Seattle Mariners Top 30 Prospects: 30-26, Lets Do This

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The time is finally here. We are finally starting to unveil our Top 30 Seattle Mariners Prospects. After deliberations and debate, we are proud to show what we came up with.

Before we start our breakdown, I highly recommend you read our primer, which details our process. Once you have read that, some of our decisions could make more sense. We are ranking our Top 30 Mariners prospects from 30 all the way to number 1.

Along with a brief breakdown of each prospect, you will see grades for tools on some players. All grades will be based on the standard “20-80” scouting scale. If you’re unfamiliar, the numbers are just a quick way to assign a value to a skill. A 20 grade is terrible. An 80 grade is Hall of Fame level. 50 is considered MLB average.

A player with 50-grade skills across the board is a solid big league regular. These grades are mostly opinion, and players outperform their tools all the time. In addition to these grades, we will also give a probability scale from 1-5. This scale represents the likelihood that the prospect will reach the big leagues and perform to their ceiling. With all that in mind, let’s get started.

30. Sam Delaplane, RHP

Kicking off our list is a former 23rd round pick of the 2017 draft. Sam Delaplane is a small frame reliever who has put up big numbers early in his professional career. Drafted out of Eastern Michigan, Delaplane has always had a knack for missing bats, despite his lack of overwhelming stuff.

Standing at just 5’11” and 170lbs, Delaplane’s fastball sits in the low 90’s but has touched 95 on occasion. He has a hard slider to back up the decent fastball and earns good marks for his work ethic in perfecting his craft.

His first foray into professional baseball saw him dominate the Arizona League, striking out 47 batters in 31 innings while issuing just 8 walks. Delaplane followed up his impressive debut with an even better season at A-Ball Clinton, posting a 1.99 ERA, and 100 strikeouts in 59.2 innings.

Thus far, Delaplane has been a groundball machine, producing 1.67 groundballs to every flyball. His ability to limit extra-base hits, induce soft contact, combined with his skill of missing bats, gives him a realistic chance to be a solid mid-reliever, with the ceiling of a setup man.

He will likely get to start the year in High-A Modesto, a challenging place for pitchers. However, Delaplane’s stay with the Nuts may be short and could end the season all the way up in AAA Tacoma if he continues to produce at his current level.

Scouting Grades: Fastball: 50 Slider:55 Command: 50 Probability: 3/5

29. Kyle Wilcox, RHP

The path towards the big leagues for this former 6th round pick has not been an easy one. Drafted out of Bryant University, the Mariners toyed with the idea that Wilcox had the raw stuff to be a starter, giving him a shot to do so for Clinton in his first full season of pro baseball. It was a disaster.

He made just 9 starts before being permanently moved to the pen, walking 68 batters in 76 innings. He has since gone to work on refining mechanics and has shown significant growth with his command.

Scouts gush over Wilcox’s dynamic fastball that sits in the 93-96 range, as well as his athleticism. His breaking ball also flashes plus, giving him 2 legitimate, big league pitches. Wilcox uses these pitches to miss a ton of bats, posting 250 strikeouts in 190 minor league innings, including 94 strikeouts in 58 innings in 2018.

Unlike Delaplane, Wilcox is a flyball pitcher who isn’t afraid to pitch at the top of the zone. He got some seasoning in High A Modesto at the end of the year and will likely be headed back there to start 2019.

Relievers like Wilcox can rise up the ranks fast. His fastball/slider combo give him an excellent chance to break the 25 man roster sometime in 2020. If he can continue to refine his command more, a future as a high leverage reliever could well be in the cards.

The difference between Delaplane and Wilcox was razor thin, and the two are essentially a coinflip tandem. Delaplane is the safer bet to reach the big leagues, but Wilcox has significant upside in his profile.

Scouting Grades- Fastball: 60 Slider: 55 Command: 45 Probability: 2.5

28. Darren McCaughan, RHP

Finally, a prospect who isn’t a reliever… for now. No, instead we will discuss the 2017 12th round pick, Darren McCaughan. The 22-year-old righty from Long Beach State is very much a Jerry Dipoto special.

At 6’1″, 195 lbs, McCaughan was overlooked in the draft process because of his frame and profile. He didn’t light up the radar gun at Long Beach State and didn’t dazzle scouts with an array of funky breaking balls. He just quietly got guys out.

