Saturday, July 24, 2021

Mariners Even Series Plus the Kraken NHL draft pick

 Mariners 4 A's 3


Yusei Kikuchi got back to his form
after his last two outings for the most
part. He gave up a run in three straight
innings from the third through the fifth.
The third and fourth innings he gave
up a home run which he commonly does.
Kikuchi ended up going six innings. He
walked only one and struck out ten which
is a good sign. The bullpen shut out the
A's over three innings giving up only one
hit.

The Mariners three runs scored first in 
the third inning when Cal Raleigh hit 
his first career home run in the majors 
with Ty France on base. Ty was the only
hitter with two hits. He now leads the
Mariners in hitting with an average of
.276. JP Crawford is in a little hitting
slump so he is second behind France
and just ahead of Haniger who is having
a very good July. Luis Torrens hit a 
home run right after Raleigh. 

I don't to be critical of the manager 
choices, however, Shed Long is not
hitting well since his two home runs
earlier in July winning back to back 
games. Long is batting .080 in his last
seven games and batting in total .180.
I look forward to the return of Jake
Fraley. Though Long has a good arm
he is a fielder average at best  in the
outfield. 

The Mariners scored their final run
in the seventh inning to win the game
when Dylan Moore had the day off
pinched hit for Jake Bauers get a hit
stole second moved to third and came
home on a wild pitch. Not the way
I go for it but you got get what you can.

Before the game the Mariners activated
reliever Casey Sadler. At the same time
they designated Rafael Montero for 
assignment. I am sure a lot of fans thought
about time.  Montero has good stuff but
had a lot of hard times on the mound. He
seems to be a good guy so sad it didn't 
work out.

Prospect #25 Tyler Keenan the Mariners
drafted last year in the fourth round out of
Mississippi. He is listed as a third baseman
however we could see him at first base
and dh if he makes it to Seattle. He was
on the injured for about three weeks in 
late May and into June. Currently hitting
.210  with 4 home runs and 26 rbi's in 28
games. Also has a high on base percentage
of .344. Though his average is low he 
is making good of his opportunities. See
where he goes from here.

#26 Taylor Brash right handed pitcher the 
Mariners acquired in the Taylor Williams
trade last year. Brash was picked in the
fourth round by the Padres in 2019. Brash
in his first full year of pitching professionally
is at double-A Arkansas. He has gotten off
to a good start this season starting 11 of 12
games he has pitched in. Brash era is a solid
2.58 pitching in 52 and one-thirds innings.
He has struck out 77 batters and walked 28
which is high for the number of innings
pitches. Not sure whether he will be a 
starter in Seattle or not but certainly is
getting off on a good start.

#27 Joe Rizzo a high draft pick out of
high school back in 2016. He has taken
his time to get this far. The Mariners have
drafted third baseman the last three years
so we see what plans for Rizzo is still. 
His best season was 2019 when he hit
.295 showing some power with 10 home 
runs. This year at double-A he is only 
hitting .214 though has 8 home runs
through half the season. His on base 
percentage is almost a hundred points
higher than his average. Not sure he
will be a Mariner but could be part
of a trade that includes prospects.

next time we will go with the final
three spots in the top 30 prospects

The Seattle Kraken selected as the 
overall number two pick Matthew
Beniers center out of University of
Michigan who made history having
three of the top four draft picks.
Having only one season at Michigan
he has to decide whether to go back 
or go be with the Kraken. Beniers is
excited to be a member of the Kraken
and being their first pick ever in the
NHL draft. Stay tuned to see more 
on Beniers to see if he is on the roster
this coming season or go back to 
Michigan. 

The whole signing of players that go
back to school is a bit confusing by 
what I see. If Beniers does decide
to go back to Michigan I believe he
would be the Kraken's choice until
next years draft. So he would have
to sign a contract before that draft
but not real clear on it either. Being
a high draft pick like Beniers the
Kraken could still have him longer
then that. We will see I guess when
he makes his decision though loves
to be a Kraken.

The second thru the seventh round
will take place on Saturday so we
will see who else they draft. Stay
tuned. 

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