The Seattle Mariners promoted a pair of infield prospects within their minor league system this week.
Kyle Seager was moved up to Triple-A Tacoma from Double-A Jackson on Thursday, and had two hits in his Rainiers debut. Seager was batting .312 with 25 doubles and a .381 on-base percentage at Jackson – statistics that certainly leave the impression that he’s ready.
The Mariners also promoted shortstop Nick Franklin from Class A High Desert up to Jackson, taking Seager’s roster spot.
Franklin’s promotion was a surprise. The 20-year-old shortstop burst onto the scene with a 23-home-run season at Low-A Clinton in 2010, and he was expected to put up big power numbers in the thin air of High Desert.
Instead, Franklin struggled to hit in the California League. A .275 batting average may not look bad on the surface, but that’s below league average.
Franklin had just five homers and 20 RBI while slugging .411 in 64 games for the Mavericks.
Furthermore, Franklin had a big home/road split – which is not unusual for High Desert players, but it’s a concern in this case: Franklin batted .207 with a .279 OBP while slugging .302 on the road.
“People will say he’s only hitting .270 in High Desert, but our evaluations said he’s putting up quality at-bats and playing extremely good defense,” said Mariners director of player development Pedro Grifol. “We want to get him at higher baseball and challenge him a little; get him into a tougher league so he’d have to elevate his game.”
Franklin had two hits and helped turn a triple play in his Jackson debut on Thursday night.
The triple play was a bit unusual. With runners at second and third, the batter hit a fly to right-center. Jackson right fielder Johermyn Chavez made a diving catch, threw to Franklin to double the runner off second, and Franklin relayed the ball to Nate Tenbrink, tripling the runner off third base.
FARMHAND UPDATES
Last week we identified pitcher Vicente Campos as the newcomer to watch at short-season Class A Everett, and in two starts the 18-year-old right-hander has allowed just two runs and seven hits in 12 innings.
Now, keep an eye on young Mariners outfield prospect Guillermo Pimentel at short-season Pulaski in the Appalachian League.
A left-handed 18-year-old outfielder, Pimentel got a $2 million signing bonus after turning 16. The Dominican Republic native was impressive in the Arizona Rookie League last summer, and Baseball America ranked him the No. 1 prospect in the league.
Pimentel had a big performance in the third game of the season for Pulaski, going 3-for-5 with a double, a three-run home run, and four RBI.
He followed that with another home run Saturday, driving in four more runs.
Mike Curto is the radio broadcaster for the Tacoma Rainiers
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