In his 3 years at LBS, McCaughan posted a 2.30 ERA in the much respected Big West Conference with a 0.89 WHIP. What led the Mariners to draft McCaughan isn’t hard to see. At LBS, he posted 229 strikeouts to 48 walks. Can you say “control the zone”?

After 12 quick innings in the Arizona Rookie League in 2017, the Mariners threw McCaughan straight into the High-A Modesto rotation, skipping A ball in Clinton all together. A bit of a jump for a player in his first full season of pro ball, McCaughan more than held his own in the hitter-friendly California League.

In 25 starts spanning 132.2 innings, McCaughan posted a 3.05 ERA, struck out 121 batters, and walked just 30 men. McCaughan even got a couple of emergency appearances for the Tacoma Rainiers. McCaughan will fight to earn a spot in AA Arkansas rotation.

McCaughan relies on deception and command to get outs and generates a lot of weak contact with his low 3/4 arm slot.

Scouting Grades- Fastball: 45 Changeup: 55 Slider: 50 Command: 55 Probability: 2.25/5

27. Joey Gerber, RHP

Another right-handed reliever goes onto the list. The Mariners have a lot of these types. Gerber was an 8th round of the Mariners in the 2018 draft and wasted no time showing his ability in 22 games between Everett and Clinton. The 6’4″, 215 lbs righty posted a 2.10 ERA with 43 strikeouts and 11 walks in his 25.2 innings of work in his pro debut.

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Gerber has the profile of an aggressively fast mover. He is a pure reliever who tied the University of Illinois single-season saves record in 2018. Gerber ranks higher on the list than Delaplane and Wilcox because he has a higher upside as a reliever.

Gerber has a funky delivery that hides the ball well. Unfortunately, that delivery leaves him with mechanical issues that can mess up his command at times. Still, Gerber has the goods to pitch around command issues.

That is thanks to his 94 MPH fastball that tops out at 97. The pitch has arm side run, and thanks to his funky delivery, he hides the ball well which helps the pitch play up even more. The slider is a solid big league offering and flashes plus at times.

If Gerber could improve his command grade a full grade, he has closer potential. However, that increase in command may come at the cost of his stuff. Gerber has a floor of a mid-reliever and a ceiling of a high-leverage reliever, perhaps even as a closer. Thanks to his reliever profile, Gerber could make his debut late in 2019, but 2020 is a virtual lock assuming he stays healthy.

Scouting Grades- Fastball:60 Slider:60 Command:45 Probability: 4/5

26. Joe Rizzo, IF/OF

Finally, we reach our first bat of the list. Joe Rizzo was the second selection of the Jerry Dipoto era back in 2016 when the Mariners drafted Rizzo as a Virginia prep star in the second round. Since he was selected, Rizzo has yet to click as a professional bat.

Coming out of high school, Rizzo was one of the best prep bats in the draft. He posses good bat speed, plus hand-eye coordination, and good judgment of the strike zone. After a decent 2017 debut in Clinton, Rizzo was promoted to High-A Modesto, where he has struggled to hit his stride in 128 games.

The star has started to fade on Rizzo, but fans shouldn’t give up on the talented lefty. After all, Rizzo doesn’t turn 21 until the end of March and has been consistently 2-3 years younger than the average age of the league in which he has played.

The issue with Rizzo is that he needs to hit, because of his below-average speed and defense. 2019 will be an important year for Rizzo, who should start the year back in Modesto, or even back in A Ball West Virginia.

The Mariners will need to see some results that are reflective of these tools soon. But at 21-years-old, Rizzo is far from a bust. Rizzo still has all the skills to be a Seth Smith type of hitter, minus some power, and should be given time to reach his potential.

Scouting Grades- Hit: 50 Power: 45 Arm: 50 Field: 40 Run: 40 Probability: 2/5

There you have it, the first 5 names of our Top 30 Mariners prospect list. Relievers dominated this portion of the list, and there are a number of them left to come. The Mariners farm system is vastly improved, but still needs another draft class or two to fill out this portion of the farm system.

dark. Next. Prospects Who Just Missed the Cut

Next time, we will drop 25-21 on our list. Who will crack the top 25? Only time will tell.

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