Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Seattle Mariners 2024 Midseason Farm System Re-Rank: Prospects 20-11

Episode Date: August 16, 2024

Ty and Colby continue their 2024 midseason re-rank of the Mariners farm system with a look at prospects 20 through 11.Ask us questions!Follow the show on Twitter: @LO_Mariners | @TyDaneGonzalez | @CPat11Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Stitch Fix With Stitch Fix, you get a Stylist who understands your style, size and budget—they do all the shopping for you! Now’s the best time to get started at StitchFix.com/MLB and get $20 off your first fix! Must redeem within 7 days of sign up. Offer does not include Kids Fixes. Liquid IVNo more thirsty summers when you indulge in hydration with Liquid I.V. Get 20% off your first order of Liquid I.V. when you go to LIQUIDIV.COM and use code MLB at checkout.   SupplyHouseSupplyHouse.com is the reliable way to get parts fast. Shop for your next plumbing, h-vac, or electrical job and get fast shipping from coast to coast. Booking.comThe right stay can make you a fan of any US city - even your rival’s. Book today on Booking.com on the site or in the Booking.com app! Booking.com, Booking dot YEAH! PrizePicksGo to https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONMLB and use code lockedonmlb for a first deposit match up to $100! eBay MotorsFrom brakes to exhaust kits and beyond, eBay Motors has over 122 million parts to keep your ride-or-die alive. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to bring home that big win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. As playoffs wind down, the sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up ALL CUSTOMERS with a boost or a bonus, DAILY! That’s right, there’s something for everyone, every day, all summer long! Visit FANDUEL.COM/LOCKEDON and add a big win to your summer bucket list! FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We're picking up our mid-season re-rank of the Marriss Farm System today with a look at prospects 20 through 11. Colby, hit it. You are Locked-on Mariners, your daily Seattle Mariners podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Ahoy, Sailors, it is Friday, August 16th, 2024. This is timing as Alice and Colby Patnaud for the Lockdown Marys Podcasts podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. going to be a far less depressing episode than yesterday is because today we're not talking about the current mariners. We're talking about potentially future mariners.

We're ranking prospects 20 through 11 in the Mariner's farm system. This is part of a top 30 list, of course. So if you didn't see our episode going over prospects 30 through 21, check that out first. We did that on Wednesday. Before we get into our rankings today, shout out to our title sponsor, PrizePix. It's the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports. Go to prizepicks.com slash locked on. MLB and use the promo code locked on MLB.

That's all lowercase for a first deposit match up to $100. And if you want to hear from me and Colby even more and help support the show, check out our Patreon. The link is in the description. And you can sign up for a free, seven-day trial. And this is going to be an interesting group of prospects we're talking about today. It's a really interesting mix. We got some guys that we've already seen at the major league level.

We got some guys that are probably about a year, year and a half away from making their major league debut. and then we got a couple of interesting arms that are down on the lower levels of the miners as well. So let's get into it. We're going to start with number 20, Troy Taylor, who just recently made his major league debut. He comes in at number 20 on both of our lists as well. Colby, what have you been your first impressions of Taylor?

Why did he make it onto our list? Yeah, the stuff's going to play. I really shouldn't surprise anybody's stuff is probably the easiest thing to scout. It's raw stuff. It's really, it pops. You see it. Like, you don't have to envision, you know, how it's going to play. You just see it right away. And when you look at Taylor, it's, you know, 97, 98, mostly says it's 96, but he can touch 98, 99 even with a pretty good fastball that has some run on it. And then a slider. So, uh, my questions for Taylor are going to be, you know, is he going to be a high leverage arm or is he just going to be a very good middle guy?

Uh, he could get to high leverage, but I think the sweeper or slider or whatever they're calling it. I think it has to be a little bit sharper, a little bit better because, you know, it's a fastball that it's a two seamer. It's a sinker mostly. So it's not a pitch that generally gets a lot of swing and miss. So if you're not going to get swing and miss off your fastball, you have to have a plus breaking ball to be considered, you know, a high leverage arm.

