Mariners Analysis: Prospects Play Part in M’s Success

Tony Zych’s first month and change may have scared a few people. His control and BB/9 were at times worse than it was in his final 9 appearances to end 2015, but there was more to the 25-year old’s performances so far that made him a standout reliever through the Mariners great April.

There are certain things that can be measured by numbers alone to determine how a player performs, and then there are the intangibles. Ways in which a ballplayer influences the game with his energy, effort or in this case, his resilience.

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Three times this season Zych has come out of the bullpen and given up hits and/or walks, including one time against the Houston Astros where after allowing consecutive walks he gave up a single that brought in a run, but what he was able to do (that many young pitchers have trouble with) was to compose himself and retire the side before the inning got away from him.

Zych is able to do this in large part by striking out batters at a high rate, 1.5 per inning to be exact. Using an impressive fastball then switching gears with a slider that he has put more movement on since last season.

Continuing on his strikeout prowess, Zych has managed to strike out 2 or more batters in an inning in half of his appearances this year, twice striking out the side. He has been able to do all of this while struggling though rotator cuff tendinitis in his right shoulder. Once Zych returns from the 15-day disabled list, healthy and energized, he will be on track to have a most impressive first full season in majors.

Few games have been better for Mayckol Guaipe than his major league debut back in 2015 against the New York Yankees as he pitched a perfect 2.1 innings of relief, fanning two batters. Yet, while his career line reads 0-3 with 3 blown saves and an 5.29 ERA, there has been more of a positive feeling about Guaipe’s potential as he grows into the man he is destined to become.

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Within the past decade Guaipe has experienced some key changes to his game. First, the Mariners development staff felt that his stuff be more effective in short spurts as a reliever- the relief role worked with the Jackson Generals in 2014 as he boasted a 2.89 ERA in 31 appearances with 12 saves. Second, his physical stature has become indisputably more intimidating. When he was a young man in 2006 he stood 6’2” and weighed a mere 175 lbs. 10 years later he has put on a considerable amount of weight, now pushing 240 on the scale and growing 2 inches taller as well. This transformation helps to intimidate the batters who wait in the box ready to take him on.

Mayckol’s hitting the middle of the zone on 49% of his pitches. To emphasize how often he actually hit the batters sweet spot with his pitches, just think that 6 of 7 of his most struck targets were near the middle of the strike zone. All of this explains why his ERA is 4.91 and batters have a slugging percentage of .310 against the young Venezuelan, and why he was sent back down to Triple-A Tacoma.

If he can work on varying the location of his pitches while adding more speed to his fastball, he should be able to work his way back to the 25-man roster.

Shawn O’Malley hopes to be a solid back-up to the outfield core of Nori Aoki, Martin and Cruz. O’Malley has traveled through the minors most of his career before he first had his shot in the big leagues with the Angels in 2014. But his unproductive short stint, in which he struck out in 50% of his plate appearances sent him to the Mariners. In 24 games last year he was able to fix his strike out problem, striking out only 25% of his plate appearances and even managed to walk 12 times.

So far in 2016 it appears that his old woes are back to haunt him. Now, it is only a very small sample size of at-bats that can be examined in the 4 games he has stepped to the plate, but he has gone down swinging 4 of 10 times thus far. But that brightest side of his game has been his hitting- his average now stands at a career high .300.

No game showed his potential more than his last game in the starting lineup on May 22nd at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. The Mariners were riding the high of yet another success road trip, coming into Sunday’s game with a 4-1 record on their latest travels. O’Malley stepped up by putting the ball in play all 4 times he went to the plate, including a single and his first double of the season (2nd of his career in 68 at-bats).

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Another bright spot for the right fielder has been his skills at in the outfield (and other positions). In his last two seasons in the MLB and at Triple-A, O’Malley has committed only 2 errors, the last of which came during his unsteady first week this year with the M’s. As he continues to shake off his early season jitters, O’Malley can be a good utility option to use when the starters need a day off,  but his goal will be to prove that he deserves more than just a back-up role.