Rainiers Opening Night (For Real, This Time) and PCL Preview
I’ve run through the affiliated full-season teams, but as always, it’s worth spending some time on my beloved Tacoma Rainiers. This is the club that M’s fans in the northwest can easily check out, and for the first time in a while, it’s got the most interesting roster, especially for position players.
The club’s starting out on the road, and I’m kind of thankful they were rained out yesterday so that this post is accidentally timely and not just an afterthought. The point herein is to go over the R’s roster in a bit more depth, and then to talk about the opponents who’ll come into Tacoma and what big prospects they may be featuring. It’s all a bit speculative, a fact that was brought home to me when reading last year’s version. Not only are we focused on the big prospects coming out of 2016, but we’re trying to figure out when they’re going to be in AAA. For the top players, they better be blocked at the big league level, or they won’t stick around past May. AA players start moving up around then, and injuries/trades/etc. mean AAA rosters are constantly shifting. Still, we can do what we can to identify any potential must-see games.
The Rainiers rotation, as I mentioned yesterday, contains four players who’ve moved to the M’s system fairly recently in Sam Gaviglio (late 2014), Chris Heston, Christian Bergman (late 2016) and Chase de Jong (2017), all along side M’s prospect and the pride of Durban, South Africa, Dylan Unsworth. The group as a whole lacks elite or even average velocity, but have solid command and mix their pitches well. Of the group, de Jong may have the liveliest fastball, and it may not average 91 MPH (he touched 91 in his ill-fated MLB debut the other night) – Bergman and Heston are right around 90, while Gaviglio and Unsworth come in lower than that. Of note: Unsworth’s velo seemed to be a bit on the low side this spring, but it clearly didn’t affect his results. Tonight’s starter is rehabbing reliever Tony Zych, who figures to get an inning or two before giving way to Gaviglio.
The bullpen features MLB vets Nick Hagadone, Jean Machi, Mark Lowe and Ryan Weber, but M’s prospects Paul Fry and Emilio Pagan are the guys to watch. Fry’s a lefty the M’s drafted out of a Michigan JC, and while he wasn’t quite able to match his jaw-dropping 2015 stats last year, his 2nd half showed why he’s moved up the M’s affiliates so quickly. Pagan pitched for tiny Belmont Abbey in college, and has also flown through the system thanks to a 95 MPH fastball and a good slider. He pitched for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic (Gaviglio pitched for Italy, too) and seems like he could slot into the back of a big league bullpen soon. Fry lacks the top-end velo of Pagan, but with his arm angle and slider seems like he could get big league lefties out right now. Both Pagan/Fry could use some work on their change-ups.
Catching this group will be long-time M’s farmhand Steve Baron, who was drafted way back in 2009, when Jack Zduriencik was still seen as a heroic figure. Baron’s off the 40-man now, but still has a great reputation as a defensive catcher. His bat’s come around a bit in recent years, as he’s put up better than .700 OPS marks in both the PCL (2015) and SL (2016). That’s not a terribly high bar or anything, but Baron’s early years were ugly. PCL veteran Tuffy Gosewisch joins Baron this year. The 33-year old has played at the AAA level for the D-Backs, Blue Jays, and Phillies organizations, and he’s seen a fair bit of MLB action in Arizona. He’d been seen as a defensive catcher early in his career, and had the putrid batting lines to match, but like so many players, turned into an offensive force after moving to Reno. It’ll be interesting to see how he fares in a more neutral environment in Tacoma.
The infield features SS Tyler Smith, 3B Zach Shank, ex-White Sox starter Gordon Beckham, 2016 holdover and occasional Mariner utility guy Mike Freeman and the 1B/DH pair of Dan Vogelbach and DJ Peterson. As mentioned yesterday, this is a pivotal year for both. Peterson’s missed time with injuries and looked dominant at times and then mediocre for months. Vogelbach’s been more consistent, but defensive issues and a horrific spring slump have him back in the PCL trying to make the leap to big league regular. For years, the M’s had players who struggled with this exact move: Mike Carp, Mike Wilson, Jeff Clement, Dustin Ackley, Nick Franklin, etc. That’s why it was so heartening to see Mike Zunino’s progress last year; the club was going to leave him in AAA for the entire year, but his production forced their hand, and while he wasn’t great for Seattle, he was far more productive than he’d ever been. If one or both of Peterson/Vogelbach can make that kind of improvement, it really changes how we’d see the M’s offensive depth.
