Seattle Mariners: Herb’s Look at the Mariners top prospects at Modesto

The Seattle Mariners have six of their top prospects playing at high-A Modesto right now. We look at them and the other ones playing for the Modesto Nuts. I am sure we can’t wait until they are in Seattle.

Jarred Kelenic the Mariners number one prospect began the season at low-A West Virginia Power has moved up to Modesto. He was the key acquisition the Mariners had in the off-season when they traded Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz were sent to the New York Mets.

It is hard to know; however, the trade may not have happened if Kelenic wasn’t included. He was the Mets number one draft pick last year. General manager Jerry Dipoto said had the Mariners were in a position to have the number one overall pick in last year’s draft they would have taken him. I would save that is superstar high praise; so far he looks to be a player becoming a superstar.

He comes anywhere close to the praise Dipoto has given him and he looks to be on the way he might be the best player the Mariners have had in a long time.

Jarred Kelenic played 50 games for West Virginia before moving up to Modesto on May 29. He hit .309 with 11 home runs and 29 RBI’s. With Modesto, he is hitting .250 in 28 games. He has 4 home runs and 13 RBI’s. It will be interesting to see how much time for him to adjust to the higher level of competition.

All depending on the rest of the year I expect Jarred Kelenic will either begin next season in Modesto or move up to double-A. Though everyone is looking forward to him in Seattle he is only 19 years old so whether he takes two or three years to put on a Mariner uniform he will still be young.

Logan Gilbert the Mariners number one draft pick from last year and the #3 prospect began the season in West Virginia. He didn’t pitch at all for the Mariners last year because of illness.

He started five games for West Virginia before being promoted to Modesto on May 1 where he hasn’t slowed down at all. In the five games, he had an ERA of 1.59 along with striking out 36 batters in 22 and ⅔ innings.

At Modesto, he has an ERA of 1.73 in 12 starts. He has struck out 73 batters in 62 innings while walking only 12. So not only is Gilbert dominating the hitters he is doing with outstanding control.

As of this writing, Logan was promoted to double-A Arkansas along with fellow right-handed starter Ljay Newsome and switch-hitting catcher Cal Raleigh.

Ljay Newsome is rated #29 prospect in the Mariners farm system. He was in the midst of his second season at Modesto. He was drafted by the Mariners in 2015 in the 26th round out of high school. At the age of 22, he is looking like the pitcher the Mariners were hoping for if not even better. His ERA has gone from 4.87 last year down to 3.47.

Also, he has nearly the same amount of strikes having 118 right now compared to 125 for the whole last year. Newsome time with the Arkansas Travelers the rest of the season will determine where he will be at next year and the future with the Mariners.

Not a surprise that Cal Raleigh was promoted to Double-A ball. He has been hitting the ball really well as of late. In his last 10 games, he has been hitting the ball with eight home runs with 17 RBI’s. In the same period of time, he is hitting .342 for an overall season average .261 and 22 home runs.

Raleigh was the Mariners number three draft pick last year out of Florida State. He is rated #13 prospect in the Mariner system. Along with Gilbert, he looks like on the fast track to Seattle.  He is the Mariners top-rated catcher in the system; like most of the catchers, he has to work on his defense.

#22 prospect third baseman Joe Rizzo is in his 2nd season at Modesto. He was drafted out of high school in the 2nd round in 2016. Rizzo is hitting .293 with eight home runs compared to .241 with four home runs. He is 21 years old.

Current Mariner 3rd baseman Kyle Seager was drafted in the 3rd round coming out of college. Seager made his major league debut at 23 years old so Rizzo doing the same might be with the Mariners in 2021. Seager’s contract will be in its last year in 2021 with a team option for 2022. This of course, if Seager is still with the Mariners.

#27 prospect Keegan McGovern outfielder is in his first time at Modesto being promoted on June 10 from West Virginia. He was drafted by the Mariners last year in the 9th round. McGovern is hitting only .180 though he has five home runs. Last year he had 15 home runs at low-A with a batting average of .268.

McGovern will probably play at Modesto again next year at the beginning of the season. He might be able to move up to double-A Arkansas at some point if he is still in the Mariner farm system. Why I say this the Mariners have several high prospects ahead of him. The Mariner could use him when trading prospects.

The rest of the players at Modesto are long shots so it will be interesting to if any of them will be seen in Seattle. Most likely there will be some at Rookie ball or at West Virginia replacing them. Outside of Jarred Kelenic, Logan Gilbert and Cal Raleigh the odds keep going up seeing the rest in Seattle. Best to all of them.