Mariners rookies White, Lewis showing power as camp winds down
Evan White can now count himself among the hitters who have left T-Mobile Park. The ball he smoked beyond the bleachers in left field Tuesday night was foul, of course, but the Mariners hear it traveled about 475 feet.
It eventually landed somewhere on the sidewalk outside the ballpark, where a fan who was passing by picked it up.
White ended up striking out looking that at-bat and the next, but made it clear his bat is ready to roll this season in his final trip to the plate, torching a 96 mph fastball into the Mariners’ bullpen for his second homer of summer camp intrasquad play.
Seattle has already seen White’s impressive glove at first base, but to see this pop out of his bat days away from his Major League Baseball debut? That’s cause for extra excitement.
“Evan’s had a really good camp,” manager Scott Servais said on a postgame video call with reporters. “It really started in spring training down in Arizona. Really comfortable right now, really confident. I love to see young players that way.
“He hasn’t played in a major league game yet, and he’s as excited to get to Houston as anybody, but can’t wait to see how it plays out for him. He’s just fun to watch. Fun to watch defensively, and he’s got a lot of confidence in the batter’s box right now.
“Hopefully that continues throughout the whole season.”
That hope extends to other Mariners youngsters, too.
White wasn’t Seattle’s only rookie to show off his power Tuesday night. Moments after White crushed his solo homer off Mariners reliever Dan Altavilla, his good friend Kyle Lewis checked in with his fourth knock of camp.
Lewis handled a 99 mph heater from Altavilla and sent it several rows back in right field. It was the latest example of his opposite-field power.
“Kyle, what can you say? You couldn’t have asked more from him in this camp,” Servais said. “I’ve said it from Day 1 — when he showed up, it just looked a little bit different. Carrying himself different, and has not backed off at all.
“For a young player, how he prepares every day, and doing everything he can to get the most out of himself — it’s fun to watch. Then obviously he’s getting results right now, too. You don’t see many right-handed hitters hit the ball like that in this ballpark, and we’ve had some good ones here.”
Servais mentioned six-time All-Star and three-time Silver Slugger winner Nelson Cruz as one of the good ones.
“That’s not easy to do,” Servais said of Lewis’ two-run shot. “And right off the bat you know it’s a homer when Kyle hits it, and when he stays behind the ball like he did tonight.
“Again, these are young guys. They come with a lot of energy, a lot of excitement. They’re looking forward to every day, and it’s been fun. It’s been a really fun camp for us.”
GRAVEMAN STILL SHARP
Mariners starter Kendall Graveman was impressive again in his second intrasquad outing, pitching four scoreless innings while allowing just one hit and one walk.
He struck out eight of the 14 batters he faced.
“Really love his demeanor on the mound,” Servais said. “He’s very in control, attacking, he’s controlling the game and I think it sets a great example for our younger pitchers to take a look at.”
Graveman, who is coming off of a long rehab from Tommy John surgery, will make his first big league start in more than two years Monday against the Astros.
“It’s going to be emotional, for sure,” he said following Tuesday’s outing. “Shoot. It’s the last little tune-up. Hay’s in the barn, and even now thinking about it is special for me to step on a big league mound once again.
“Heck, I teared up when I made my first AZL league game. That was almost a year ago to date. It’s just fun being out there being able to compete. I’m blessed. I’m privileged to be able to get out there and do it again. Not everybody has that opportunity coming off Tommy John surgery to get back healthy and feel right.
“Man, just blessed to be able to be out there. It’s going to be very fun to compete with the guys that are behind me. I tell the guys before we go out, ‘I’m going to give you everything that I have, I just ask that you do the same in return,’ and I’ll do no different on Monday.”
MARMOLEJOS LAUNCHES 3-RUN HOMER
Mariners utility player Jose Marmolejos launched a three-run opposite-field homer to left off reliever Joey Gerber in the first inning, continuing to make his case for a roster spot as camp wraps up.
He later added a base hit off Matt Magill to finish 2-for-3.
“You can really see his at-bats start coming together here in the last three or four days,” Servais said. “He’s got a good swing, he knows the strike zone, certainly got the power. We saw it today going out to the opposite field. Consistently gives you good at-bats. His swing is so simple. I think he’s got a chance to hit and be consistent and that’s all you’re looking for.
“Really happy for him. We’re trying to get down to the end of camp here, we’re making some final decisions and big night for him tonight.”
SHORT HOPS
The Steelheads topped the Pilots, 7-0, in 4 1/2 innings to extend the intrasquad series lead to 7-2-2. … Kyle Seager finished 2-for-3 with a double, as did Austin Nola. … Mallex Smith recorded a pair of stolen bases. … Relievers Yohan Ramirez and Sam Delaplane also appeared. … Catcher Tom Murphy (foot) and utility player Sam Haggerty (hip) were both held out of Tuesday’s game. “We want to be smart with these guys,” Servais said. “We have been going at them pretty hard. I know the games are a little bit shorter, but they’re going through the whole routine every day. Keep in mind we sat at home for 100-plus days without doing a whole lot either. Guys are starting to get into baseball shape, but we’ve asked a lot of them, and for the most part we’ve held up pretty well.”
ON TAP
The Mariners will play their 12th and final intrasquad game Wednesday, beginning at 6:10 p.m. The game is scheduled for a full nine innings and will be broadcast live on ROOT Sports and 710 ESPN Seattle radio.