So could Taylor get there? Sure. Absolutely. He's only 22, I think 23, you know, and it's been a very quick rise to the majors for him. But he's going to throw strikes. it's a good two seamers should get some ground balls and it's a pretty good slider that is going to get some swing and miss. So I look at the profile and I say, hey, you know what? That's probably a seventh inning guy.

And is there the possibility that he is, you know, a high leverage arm where he can, you know, be used in the same situations. You're using Munoz and Brash and, you know, Garcia and Santos, hopefully someday. Yeah, he could get there. So that's why he's number 20 for me. I didn't have him as the best reliever in the Mariners system. I did have Hunter Cranton just because the fastball value that Cranton produces is insane. And frankly, I don't think he's that far behind Taylor in terms of timeline. I think if you needed a guy in your bullpen, like you could call him up right now and he'd survive.

Like I don't think he'd thrive, but he'd be a fine fifth, sixth inning guy. So I do like Taylor quite a bit. Those two pretty interchangeable to me. I really don't see that huge of a difference. But Taylor's at the big league level right now. And he can help this bullpen. know, didn't have a great outing, uh, you know, in Detroit, but also who did that day. Uh, so, you know, that's going to happen. And so, you know, a little, what was the first pitch you got

taken deep? Some like, I don't know. It was, it was a wall scraper home run. So whatever, like, it happens, right? It's, it's 12 nothing or whatever it was at that point. Like, whatever, but the stuff is good and the slider's good. And if you can, you know, find a way to get a few more whiffs with the fastball or if you can find a way to kind of, you know, improve the slider a half grade, then I think he definitely could be a high leverage arm because I'm pretty confident he's going to throw strikes. Yeah, I had him as the best reliever in the Marriss Farm system, but I had him 20 and Crenton, 21. You had Cranton 19 and Taylor 20. So it's really, they're both truly interchangeable on that front.

Coming in at number 19 is Teddy McGrath, who has finally made his professional debut after being drafted by the Marys last year. He's coming off of getting a brace put in his elbow. It's not a true Tommy John surgery, but it's his second elbow operation. of his life. So he's a Modesto right now. Colby, you had him at 21. I had him at 17. He was ranked 14th the last time

we did this ranking. He's also one of the guys that might be heading to Tampa Bay as the player to be named later in the Radio Rosarana trade. So maybe he's not long for the Mariners system. But for now he's here still.

What do you think about Teddy McGraw? I really like Teddy McGraw. I hope he's not the guy that's going. You know, now if it's Teddy McGraw or, you know, Thai Pete, then yeah, goodbye Teddy. But I really like Teddy. I think there is a, assuming he can, you know, hold up and his elbow holds up and all that stuff.

I do think there's a mid-rotation starter in there. He's pretty athletic. He's going to throw strikes. He's got three or four pitches that, you know, are average and have a shot to be even better. Like, I really like Teddy McGraw. It's a big question is, you know, we're just now seeing him. He's only got a couple innings under his belt.

You know, obviously the back, you know, kind of the back-to-back elbow surgeries. You know, not that promising, but he is pitching unlike somebody like Cole Phillips, who we're not going to see for at least probably another year. So McGraw, because he just now getting started, it's hard for me to rank him any higher than I did, but I do really like the arm. And he's the guy who, if you told me one year from today, he was the best pitching prospect in the Mariners system, I could totally buy it. I could absolutely buy it.

Got that upside. This is a guy who was probably a first round pick last year if he hadn't gotten hurt when he did. And he ended up going in the third round. So the stuff is really good. He throws enough strikes right now. And obviously, again, he's got to hold up. When you have the two surgeries, the concern has to be that you can't handle the full workload. And you're going to be a relief type guy.

