Seattle Mariners Minor League Report
Games of May 4, 2021
TRIPLE-A TACOMA RAINIERS
The Rainiers will open the 2021 season on Thursday, May 6 at Cheney Stadium vs. El Paso. RH Paul Sewald (0–0, -. — ) will get the start for the Rainiers on Opening Night.
RANKINGS — MLB.com’s pipeline rankings show 3 of the Mariners top 30 prospects on the Rainiers active roster. The group is led by OF Jarred Kelenic (#1) who ranks as the 4th best prospect overall in baseball. RHP Logan Gilbert (#4) will make his AAA debut ranking as the 28th overall prospect in MLB. Other Rainiers ranked in Seattle’s top 30 include C Cal Raleigh (#8).
RAINIERS COACHING STAFF — Kristopher Negrón enters his 1st season managing the Mainers Triple-A affiliate, after spending the 2020 season as Assistant Director of Player Development. Negrón is a six-year Major League veteran, playing most recently for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2019. For his career, Negrón played in 170 games over 6 seasons with Cincinnati (2012, 2014–15), Arizona (2017), Seattle (2018–19) and Los Angeles-NL (2019), batting .221 (83x375) with 14 doubles, 1 triple, 9 home runs, 32 RBI and a .627 OPS, while also recording a lifetime .986 fielding percentage (5 errors in 348 chances), playing every defensive position other than pitcher and catcher. Roy Howell (Hitting Coach) and Rob Marcello (Pitching Coach) will both return to the Triple-A coaching staff. Eric Young Jr. will make his coaching debut after recently wrapping up his professional career. In parts of 10 Major League seasons, he combined to bat .245 (422x1725) with 275 runs scored, 67 doubles, 22 triples, 13 home runs, 112 RBI and 162 stolen bases in 651 games with the Colorado (2009–13), New York-NL (2013–14, 2015), Atlanta (2015), New York-AL (2016) and Los Angeles-AL (2018). Young Jr. was the National League stolen base champion in 2013. He spent his final season with Triple-A Tacoma in 2019.
DOUBLE-A ARKANSAS TRAVELERS
The Travelers scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 4th inning, but allowed runs in the 5th, 7th and 8th innings as Arkansas fell to NW Arkansas in their season opener 7–6 on Tuesday night. Starter Alejandro Requena made his Travelers debut, but did not factor into the decision. He allowed 3 runs on 2 hits while walking 5 and striking out 4 over 3.1 innings. RH Reid Morgan (1.2,2,2,2,1,2,HR) recorded the loss after allowing 2 runs in the top of the 5th inning. RH Ryne Inman (1.2,1,1,1,1,3,HR) and RH Jack Anderson (2.1,2,1,1,0,2) combined to allow 2 runs over the final 3.0 innings in relief. C Brian O’Keefe (2x4, R, HR, RBI), 3B Jake Scheiner (1x4, R, HR, RBI) and DH Keegan McGovern (2x4, R, HR, RBI) hit back-to-back-to-back home runs on the bottom of the 4th inning to tie the game 3–3. SS Jordan Cowan (1x3, 2 BB) and LF Stephen Wrenn (1x5, 2B, RBI) each recorded 2 of the Travelers 7 hits.
TRAVELERS COACHING STAFF — Collin Cowgill will make his managerial debut, after wrapping up his professional career following the 2020 season. He was most recently was with the Mariners during the 2020 Spring Training. Cowgill spent 6 Major League seasons with Arizona (2011), Oakland (2012), New York-NL (2013), Los Angeles-AL (2013–15) and Cleveland (2016), batting .234 (161x689) with 83 runs scored, 22 doubles, 12 home runs, and 57 RBI in 317 career games. He was selected by Arizona in the 5th round following his senior season at the University of Kentucky. He made his Major League debut with the Diamondback on Aug. 28, 2011 at San Diego. Alon Leichman (Pitching Coach), Joe Thurston (Hitting Coach) will return to the Double-A coaching staff, while Ryan McLaughlin will begin his first season as a coach in the Mariners organization.
HIGH-A EVERETT AQUASOX
The AquaSox rallied for a run in the top of the 5th inning, but couldn’t overcome a 3-run 4th by the Hops as Everett fell to Hillsboro 4–1 on Tuesday night. Starter Matt Brash recorded the loss, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits while walking 0 and striking out 6 over 3.0 innings in his first outing of the season. RH David Ellingson (1.0,0,0,0,0,1), RH Tim Elliott (3.2,1,1,1,1,8) and RH Kyle Hill (0.1,0,0,0,0,1) combined to allow only 1 run over the final 5.0 innings in relief. Elliott’s 3.2 innings and 8 strikeouts were both career-highs (previous-high: 4, done 4x in 2019). RF Julio Rodriguez (1x4), 1B Austin Shenton (1x3, 2B, BB), C Carter Bins (1x4, R) and CF Jack Larsen (1x4) each recorded 1 of the AquaSox’s 4 hits.
