Seattle Mariners Winter League Report
May 19, 2013; Cleveland, OH, USA; Seattle Mariners catcher Jesus Montero (63) sits behind home plate after Cleveland Indians shortstop Mike Aviles (not pictured) scored from second base on a ground out in the fourth inning at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
The Seattle Mariners spent plenty of money this off-season adding the likes of Robinson Cano, Logan Morrison, and Corey Hart, but they need some of their young position players to start hitting if they are going to make a real run toward the postseason. Some of those young position players spent time in various winter leagues.
Brock Hebert is a light hitting middle infielder who spent the winter in Australia. He got the most at-bats of any Mariner prospect, but didn’t do much with those chances. He hit just .234 and slugged lower than his OBP. He was a 14th round pick in 2012, and looks to be more of an org guy than a real prospect.
Another middle infielder, Gabriel Noriega, spent the winter in Venezuela, also managed to slug lower than his OBP. Noriega struck out in nearly a quarter of his at-bats, and hit just one home run. He did play well as he repeated Double-A in 2013, and has earned an invite to big league camp this spring.
After getting into five big league games over the past two seasons with the Kansas City Royals, Manny Pina signed with the Mariners in mid-December, and tore the cover off the ball in Venezuela. The 26-year old catcher hit .333/.404/.479 for the Bravos de Margarita. He will be in big league camp this spring, where he will try to beat out some very talented young backstops.
Jesus Montero may not be considered much of a catching prospect anymore, but the Mariners still hold hope he can at least become a power hitting DH. His one home run in 86 at-bats in Venezuela won’t give Mariner fans a warm and fuzzy feeling, but his .279 average is leaps and bounds better than his .208 in the bigs last season. It is also good to see him hit well after having to serve a 50-game suspension after being linked to the biogenesis clinic.
Carlos Triunfel hit an abysmal .176 in the Dominican this winter, but that is better than the .136 average he had in the big leagues last year. He has spent the past two seasons between Triple-A and the big leagues, and the year before that in Triple-A. His bat has yet to play well at the highest level, and he has been just as bad in the field based on the metrics, but he will be just 24 this year, so there may still be improvement to come.
Triple-A third baseman, and big league invitee, Nate Tenbrink looked terrible in the Dominican this winter, but crushed the ball in Venezuela. In the Dominican, he got just two hits in 28 trips to the plate, but hit .300 with an OBP of .429 in 49 chances in Venezuela. Tenbrink finally made the jump to Triple-A in 2013 and played well. There isn’t much space for him on the big league roster, but a good spring could land him a call-up should there be a few injuries.
After struggling at the plate during his brief big league stint in 2013, Jesus Sucre went to Venezuela this winter, and hit worse. The Mariners position players as a whole didn’t hit very well this winter, but Sucre’s .178 was second worse among players with more than ten at-bats. He is another in the long list of catchers the Mariners have at their disposal, but will need to hit much better if he expects to find much time in Seattle this season.
Sep 20, 2013; Anaheim, CA, USA; Seattle Mariners starter Erasmo Ramirez (50) delivers a pitch against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Hector Noesi logged the most innings this winter, 43, and pitched well. All his innings came out of the starting rotation in the Dominican, where he posted an ERA of 2.30. He has struggled mightily in the big leagues since being traded to the Mariners, but his 2013 campaign was hurt by a .402 BABIP. There are plenty of young arms coming up through the system in Seattle, so Noesi needs to figure out his big league struggles quickly and put up numbers closer to those he posted this winter if he wants to remain an option for the Mariners.
The Mariners had three pitchers get at least ten innings with the Adelaide Bite in Australia this winter. Min-Sih Chen got just ten innings, but allowed only two runs in those ten innings and had better than a strikeout per inning. The 24-year old out of Taiwan will likely spend the season at High-A where he hopes to continue his impressive numbers from this winter and the 2013 season after struggling in 2011 and 2012.
Both Blake Holovach and David Holman worked primarily as starters for the Bite, but Holovach also saw time in the bullpen, likely due to the 27 walks in just over 40 innings. Both spent most of the 2013 season in the bullpen in the Midwest League, but Holovach struggled, while Holman put up decent numbers. Neither were highly touted leading into the draft, selected in the 27th and 50th rounds in 2012 and 2010 respectively, but both should reach High-A this season. Holman looks like he may have a future as a middle reliever, but Holovach won’t be able to advance much further unless he cuts down on the walk rate.
Erasmo Ramirez threw just over 125 innings between the minors and majors in 2013, so he went down the Venezuela to get some extra innings in, and pitched really well. He walked just nine batters in 28 innings, while posting an ERA of 2.89. In an organization loaded with young, talented pitchers, this soon-to-be 24-year old could be a quality fourth or fifth starter this season.
Anthony Vasquez had seven big league starts that one would be better off forgetting in 2011, posting an ERA of 8.90, and has struggled in the minors since. In Venezuela this winter, he did not fair much better, giving up 17 runs in just over 22 innings. The lefty has put up less than 4.5 K/9 over the past two seasons, and is quickly becoming an org depth guy rather than a real big league option.
Mayckol Guaipe spent the first four years of his professional career in the Venezuelan Summer League, and has only pitched in the states for three years. He will spend most of 2014 at age 23, and could pitch in Double-A this year, but he was unimpressive in Venezuela this winter. He had better than a 2/1 K/BB ratio, but more than a fifth of the hits he gave up left the ballpark. The high home run total is not something that seems to be a trend in his career, and it certainly contributed to his 7.40 ERA, but it is also something worth keeping an eye on as he moves forward.
The Mariners signed veterans Matt Palmer and Ramon Ramirez this winter to minor league deals with spring invites. Palmer has spent part of five seasons in the big leagues, mostly as a long reliever or spot starter, and posted an ERA just under 5 in Venezuela this winter. Ramirez has spent part of nine seasons in the big leagues, all as a reliever, and has had more success. He has a career ERA of 3.42, and has plenty of experience pitching late in ballgames, including saved nine games in the Dominican this winter.
After giving up four runs and only recording four outs in the Dominican, Jonathan Arias went to play winter ball in Mexico and thrived. His 2.16 ERA and 20 strikeouts in just over 16 innings in Mexico helped earn Arias an invite to spring training with the big club. Chances are, he will end up back at Triple-A this year, but could add some bullpen help at some point in 2014.
Carlos Misell has a total of 7 2/3 innings of professional baseball under his belt in the states, but pitched ten more than that this winter in his native Venezuela. He turns 22 in April, and has not thrown a single inning above Rookie ball.