The OF’s headlined by top prospect Tyler O’Neill, with Ben Gamel taking second billing. Gamel seemed like an intriguing pick-up from the Yankees org last year, but he’s looking to prove he’s more than a tweener/4th OF. He’s never hit for a ton of power, and doesn’t have the best batting eye either – he can make it as a pure average hitter with enough doubles power to play in an OF corner, or he’ll have to improve one of those two deficiencies. I’m sure that’s what he’ll be working on for Tacoma. Also on the team are Dario Pizzano, another long-tenured M’s farmhand out of the baseball mecca that is Columbia University, and PCL vet and former 1st round draft pick James Ramsey, who’s played in AAA in the Cards, Indians, and Dodgers orgs.
The Rainiers home opener is next Tuesday, the 11th of April against rival El Paso. Last year’s feuds with El Paso began when SS Chris Taylor plunked the Chihuahuas mascot with a ball and ended with El Paso eliminating Tacoma in the PCL playoffs. The Chihuahuas graduated their two top prospects from last year’s team (Hunter Renfroe/Manny Margot), but feature a solid pitching prospect in Tyrell Jenkins who saw plenty of action with the essentially-AAA Atlanta Braves last year, and Dinelson Lamet, the Pads #8 prospect, a righty who played at three levels in the system last year and features a fastball that can touch the mid-upper 90s. 2B Carlos Asuaje is their best position-player prospect. They certainly won’t be in Tacoma in April, but the Chihuahuas come back to town in August, when we could see Cal Quantrill and, dare to dream, top prospect Anderson Espinoza. Both will begin in High A Lake Elsinore, but Quantrill’s a polished college pitcher and could move quickly. Espinoza’s one of the most talented pitchers in all of baseball, but is just 19 years old.
The Albuquerque Isotopes, a Rockies affiliate, come in immediately after El Paso. They again feature pitching prospect Jeff Hoffman (#2 in COL system) and stout lefty Harrison Musgrave. OF Raimel Tapia has been a toolsy prospect for a while (and he’s still just 23), and is coming off a dominant year that earned him a cup of coffee with the Rockies. When they come back in July, they could have pitchers Antonio Senzatela and Yency Almonte.
Giants’ affiliate Sacramento rounds out the Rainiers’ April home schedule. The Giants’ #1 prospect, RHP Tyler Beede, headlines the RiverCats roster, and he’s joined by former KBO star Jae-Gyun Hwang, a 3B, who nearly made the Giants roster. #2 Giants prospect, SS Christian Arroyo, will also start for the RiverCats. Sacramento has an inordinate number of mid-tier Giants prospects, from Albert Suarez, Austin Slate, and Steven Okert, but the Giants’ system isn’t terribly strong.
The newly-rechristened New Orleans Babycakes will come to Tacoma in early May. The Marlins farm club features a couple of mid-tier prospects in big RH pitcher Drew Steckenrider and IF JT Riddle, but the club’s filled with long-time minor league vets like Stephen Fife, Clayton Mortensen, Moises Sierra and Steve Lombardozzi.
Rangers’ affiliate the Round Rock Express make their first visit in May as well. Top prospect Yohander Mendez, a pitcher, flew up the system last year and played with both Round Rock and the Rangers, but he’s been assigned to AA to begin the year. A couple of great starts could get him to Round Rock in time for this trip, but other than that, this club is full of guys with big league experience. One of the more surprising assignments is Keone Kela, who was great out of the pen (when healthy) for the Rangers last year. The Seattle native’s been assigned to Round Rock for personal reasons after bad behavior this spring. This report has several (unnamed) teammates grousing about Kela, and calling him a clubhouse cancer. Yeesh. The team features several ex-prospects like Travis Snyder (another northwest native), Allen Webster and Tanner Scheppers (who’s on a rehab assignment). 1B Ronald Guzman, signed at the same time as Rangers OF Nomar Mazara, is the biggest true prospect to start the year with the Express.
