Baseball Prospectus released its Top 101 Prospects list today, and the Seattle Mariners have two players who made the cut.
Third baseman and likely 2015 Rainiers member D.J. Peterson is ranked No. 62, and teenage outfielder Alex Jackson is listed at No. 68.
A quick glance at the Top 10 shows that the Rainiers will face some elite prospects in the PCL this season.
The Rainiers visit the Iowa Cubs May 21-24, and they should have No. 2 Addison Russell and possibly (but unlikely) No. 5 Kris Bryant with them.
Russell – a shortstop – was formerly in the A’s organization and made a memorable-for-all-of-the-wrong-reasons Triple-A debut at Cheney Stadium on the final weekend of the 2013 season. He was only 19 years old and he got chewed up by the Rainiers pitching staff, going 1-for-13 with nine strikeouts. I remember wondering how this guy could be considered a big prospect, but apparently he’s improved dramatically since then.
Also in BP’s Top 10 is Astros shortstop Carlos Correa at No. 3, who could see Triple-A time with Fresno later this season if things go well for him. Fresno visits Tacoma twice this year: April 30-May 3, and July 24-27.
Kyle Seager‘s little brother Corey Seager is ranked the No. 7 prospect, and he should see some time with the Dodgers new Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City this year. I’m hoping he’s with them when Tacoma visits Bricktown in August, because it would be fun to interview him and ask him about growing up with Kyle.
Checking in at No. 9 on the list is a guy the Rainiers have already faced several times: Mets prospect Noah Syndergaard. “Thor” will probably start the season with Las Vegas once again – and the Rainiers could be stuck facing him a lot, just like last year. Syndergaard made four starts against Tacoma in 2014 going 2-0 with a 3.13 ERA, and he struck out 29 Rainiers in 23 innings. We’ve seen enough – hopefully he’ll make the Mets rotation.
Looking at Tacoma’s opening homestand, top prospects on El Paso (Padres) and Albuquerque (Rockies) could include BP’s No. 23 Austin Hedges & No. 53 Matt Wisler (El Paso) and No. 11 Jonathan Gray & No. 64 Eddie Butler (Albuquerque). Three of those four are starting pitchers, so that could pose an interesting challenge for the Rainiers.
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Spring training is little a bit closer and I actually found some baseball stories over the weekend – so here ya’ go!
Links:
- We are eleven days away from the start of Mariners spring training, and Ryan Divish writes that the Mariners have the look of a contender.
- We need spring training, Larry Stone wrote.
- The Baseball America Prospect Handbook ranks the top 30 prospects in each organization. Bob Dutton received his copy and posted the Mariners list on his blog.
- It looks like Tom Wilhelmsen and the Mariners are headed toward an arbitration hearing. It would be the Mariners first actual hearing in 12 years.
- Om Friday, Divish posted a few Mariners notes.
- Here’s an odd article: new Rainiers manager Pat Listach was listed as a candidate to be named baseball’s version of Harper Lee. << this is the type of useless stuff we’re forced to read before spring training camps open.
- The new ballpark in Nashville is progressing nicely although there is some concern the stadium might have a parking problem (don’t they all?).
- The Memphis Redbirds have always mimicked the St. Louis Cardinals with their logos, and now that they are owned by the Cardinals they have taken the next step with a new logo.
- Since the US Open is coming to Tacoma in a few months, we’ll be linking to baseball-related golf tidbits – like Bryce Harper successfully pulling off the Happy Gilmore approach.
New post coming Wednesday, which will look at the 2015 Tacoma Rainiers starting pitcher candidates.