Maybe he's a relief type guy. Does he have that stuff? Can the stuff jump up and can he be a high leverage guy? I don't know. but again this is a guy who if he gets through this year healthy he'll probably head off to some kind of you know the high performance camp or whatever they call it like this is like I could see we get to next year and we're talking about Teddy McRaw like we talked about Logan Evans at the end of spring training I could totally see McGraw taking that jump but it's just going to take them a little bit while longer because they have to be a little cautious coming in at number 18 is Jeter Martinez who ranked 13 the last time we did this so a little bit of a fall for him. Not a great start to his time state side.

He's kind of struggled this year. 39 and two thirds, innings pitch down in the Complex League. 386 ERA, but a 528 FIP, 564 X FIP, 703 walks per nine. So really struggling to find the strike zone

Jeter Martinez this year. And in general, there's just, there's a lot of like unknowns, really, with a guy that's only been in the DSL and now the Complex League. Like Colby and I we're not able to get our eyes on Jeter Martinez ourselves.

So we're basically just working off of stats and little reports that we see here and there on Twitter, essentially. So how do you feel about Martinez now who, I think he was the second highest rank picture we had the last time we did this in the Maris Farm System? Now he's more like sixth, I think, for us. First of all, credit to the Mariners.

for you know continuing to add quality pitching and developing quality pitching because we're about we're going to get to a guy I think we're going to get to a guy today who wasn't even on our radar screen. Yeah. Last time we did this. So yeah, uh, you know, credit to them for that. But yeah, Jeter Martinez, I still like him. He's only 18 years old.

Uh, he's six foot four about a buck 80. So there's still actually more strength to go get. I still like the fastball shape. I think the, the, the breaking ball can take a step forward, but you can't walk. seven guys per nine and you know really factor into any conversation of anything other than a lottery ticket right now so there's still good size there's still good pitch shape and all that but he's got throw strikes and he's a pretty good athlete so so the fact that he's not throwing strikes um is it concerning not exactly because again he's 18 all right but it is something you're going to have to

fix and it is something you're going to have to fix pretty quick and and martinez certainly has the size, you know, he has kind of the, the hype or he did last year this winter. He had the hype coming into it. So he's still going to stick around on this list. But the fact that, you know, it's the fact that he's so far away, the fact that he has struggled to throw strikes early in his career, those are things that are going to knock you down a few pegs. And then also simply because the Mariners have added talent that just naturally knocks him down a few spots. Like, again, there are players who weren't in the system the last time we did this, who are just flat out better prospects than Jeter Martinez and that's going to contribute to him sliding down the

list a little bit. But yeah, should be concerned about him? No. Is it something to keep an eye on? Can he handle the walks? Can they get the walks down a little bit next year? Yes. And if he doesn't, then you're going to start to wonder about whether or not, even though he's only 19. He's got to start throwing more strikes. And he does need to add some, you know, more good weight. Like 6-4-180, that's a little, little too thin, little too, you know, slight in stature. If you could put on at least 20 more pounds of good weight, it might improve his fastball velo, probably improves his stuff a little bit. But we'll have to wait and see again.

He's only 18 years old. Got more prospects to talk about here in just a moment. But first a reminder, this episode of the Lockdown Airs podcast is brought to you by Liquid Ivy. I think most of us can agree that there is nothing better than enjoying an ice cold beverage on a hot summer day at the ballpark. So when you're taking it in America's pastime, don't forget to hydrate with Liquid IV's Popsicle Firecracker flavor,

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SXM app. All you have to do to find that, search the word Mariners. All right, so we're ranking Mariners prospects 20 through 11 on today's show. We just did 20 through 18. Now let's do number 17. It's Ryan Bliss, who of course we have seen quite a bit of at the

Major League level for the Mariners this year. He was ranked number 11, so he follows about six spots from the last time we did this. How are you feeling about Ryan Bliss now that, again, we've seen him at the major league level, Colby? I still like him.

He's barely eligible for this list, just based on the way that we do it. I don't think he's even eligible on, like, pipelines list anymore. So, you know, he's barely on this list. But I do think, you know, it's a guy who really good athlete. We know he can steal some bags. You know, he's got good range at second. Does he have the arm, you know, to play anywhere but second? Didn't love it.