The Fresno Grizzlies, the Astros AAA club, round out the May schedule, hitting Tacoma for a four-game set from the 23rd to the 26th. Houston’s been an absolutely loaded system, and the 2017 Grizzlies reflect that. #1 prospect Francis Martes, a RHP, will start with Fresno, as will 1B AJ Reed, who’s looking to put 2016 behind him. The OF features Andrew Aplin, Preston Tucker and Teoscar Hernandez. Closing for the club is the rare 30-year-old prospect, James Hoyt, who’s been shockingly good after moving to the Astros system. He K’d 93 in 55 IP for the Grizz last year, against just 19 walks. That got him a cup of coffee in Houston where his rising fastball got plenty of whiffs, but a few too many HRs as well.
The Reno Aces come to town June 5th, and the D-Backs affiliate feature the Snakes top pitching prospect in lefty Anthony Banda. They’ve got another couple of prospects on the staff in righties Jimmy Sherfy, Braden Shipley, and ZAck Godley – the latter two spent most of 2016 with Arizona. The best position player prospects are both ex-Mariner prospects: shortstops Ketel Marte (acquired in the Walker-for-Segura swap) and Jack Reinheimer (acquired in the Mark Trumbo for Wellington Castillo deal). Former Twins/Rays power hitting OF Oswaldo Arcia will start for Reno and probably put up some eye-popping stats in Reno’s home park.
Las Vegas follows Reno in that early-June homestand. The Mets team was a prospect hound’s dream a few years back with Noah Syndergaard and Jacob de Grom, but was filled with AAA vets last year. This is more like it: the Mets top 3 overall prospects will start for Vegas: SS Amed Rosario, SS Gavin Cecchini and 1B Dom Smith. The pitching staff’s a bit thinner, however.
Salt Lake makes their first visit beginning on Sat. the 17th of June. As an Angels affiliate, it’s a prospect desert, but 6’9″ pitcher Alex Meyer’s worth a look. He came over from the Twins system in the Hector Santiago deal last year. Kaleb Cowart starts at 3B for what seems like the 5th straight year, but the most familiar name to M’s fans is 2B Dustin Ackley. LHP Manny Banuelos, a former Braves farmhand, is interesting, and the club could eventually feature some of the Angels top prospects like 1B Matt Thaiss.
Vegas and Albuquerque make return trips to close out June/open July, and then Fresno and Sacramento return later in the month. Tacoma’s home most of August, and welcome the Memphis Redbirds beginning on Thursday the 3rd. The Cards club features top position player prospect OF Harrison Bader, along with catcher Carson Kelley and ex-Gonzaga starter and first-rounder Marco Gonzalez, who’s nursing an injury at the moment. By this point, they could be joined by the two AA players I mentioned yesterday: pitchers Jack Flaherty and Sandy Alcantara. CF Tommy Pham makes an appearance with the Redbirds for the fifth consecutive season.
A’s affiliate Nashville follows Memphis, and they’ve got several of the A’s best prospects, including #1 prospect Franklin Barreto. The SS was the primary “get” in the deal that sent Josh Donaldson to Toronto. The Sounds also have 3B Matt Chapman (#4 prospect) and 1B Matt Olson (#15). By this time in the year, they could be reinforced with AA players like RHP Grant Holmes (#3), SS Richie Martin (#6), and 2B Max Schrock (#20). The diminutive Schrock was actually born in Tacoma, and has hit repeatedly since being drafted in 2015. His height and position keep him well down top prospect rankings, but he essentially never strikes out and has hit for average everywhere he’s been.
El Paso and Salt Lake close out the 2017 home schedule, with the final home series taking place from August 28th-31st. Get out and see some games this year; it’s a better year for prospects than last year, and while there’s no Kris Bryant to get on the calendar early, with promotions and the like, the above guide could be obsolete fairly quickly. I’ll try and mention if someone particularly noteworthy is coming through town in the minor league game previews.
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