PROSPECT RANKINGS — MLB.com’s pipeline rankings show 13 of the Mariners top 30 prospects on the AquaSox active roster, including 3 players in the top 100. OF Julio Rodriguez (#2) is rated the the #5 overall prospect in baseball, followed by RHP Emerson Hancock (#3) is the 26th over all prospect and RHP George Kirby (#5) is rated by MLB.com as the 81st prospect. Other AquaSox ranked in Seattle’s top 30 include RHP Juan Then (#9), LHP Brandon Williamson (#10), RHP Isaiah Campbell (#12), OF Zach DeLoach (#13), RHP Levi Stoudt (#14), INF Austin Shenton (#18), INF Kaden Polcovich (#26), RHP Tim Elliott (#27), INF Tyler Keenan (#29) and Matt Brash (#30).
AQUASOX COACHING STAFF — Louis Boyd begins his third season in the Mariners organization, his first full season as the manager for the Mariners High-A affiliate. During the 2020 was a coach during Summer Camp 2.0 and was on the staff at the alternate site in Tacoma. He was scheduled to manage Short-A Everett in 2020 prior to the cancellation of the minor league season. Boyd served as a player/coach for High-A Modesto at the beginning of the 2019 season and went 19–19 in Short-A Everett’s final 38 games after taking over as manager on July 23. He was originally selected by the Mariners in the 24th round of the 2017 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Arizona (2016–17). The North Vancouver, British Columbia, native, spent two seasons in the Mariners minor league system, batting .240 (65x314) with 41 runs scored, 5 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs, 18 RBI, 28 walks and 3 stolen bases in 97 games spanning over four different levels in the organization. Sean McGrath (Pitching Coach), Shawn O’Malley (Hitting Coach) and Jose Umbria (Coach) will serve on Boyd’s coaching staff.
LOW-A MODESTO NUTS
The Nuts had 5 pitchers combine on a 2-hit shutout as Modesto opened the season with a 3–0 win over Stockton on Tuesday night. Starter Josias De Los Santos allowed only 1 hit while walking 1 and striking out 5 over 4.0 scoreless innings, but did not factor into the decision. RH Jose Curvelo (2.0,1,0,0,1,2) earned his first win of the season in relief, after tossing a scoreless 5th and 6th inning. LH Jorge Benitez (1.0,0,0,0,1,0) and RH Robert Winslow (1.0,0,0,0,1,3) each tossed a scoreless inning, while RH Nolan Hoffman (1.0,0,0,0,0,2) struck out 2 in a 1–2–3 9th inning to earn his first save of the season. LF Cade Marlow (2x4,R, 2B) recorded the Nuts only multi-hit game, while C Matt Scheffler (1x3, R, HR, 2 RBI) drove in 2 of the team’s 3 runs with a home run in the 2nd inning. SS Noelvi Marte (1x4), RF Alberto Rodriguez (1x4), DH Justin Lavy (1x3, BB) and 2B Cesar Izturis Jr. (1x4, R, 2B) each recorded 1 of the team’s 7 hits.
COACHING STAFF — Eric Farris, who was the hitting coach for West Virginia in 2019, will enter his first season at the helm of Seattle’s Single-A affiliate. Farris, who coached in Everett in 2018, was a 4th round draft pick in 2007 by Milwaukee, and he spent parts of 9 seasons in the minor leagues, amassing a lifetime .281 (1020x3635) batting average with 35 home runs, 351 RBI and a .688 OPS. Farris, an outfielder, attended Loyola Marymount University where he was a semifinalist for USA Baseball’s Golden Spikes Award. He was drafted in 2004 out of high school by the Atlanta Braves in the 42nd round but did not sign. After spending the first 6 years of his career in Milwaukee’s organization, which included 14 games in 2011 and 2012 at the Major League level (1x9, 1 run scored), he was selected by Seattle in the Minor League phase of the Rule 5 Draft in 2012, but was traded to Minnesota on March 30, 2013, where he’d spend the next three years playing for their Triple-A affiliate Rochester. His staff will consist of Nathan Bannister as the pitching coach, Rob Benjamin as the hitting coach and Geoff Jimenez as coach. Jimenez begins his first season in the Mariners organization as a coach for the organization’s Single-A affiliate. Prior to joining the Mariners organization, spent the 2020 season with the Phillies player development staff. He spent the 2019 season working as the recruiting coordinator/assistant coach at Maryville University in St. Louis, Missouri. From 2017–2018 Jimenez was a graduate assistant coach at Missouri State University where he received his master’s degree in Sports Administration.