It was a slow release when I watched it. but there's certainly power here. And that's kind of surprising, considering we know how small bliss is, but there is legitimate pull power in his profile hit a couple home runs while he was up, stole some bags. We know what the speed can do and how it's an X factor in this game.

So, you know, does he hit enough to be an everyday second baseman? I don't know. I'm not quite sure about that yet. And, you know, since Samarren sent him down, his strikeouts have skyrocketed down in Tacoma, but he's hitting the ball with more authority. he's getting more extra base hits.

He's hitting more home runs too. So I don't know if there's a tweak that they're working through right now to try and maximize power. So like if Bliss, like if Bliss can hit 20 home runs with his speed and his defensive abilities, then, you know, the batting average is not going to matter that much.

Ideally, you look at a guy like Bliss and be like, I hope that guy can hit 260, 270, get on base, maybe pop 10 home runs. But if he's going to hit, you know,

220 with a 300 on base and he's going to hit 20, 25 home runs and seal 20 bags that can also play like you can make that work so um you know it'll be interesting to see what the strikeout rate looks like at the end of the year i think since being sent back down he's at like 35 so that's significant and and it's tough to imagine a player of his size and his stature striking out 35% of the time in triple a and being able to sustain any success at the big league level uh but you know again if the power is there because he's going to play up the middle because he can steal bags and because he can, you know, change the game in a lot of different ways.

29.2% since he got sent back down. Okay. So it's gone down a little bit. Yeah. So from July 24th to now. And of course, he got like a very small call up in between them and there, you know, but whatever. Yeah.

So it's been 29.2% but a 138 WRC plus. Right. And again, hitting the ball, a lot of power. So yeah, it's kind of a weird profile because a guy this small. typically you don't have power as his best offensive tool but that's kind of what it is right now and so you know is bliss a big leaguer i i i or i should say is bliss like an everyday big leaguer i don't know is he a useful player that i can use off the bench that i can platoon that i can kind of move around a little bit yeah i think he could be that guy so i think there's you know a little

bit of dylan more here obviously dylan's you know more built i like bliss quite a bit um but you know I think he's 24, 25 years old at this point. Like it's not like he's got a ton of time to prove himself. But he is still a fascinating player. And obviously he's, you know, a really fun player. And I, you know, I don't know if he's going to get a shot here is my concern. Like I don't know if there's going to be enough playing type open up to him to take that shot. But I like the profile.

I like the player. And I like that there's multiple paths to him being a successful big leaguer. And we saw flashes, like the great Marlin series that he had. And then it's very clear that he has tapped into more power. I mean, you know, again, like you look at the numbers that he's posted in AAA since being sent down late July. And then, you know, the one game that he started in that small callup that he got, he had an absolute nuke off of Manaya. Kintana. Can't remember who was.

Yeah. But he smoked that ball. coming in at number 16 is dwell joseph one of the mariners more recent noteworthy international signings 17 years old down in the dsl doesn't turn 18 until next may yeah so you know and obviously at the physique 6-2 about a buck 90 just loud tools you just got to put them into the game right like obviously tools are great but it doesn't matter you have 80 grade power Willie Mopena if you can't hit a curb ball it's never going to show up so you know

Joseph is a guy who I still think is going to I still can play shortstop I think he's either going to be third baseman or second baseman in the long run I think that the power is going to play up I think that he's going to hit and you know we'll see where the run ends up I feel like there's a shot that

Joseph is Noel B Marte and like he certainly got the tools to be that guy. Now again, he's 17 years old. So he's probably going to repeat the DSL next year, might see Modesto. So there is a lot of time left with him. And the tools are just, you know, it's some of the best, it's one of the best tool sets in the entire, you know, farm system. So yes, the numbers are a bit concerning. But again, 17 years old playing professional baseball. The tools are what speak here. He's good size, good frame. I think the power is going to pop a little bit. I think he's going to be a fine third baseman and I think he's probably going to maintain most of his

speed because again there's not a lot more muscle to go get he might go get 15 pounds maybe as far as we know he's 17 he might grow another six inches for all we know right you know there's still so I think you right now he's a pretty well above average runner I think he's at least an average runner when he's done so I do think that there is a shot here that you get you know no l'i-marté so for the moment I'm willing to ignore the numbers somewhat just because of the tool set But yeah, he's going to have to start hitting sooner than later. And, you know, next year will be a big year for him. And hopefully we see some improvement.

