Haniger's Slam Beat's Angels

Mariners 7 Angels 3

Mitch Haniger got off to a good
start on the season hitting over
.300 by April 23, however, since
then his batting has been inconsistent.
Friday night Haniger hit a grand
slam in the 8th inning to win the
game which had been tied. It was
Haniger's 20th home run of the
season. At the end of May he had
14 of those home runs. At the time
you would have thought he would
be the Mariners representative on
the all-star game instead of Kikuchi.

For July Haniger is only hitting .233, 

but four of his seven hits have been 

in the last two games. I am sure there
are those who think if he lights up
in his hitting along with the home runs
will give other teams a reason to trade
for him. He leads the Mariners in rbi's
right now with 52 which is two ahead
of Seager with 50. Seager has been in
inconsistent as well with a batting
average of .213. The Mariners do
have a good average with runners
in scoring position average the second
best in the American League behind
the Angels.

Marco Gonzales got off to a rocky start

giving up a run in each of the first three

innings. David Fletcher hit his first home

run of the season then Angels another run 

in the second. We didn't know at the time

dh Shohei Ohtani hit a massive home 

run into the upper deck of right field his

33rd on the season which leads the major

leagues. Not bad at all for a guy who also

is a starting pitcher for the Angels and will

be in the all-star game as a pitcher and a

hitter. 

Shed Long Jr who doesn't have a good 

batting average at .208 seems to hit some

timely balls had a double in the bottom of

the 4th inning to give the Mariners a chance.

Ty France drove in JP Crawford in the 7th

inning to tie the score before Haniger's 

home run. 

The Mariners bullpen did another fine job

to allow Mitch Haniger to win the game

on the home run. They only gave up two

hits in three and one-thirds innings. A 

key had no walks. 

Chris Flexen goes for the Mariners on

Saturday night. He can nail down the

series by winning the game. Flexen

actually has the most wins by the 

Mariners at 7-3. Sunday at this time

don't know who will start. They could

be going with an opener.

The major league baseball draft will

begin on Sunday with the 12th overall

pick. Only the first round will go on

Sunday while round two through ten

on Monday then finishing on Tuesday

with rounds eleven through twenty.

Will the Mariners go with another 

pitcher in the first round or go for

position player we will see.

Now we look at Mariners prospects

seven through nine. 

#7 Juan Then is a Dominican Republic

pitcher the Mariners signed in 2017.

They traded him to the Yankees in 2018

however he was traded back in 2019.

It seems he has been around forever

as a prospect but he is only 21 years old.

Juan is currently at high level Everett.

Juan has started nine games going 36

innings with in era over six. At his age

I am sure the Mariners have patience

with him. It would be nice to see him

improve the rest of this season so Juan

can move up to double-A ball.

#8 Brandon Williamson the highest

rated left-hander in the Mariners 

organization was drafted in the second

round in 2019. Brandon began the 

season at Everett where he started six

games with an era of 3.19. Brandon

was promoted on June 18 to double-A

ball. So far in three starts he has an 

era of 7.08. Depending on how does

the rest of the way Brandon could 

start next season in double-A.

#9 Connor Phillips was the 64th overall

pick in last years draft. He was considered

a competitive balance pick, Phillips is

currently pitching in low A Modesto.

Phillips is 20 years old so might be a

few years away to see in Seattle. His

era is at 4.50. Has started eight games

going 36 innings. His trouble is walks

where he has 26 though he has struck 

out 52 batters. The Mariners are looking

at him improving his change up. 

Though these three are in the Mariners

top 10 prospects it is hard to know 

whether they will be in Seattle. Brandon

Williams being the only lefty among the

top starting pitchers in the Mariners 

system we are routing for him. 

Next time we will look at number ten

through twelve. Go M's.