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3 Mariners Prospects whose stock rose dramatically this season
With the Minor League season wrapping up, it's time to take a look at 3 Mariners prospects who saw their stock rise dramatically this season
There have been some great surprise players on the Seattle Mariners who have seen their stock rise quite a bit this season. Possibly the greatest example of this is Victor Robles who has become one of the best players on the Mariners in the second half. There have also been some minor league prospects who have played at a high level this season which has led to their stock rising as well and there are three in particular who have taken huge steps forward in 2024.
As the Mariners make their final push for a playoff spot there are a few Mariners minor league teams in the playoffs for their leagues. One of those affiliates is Double-A Arkansas which started its division championship series this week and the three starting pitchers in that series for the Travelers, let's get to meet them a little better.
Michael Morales
Outstanding start by Michael Morales. Final line: 6IP, 3H, 1R, BB, 6K, 81-57. pic.twitter.com/h1tZlfLufU
— Mariners Minors (@MiLBMariners) September 7, 2024
Michael Morales was a third round pick by Seattle back in 2021 out of high school. He did not perform at a high level in his first season in Single-A Modesto and had to repeat the level in his second year. After those two unimpressive years in Modesto, it was unclear how the right-hander would handle starting for the High-A Everett AquaSox at the start of this season. However, he would quiet the doubters and earn a mid-season promotion to Double-A.
In 15 starts in Everett, Morales pitched 84 innings and had a 2.36 ERA, struck out 80 batters, and only walked 7.2% of opposing hitters. He did this at the age of 21, which is about 2 years younger than the average player at the High-A level.
After dominating for the AquaSox, Morales went on to continue to find success in Arkansas. In 12 starts he pitched 65 innings and had a 3.88 ERA, struck out 67 hitters, and walked just under 5% of batters he faced.
This was the type of performance that the Mariners must have been hoping for from the Pennsylvania native when they took him in the third round. I did not see this type of performance coming for Morales and he has put himself in the conversation to be a potential big league call up as soon as June 2025. He already has more minor league innings this season than George Kirby and Logan Gilbert had in their minor league careers.
Morales was obviously not the type of prospect that Kirby and Gilbert were, but Morales has had an incredible season this year and if the Mariners find themselves in need of a starting pitcher next summer due to injury then the Mariners could call upon Morales. His breakout season has put him in a position where if he is pitching at a high level again next year could find himself on the fast track to the big leagues.
Brandyn Garcia
Brandyn Garcia was dealing today. Final line: 3IP, 1H, 0R, BB, 5K, 49-29. pic.twitter.com/i9HQLyJr8F
— Mariners Minors (@MiLBMariners) August 23, 2024
Brandyn Garcia was the Mariners' 11th-round pick just last year out of Texas A&M and like most, didn't think too much of it since most 11th-round selections are not big-time prospects. However, I had a scout text me after the draft to keep an eye of Garcia since he was someone who he thought could benefit from the Mariners pitching development system. So far, that looks to be very accurate.
After being drafted last year Garcia only pitched in 10 innings after the draft in the Seattle organization to get his feet wet. However, he only allowed 2 runs and struck out 8 in those 10 innings. Then to start his first full season of professional baseball, Garcia dominated opposing High-A hitters. in 68.1 innings he struck out 85 batters and had a 1.84 ERA. His performance alongside Michael Morales earned Garcia a promotion to Double-A as well where he continued to pitch well.
In 47.2 innings for the Travelers, Garcia allowed a 2.83 ERA and struck out 49 batters. While Garcia was starting, he was not pitching as deep into games as a normal starting pitcher would. He only went 3 innings in his last 7 starts for the Travelers. This is likely due to the Mariners not wanting him to throw too many innings this year after being drafted only last year and not pitching a ton in his college career.
Garcia is a name to keep on but he likely isn't as ready as Morales to pitch in the big leagues next year because of his lack of time in the minor leagues. However, he might be effective as a lefty out of the bullpen and if the Mariners think he can help them win games next year out of the bullpen then we could see him in that role.
Logan Evans
Logan Evans was awesome over 6 perfect innings. Final line: 6IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 7K, 7 groundouts, 71 pitches, 46 strikes. pic.twitter.com/qoOfYEqEKl
— Mariners Minors (@MiLBMariners) August 10, 2024
Logan Evans was one of the prospects who gained the most hype over the offseason and throughout spring training. He was dominating on the backfields of the Mariners complex in Peoria and was drawing the attention of prospect gurus around the industry. This came after being a 12th-round draft pick by the Mariners last season, similar to Brandyn Garcia, and he has dominated this year as well.
Just like Garcia, Evans got his feet wet in 15 innings last year after being drafted and gave up just 1 run and struck out 15 hitters. Then the Mariners made the bold decision to send the then 22 year old straight to Double-A at the start of the season. He came out on fire and through his first ten games had an ERA of 1.23 in 51.1 innings and had 47 strikeouts.
After that dominant start, the Mariners tried an experiment where they used him out of the bullpen in hopes of transitioning him to the big leagues as a reliever just like they did with Edwin Diaz who was a starter in Double-A, moved to the bullpen, and was called up to the big leagues and became one of the best closers in baseball. Unfortunately, it did not work out too well for Evans and the organization decided to move him back to the rotation.
His prospect hype dipped a little bit after the bullpen experiment didn't work out, but overall he has had a great season in Arkansas. On the year he has pitched 107 innings and had a 3.20 ERA and 98 strikeouts. His early season numbers carried his overall performance because in the last two months he has not been as dominant. In starts where he went at least three innings Evans had a 3.37 ERA, 33 walks, and 80 strikeouts in 86 innings pitched.
On the whole, it has been a great season for Evans and he has put himself in a spot where he knows now what it takes to pitch well for an extended period of time and he will hopefully be able to make the adjustments necessary to be ready for a big league call up. A promotion to the majors should not be too far away from Evans since he was put in the bullpen with the idea of bringing him up earlier this year.
These three starting pitching prospects all had huge breakout seasons for the Mariners this season. They all put themselves in great positions going forward to either help the club win games in the next few years or to be used as trade ammunition to help President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto to go get the help the big league roster needs to compete next year.