.418/.575/.993

Robbie Tenerowicz, 1B: .300/.421/.518/.939

Jonatan Clase, CF: .222/.337/.429/.766

Robert Perez Jr, OF/1B: .253/.319/.445/.764

Spencer Packard, OF/1B: .242/.365/.389/.754

Logan Warmoth, UTIL: .255/.367/.398/.765

Pitchers

Emerson Hancock, RHP: 73 IP, 5.30 ERA, 81 K, 34 BB

Prelander Berroa, RHP: 45 IP, 3.00 ERA, 68 K, 31 BB

A.J. Puckett, RHP: 34 IP, 3.44 ERA, 30 K, 18 BB

Devin Sweet, RHP: 34 IP, 1.59 ERA, 45 K, 8 BB

Jorge Benitez, LHP: 33.1 IP, 2.70 ERA, 39 K, 20 BB

Jake Haberer, RHP: 31.2 IP, 3.69 ERA, 28 K, 18 BB

Travis Kuhn, RHP: 31 IP, 3.48 ERA, 26 K, 18 BB

Looking Ahead

The recently promoted Alberto Rodriguez, a mainstay in the Everett lineup, is a welcome sight for the Trav’s who can always use more thump in the pitchers haven that is Dickey-Stephens Park. There aren’t a ton of promotions directly on the horizon, but both Harry Ford and Reid VanScoter could be on the move in the next months for a late season look. The Travs have already clinched a playoff spot and are again leading the league in the second half, a great sign that Arkansas can continue their dominance to close out the year.

Everett Aquasox

The Aquasox had a solid if unspectacular first half of the season, setting out after the All-Star break with a 42-39 record. The Frogs have been streaky on both sides of the ball this year, overall hampering their results despite overall solid numbers from many key contributors. Losing your team’s best hitter, Tyler Locklear, to injury is never going to help, but guys like Hogan Windish and Alberto Rodriguez really stepped up to help out top prospect Harry Ford carry the bulk of the offensive load. The pitching doesn’t have a “headliner” when considering national prospect rankings, but Reid VanScoter has proved a steadying force atop the rotation while Logan Rhinehart has locked things down on the back end. Everett played like they had something to prove every single night and many players are sure to see their hard work reflected in some national recognition.

Hitters

Tyler Locklear, 1B: .311/.419/.572/.991

Alberto Rodriguez, OF: .306/.393/.580/.973

Harry Ford, C: .246/.405/.401/.806

Hogan Windish, 1B/2B: .255/.378/.457/.835

James Parker, SS: .221/.328/.448/.776

Axel Sanchez, SS: .191/.285/.335/.620

Pitchers

Reid VanScoter, LHP: 90.1 IP, 3.79 ERA, 95 K, 25 BB

Brandon Schaeffer, LHP: 39.2 IP, 3.86 ERA, 37 K, 10 BB

Jimmy Joyce, RHP: 32.1 IP, 1.67 ERA, 44 K, 9 BB

Logan Rinehart, RHP: 33.1 IP, 1.62 ERA, 46 K, 9 BB

Sam Carlson, RHP: 30.1 IP, 6.23 ERA, 35 K, 18 BB

Luis Curvelo, RHP: 34.1 IP, 3.67 ERA, 35 K, 11 BB

Peyton Alford, LHP: 30 IP, 3.90 ERA, 48 K, 11 BB

Looking Ahead

With the recent promotions of top prospects Cole Young and Gabriel Gonzalez, the Aquasox lineup is looking incredibly formidable and should prove to be one of the best at the level. They did lose Alberto Rodriguez to Arkansas, but with Axel Sanchez starting to heat up and Tyler Locklear to (hopefully) soon return from injury, Funko field is going to struggle containing the Frogs’ lineup on a nightly basis. The pitching will be something to watch, with VanScoter approaching a promotion and little coming in support from Modesto, but I can guarantee that the rest of this season is going to be a whole lot of fun. I expect to see a lot of high scoring games throughout the summer with a style of baseball that is incredibly appealing for the viewer. If you’re in the area, I highly recommend getting out to the ballpark and seeing the bulk of the M’s top prospects before it’s too late.

