Season in Review
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2015 MINOR LEAGUE Season in Review EDWIN DIAZ JABARI BLASH PAUL FRY DREW JACKSON STARTING PITCHER OF THE YEAR HEART AND SOUL AWARD RELIEF PITCHER OF THE YEAR NORTHWEST LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE YEAR TYLER O’NEILL JESÚS MONTERO CO-PLAYER OF THE YEAR CO-PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2015 SEATTLE MARINERS MINOR LEAGUE REVIEW AFFILIATES UPDATE: The Mariners 8 minor league affiliates wrapped up the 2015 season On the Farm: combining for a 392-444 (.469) record. The organization had 4 teams finish the season .500 Tacoma (AAA) ............................. 68-76 or better, but the Everett AquaSox and the Arizona League Mariners were the only Mariners Jackson (AA) ............................... 53-84 minor league team to qualify for the post-season. The AquaSox fell to Tri-City in the first Bakersfield (High-A) .................... 61-79 round of the playoffs, while the AZL Mariners lost in the Arizona League Championship game. Clinton (A) ................................... 46-93 Everett (short-season A) .............. 42-34 YOUTH MOVEMENT: The Mariners had 8 minor league players make their Major League AZL Mariners (rookie) .................. 31-25 debut this season, 5 were homegrown players: C Steven Baron, RH Mayckol Guaipe, C DSL Mariners 1 ........................... 45-27 John Hicks, SS Ketel Marte and LH Tyler Olson. LH Mike Montgomery, LH David Rollins DSL Mariners 2 ........................... 46-26 and LH Tony Zych also made their Major League debut for the Mariners this season. Totals 392-444 (.469) MARINERS MILB AWARDS: INF/DH Jesus Montero (Tacoma/Seattle) and OF Tyler O’Neill Baseball America (Bakersfield) were named Co-Players of the Year, right-hander pitcher Edwin Diaz League Top Prospects (Bakersfield/Jackson) was named the Starting Pitcher of the Year and left-handed pitcher Paul Fry (Bakersfield/Jackson) was named Relief Pitcher of the Year. OF Jabari Blash was Pacific Coast League: earned the Heart and Soul Award for his exemplary play and leadership. Ketel Mate, INF ................................ #8 California League: MARINERS MILB CO-PLAYERS OF THE YEAR: INF/DH Jesus Montero hit .355 (140x374) Tyler O’Neill, OF ............................. #19 with 70 runs scored, 18 doubles, 6 triples, 18 home runs, 85 RBI, 29 walks and 3 stolen base Ryan Yarbrough, LHP .................... #20 in 98 games over three stints with Tacoma. Amongst PCL league leaders ranked 2nd in average (.355) and slugging percentage (.569), 3rd in on-base percentage (.398) and OPS Northwest League Alex Jackson, OF ............................. #4 (.966), 7th in RBI (85), 8th in hits (140) and 10th in total bases (224). Montero was recently Drew Jackson, SS ............................ #5 named to the All-PCL Team and was also a member of the PCL All-Star Team, but did not Andrew Moore, RHP ........................ #7 participate after being promoted to Seattle. Montero, who completed his 4th season in the Enyel de los Santos, RHP .............. #15 Mariners organization, was by Seattle from the New York Yankees along with Hector Noesi Luiz Gohara, LHP ........................... #17 (rhp) in exchange for Michael Pineda (rhp) and Jose Campos (rhp) on Jan. 20, 2012. Arizona League OF Tyler O’Neill hit .260 (106x407) with 68 runs, 21 doubles, 2 triples, 32 home runs and 87 Nick Neidert, RHP ............................ #6 RBI in 106 games with Bakersfield. He was 1 of 7 minor league players to hit at least 30 Dylan Thompson, RHP ................... #20 home runs, including finishing T2nd along with Mariners farmhand Jabari Blash with 32 home 2015 MIL HR LEADERS runs. Prior to this season O’Neill had hit only 27 home runs combined in his first two professional seasons. He was also a member of Team Canada who won the gold medal in 1. A.J. Reed (HOU) ........................ 34 2. Jabari Blash (SEA) ................... 32 the Pan Am Games on July 19 with a 7-6 victory in 10 innings over Team USA. O’Neill was Tyler O’Neill (SEA) .................... 32 the Mariners 3rd round selection out of Garibaldi Secondary School, Maple Ridge, British 4. Adam Brett Walker II (MIN) ......... 31 Columbia, in the 2013 MLB First-Year Player Draft. 5. Cody Bellinger (LAD) .................. 30 : RH , who was named Adam Duvall (CIN) ..................... 30 MARINERS MILB STARTING PITCHER OF THE YEAR Edwin Diaz Chase McDonald (HOU) ............. 30 Mariners Co-Starting Player of the Year in 2014, went 7-10 with a 3.82 ERA (60 ER, 141.1 IP) in 27 starts combined between Bakersfield and Jackson. He limited opponents to a .237 2015 MIL AB/HR LEADERS batting average (123x520), while walking 46 and striking out 145. Diaz led all Mariners 1. Jabari Blash (SEA) .............. 12.69 farmhands with 145 strikeouts and finished T3rd with 7 wins. Amongst all minor league 2. Tyler O’Neill (SEA) ............... 