The Seattle Mariners have had multiple bright spots and positive developments this Spring Training in Peoria, Arizona. They have not had too many significant injuries, their players who played in the World Baseball Classic returned healthy, and multiple prospects have shined in Spring Training games.
Daniel Kramer of MLB.com wrote about the Mariners Spring Training as a whole, and highlighted some of the best developments he saw from minor league players. He named a trio of right-handed pitchers, Bryce Miller, Emerson Hancock, and Bryan Woo as those who showed positive signs of things to come for the organizations pitching.
Mariners General Manager Justin Hollander was on the radio with Seattle Sports on 710 and said that he believes their pitching group as a whole is better than some think. He said that he is, “Really, really happy with our depth.” when talking about the Mariners pitching staff.
Corey Brock over at The Athletic wrote a piece about how Cooper Hummel has been doubted time and time again, yet keeps proving the doubters wrong. He got just over 200 plate appearances at the big league level with Arizona last year, and has been performing well in Spring Training games for the M’s.
Last but not least, Harry Ford has been impressing on and off the field, as Daniel Kramer writes. He performed great for Great Britain in the World Baseball Classic, and became a much more well known prospect around the world.
Mariners Draft Spotlight
One of the more intriguing players for the Mariners in the upcoming draft is Virginia catcher Kyle Teel. Prospects Live ranks him as their 22nd best prospect in the 2023 draft class. They praise his offensive ability, saying, “Teel is a professional hitter with high contact rates and he really avoids punch outs. He’s still learning and maturing into the slugger he’ll eventually be, developing a profile at the plate.”
Joe Doyle has been praising Teel so far this season, and even spoke about him on his MLB Draft podcast Over-Slot. He is having a monster season at the plate for Virginia. The lefty hitter who swings similarly to former Mariner third baseman Kyle Seager is slashing .457/.527/.728 with five home runs in just under 100 plate appearances. He also has walked more than he has struck out, which may catch the eyes of the Mariners front office.
The best part about Teel is his offensive potential. There are doubts that he can stick at catcher for the long haul and think that he will need to move to a different position. The good thing is that he is athletic and should not have a problem if he has to change position. However, he has not been a bad defender behind the plate this season, and has thrown out plenty of base runners.
There’s a reason 8 of 11 would-be base stealers have been gunned down by @UVABaseball C Kyle Teel this season.
Make that 9 of 12.
Catch, transfer, quick-release & accurate rifle-shot. All done in ~1.95 pop.
1st rounder. pic.twitter.com/YMo48179pB
— College Baseball 365 (@CollegeBSB365) March 24, 2023
Countdown to Minor League Opening Day
Opening day for the Seattle Mariners is coming up next week on Thursday, March 30. That is not the only Opening Day to count down to however. The Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers kick off their season the next day on Friday, March 31 in Oklahoma City against the OKC Dodgers. The other affiliates get started on April 6 and April 7 the following week.
Curtis Christianson
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