Modesto Nuts

For the bulk of the season, Modesto has been the hot spot for prospect watching in the Mariner system, with both Cole Young and Gabriel Gonzalez leading the way. Whether it was the promotion of Michael Arroyo or the emergence of less heralded guys like Freuddy Batista or Gabe Moncada, Modesto has been a ton of fun yet proves difficult to gauge their level of true “success”. Their hitters are hitting, yet their pitchers are really not pitching an awful lot. Obviously both sides must be taken with a grain of salt as the California league is famously good at making hitters look amazing and pitchers look like a hot mess, but it’s been more than just cheap homers getting them in trouble. Michael Morales started of the year well but has since regressed a bit, leaving his future murkier than anticipated. Recent draft picks Marcelo Perez and Brandon Schaeffer have showed well on the mound, (with the latter promoted to Everett over a month ago) but outside of that, it’s mostly been an uphill battle. Does this mean these pitchers are bad? Absolutely not. That said, you’d much rather see them perform well than not and it likely slows down their development timeline by a half year or more. Far from the end of the world, but obviously not preferable.

Hitters

Gabriel Gonzalez, OF: .348/.403/.530/.933

Cole Young, SS: .267/.396/.429/.825

Michael Arroyo, SS/2B: .279/.405/.508/.913

Gabe Moncada, 1B: .257/.365/.423/.788

Freuddy Batista, C/DH: 288/.351/.490/.841

Josh Hood, IF: .249/.327/.385/.712

Tatem Levins, C: .261/.350/.464/.814

Bill Knight, OF: .321/.408/.450/.858

Miguel Perez, OF: .209/.335/.386/.721

Milkar Perez, 3B: .277/.388/.379/.767

Colin Davis, OF: .249/.322/.446/.768

Pitchers

Michael Morales, RHP: 81 IP, 4.89 ERA, 86 K, 34 BB

Marcelo Perez, RHP: 38.1 IP, 3.05 ERA, 42 K, 10 BB

Shaddon Peavyhouse, RHP: 85.2 IP, 5.36 ERA, 79 K, 51 BB

Blake Townsend, LHP: 30 IP, 4.50 ERA, 36 K, 12 BB

Anthony Tomczak, RHP: 26.1 IP, 3.76, 32 K, 14 BB

Darren Bowen, RHP: 13.2 IP, 5.27 ERA, 21 K, 6 BB

Tyler Cleveland, RHP: 80.2 IP, 4.91 ERA, 70 K, 20 BB

Troy Taylor, RHP: 24.2 IP, 5.84 ERA, 42 K, 17 BB

Looking Ahead

I can’t lie, I’m not super optimistic about the rest of this season for the ol’ Nuts. Their lineup lost a lot of firepower in Gonzalez and Young to Everett, and while recent draftees Ben Williamson and Brock Rodden may help out, they’re awfully big shoes to fill. It’s far from an impossibility that the Nuts can stay relevant in the playoff race with an influx of draft talent and a healthy Michael Arroyo, but a lot of things have to go the Nuts way that may or may not align with development tracks the Mariners have envisioned for these players. For a team that constantly relies on out-hitting their opponent to win, there’s a lot of offensive output that has to be filled nearly immediately. Whether that’s realistic, we’ll find out.

Rookie Leagues

For better or for worse, the majority of the M’s prospect pedigree is found below affiliated ball in the ACL and DSL. With players this young, the emphasis here is less about results and more about process. Building up pitchers slowly and ensuring their bodies can handle a professional work load is a large reason as to why many pitchers listed below have so few innings to date. It’s not as though they haven’t performed, it’s just not as important as building a strong foundation for a healthy future in the rotation. Potential at this level is sky high but there really is no floor, either. Plenty of young guns have flashed some incredible potential this season and it will be a treat to finally get most of them on a broadcast next season.

Walter Ford, RHP, ACL: 10.2 IP, 2.53 ERA, 12 K, 5 BB

Jeter Martinez, RHP, DSL: 27.1 IP, 1.32 ERA, 36 K, 13 BB

Ashton Izzi, RHP, ACL: 6.2 IP, 2.70 ERA, 6 K, 2 BB

Lazaro Montes, OF/1B, ACL: .250/.447/.412/.859

Luis Suisbel, 1B/3B, ACL: .294/.484/.559/1.043

Looking Ahead

With the drafting of Colt Emerson, Jonny Farmelo, Tai Peete, and Aidan Smith, there’s a chance that the ACL Mariners are receiving a major wave of talent in the coming days. Whether or not all of them play immediately isn’t certain, however it’s likely we’ll see the bulk of this quartet at least get some AB’s before the season’s end. With Felnin Celesten soon to make his professional debut on top of the draftees, there’s an unbelievable amount of prospect pedigree in the rookie leagues that could turn the ever mentioned “next wave” of prospects into a tidal wave of talent.