12.72 players he ranked 9th in strikeouts per 9.0 innings (9.23) and T13th in strikeouts (145). Diaz 3. Chase McDonald (HOU) ........ 13.00 was the Mariners 3rd round selection (98th overall) out of Caguas Military Academy in 4. Rickie Shaffer (TB) ................ 15.12 Naguabo, Puerto Rico, in the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft. 5. Bobby Bradley (CLE) ............. 15.15 MARINERS MILB RELIEF PITCHER OF THE YEAR: LHP Paul Fry went 4-5 with 9 saves 2015 SHORT-SEASON/ROOKIE and a 2.03 ERA (18 ER, 80.0 IP) in 50 relief appearances combined with Bakersfield and STOLEN BASE LEADERS Jackson. He limited opponents to a .230 average (68x296), while walking 24 and striking out 1. Randy Ventura (DSL ATL) .......... 55 113. With Jackson he went 0-2 with 7 saves and a 1.80 ERA (5 ER, 25.0 IP) in 22 relief 2. Drew Jackson (EVE) ................. 47 appearances, including allowing only 1 earned run over his final 17.1 innings (0.52 ERA). 3. Gabriel Mejia (AZL IND) ............. 40 Amongst all minor league pitchers his strikeout rate (12.71 K/9.0 IP) was 3rd-lowest (min. 4. Ricardo Ferreira (DSL NYY1) ..... 35 75.0 IP). Fry was the Mariners 17th round selection out of St. Clair Community College, in the 5. Kevin Padlo (BOI) ....................... 33 2013 MLB First-Year Player Draft. 6. Johnny Sewald (TRI) .................. 31 7. Anthony Jimenez (DSL SEA) ... 30 MARINERS MILB HEART AND SOUL AWARD: OF Jabari Blash hit .271 (110x406) with 79 Matt McPhearson (MIS) .............. 30 runs scored, 24 doubles, 2 triples, 32 home runs, 81 RBI, 59 walks and 8 stolen bases in 116 Andy Pineda (DSL HOU) ............ 30 games combined between Jackson and Tacoma. Blash along with Mariners farmhand Tyler INSIDE THE NUMBERS O’Neill finished 2nd among all minor league players with 32 home runs this season, including being 1 of 7 players with at least 30 home runs in 2015. Blash hit 10 home runs in his final 16 games (w/AB) and 14 home runs in 29 games in August (w/AB). His 14 homers in August led all minor league players during the month and were also the most in any single month during 6 the season. Blash was the Mariners 8th round selection out of Miami Dade Community OF Austin Wilson recorded 6 hits on College, in the 2010 MLB First-Year Player Draft. Aug. 29 at High Desert (6x7, 3 R, HR, 4 RBI)…his 6 hits were tied for the most in NORTHWEST LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: OF Drew Jackson was named Player of a single game in the minors in 2015. the Year by the Northwest League after batting .358 (81x226) with 64 runs scored, 12 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs, 26 RBI, 30 walks and 47 stolen bases in 59 games with the AquaSox. He led the league in average, stolen bases, on base percentage and runs scored, 266 while finishing 2nd in OPS and hits. Jackson was recently named the Northwest League INF/OF Patrick Kivlehan has recorded Player of the Month for August, won two Player of the Week awards during the season and 266 RBI over his last 3 seasons, 7th- was rated by Baseball America as the #5 prospect in the Northwest League following the most among all minor league players. 2015 season. 2 – 2015 Seattle Mariners Minor League Season in Review DRAFT RECAP: the Mariners concluded the 2015 Major League First-Year Player Draft by selecting 40 players, highlighted by their first pick, right-handed pitcher Nick Neidert, who was a 2nd round pick (60th overall) in the draft. Overall the Mariners selected 25 pitchers, including 7 left-handers, 2 catchers, 9 infielders (3 1B, 4 SS, 2 3B), and 4 outfielders. Seattle selected 27 college players and 13 high school players…overall the Mariners signed 35 of their 40 draft selections, including their first 19 picks. AN ALL-STAR AMONG US: The Mariners had 16 minor league players representing the organization in 2015 All-Star games, including 3 players from Triple-A Tacoma in the Pacific Coast League, 3 players from Double-A Jackson in the Southern League, 1 player from Single-A Bakersfield in the California League and 2 players from Single-A Clinton in the Midwest League. Mariners All-Stars include: PCL – SS Ketel Marte (0x2), 1B/DH Jesus Montero (DNP after promotion to Seattle), RHP Forrest Snow (did not pitch), Southern League – OF Jabari Blash (0x2 as DH/RF), LHP James Gillheeney (0.1,0,0,0,0,0), OF Dario Pizzano (did not play due to injury); California League – LHP Paul Fry (1.0,1,0,0,0,2); Midwest League – OF Estarlyn Morales (0x2, BB) and RHP Lukas Schiraldi (1.0,1,1,0,0,2); Northwest League – LHP Luiz Gohara (W,2.1,1,0,0,0,2), SS Drew Jackson (1x2, R, 2B) and LF Logan Taylor (0x4, BB) and Dominican Summer League – RHP Juan De Paula, 2B Luis Joseph, C Geoandry Montilla and RHP Pedro Vasquez, Manager Jose Umbria and Manager Russell Vasquez served as coaches for the DSL team.