Coming in at number 15 is Mariners 2023 draft pick, Ben Williamson, a pretty significant jump from the last time we did this. He was ranked 27th on that list. So why has Williamson taken that much of a jump? Well, he's had a really good season combined. Now, in Arkansas, it hasn't been as good. good as he wasn't everett still running a 357 on base in arkansas but only a 336 slug and and that's kind of been the question on williamson is is he going to slug enough to be an everyday

player because defensively he's fantastic at third base he could probably play shortstop if you needed him to but he's an above average third baseman maybe even plus there he's got a strong arm he's a pretty good runner he's stolen 15 bags this year uh like he's a pretty good runner good athlete uh and i do think that you know there's on base skills here i think there's enough contact skills here. So really what it comes down to, can he hit 20, 25 home runs and be, you know, early career Kyle Seeger? Or is he going to hit like eight to 12 and be, you know, Darwin Barney or whatever? Like, you know, who's he going to be? So I do think, you know, he's a plus third baseman, good arm. I know he can play shortstop. He's athletic enough to play shortstop if you

need him to, which means he could probably play second base if you need him to. Like, There's a legit, you know, utility guy here. But you need him to hit for more power to be an everyday player. And because we haven't seen that power, power yet at double A, it's hard for me to project. And we didn't see like otherworldly power at Everett either. We saw good power, good pop, but not average. But it was more doubles. It wasn't over the wall.

He only has three home runs in his pro career. Right. All those coming this year, two and to Arkansas, one in Everett. But, but yeah, he was sitting for more doubles. down in Everett, 11 doubles and 111 netbats or 130 plate appearances in Everett. In Arkansas, it's 15 doubles, but in 305 plate appearances. Right. It's just really tough to be an everyday third baseman in this league if you're going to hit, you know, 11 home runs.

It's really tough to make that. I mean, Josh Rojas is technically doing it right now. Sure, but does anybody think that you're fine at their best? base like nobody wants to upgrade off of Josh Rojas so yeah he's going to have to find some power now again to be fair to him Arkansas that home ballpark absolutely saps right-handed power particularly right-handed power but Williamson that was this question coming in and so far he hasn't answered it he'll probably find AAA next year you know he's 23 all year but he'll probably start next year in AAA and then we'll see like I think this winter for him it's all about

adding you know finding a way to loft the baseball get more lift and get more backspin on the ball and maybe sacrifice a little bit of your hit tool because you know if you're going to play third base you'd rather be 230 330 450 than you know 260 350 400 like it's just something that you have to work on and while Williamson can play shortstop it's not he shouldn't play there every day so the power is going to have to show up at some point otherwise you just kind of have a nice little utility player on your hands. And that's still valuable. I still like Ben Williamson.

I think there is more power to go get. But he does have to do it. It's not like he's, you know, 6-4 and 160. Like, he's pretty well built out. He's an older guy. So he's got to find it in his swing. He's got to make a swing adjustment. And if he does, I think there's a shot that he can be an everyday big leaguer.

And I think we'll see him next year at some point. Yeah. Might only be a quick call up, but we'll, I think we will see him. at some point, assuming that he's still in the organization, of course. Sure. All right, we got the final four prospects of the day to go over here in just a moment. But first, a reminder to this episode of the lockdown errors podcast is once again brought to you by prize picks.

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All you have to do to find that this weekend is search the word Mariners. All right, let's get into the final four prospects we have to go over today. As we do prospects 20 through 11 of our mid-season rerank of the Marrish Farm System. coming in at number 14. Michael Morales, who's had kind of a breakout season. He was ranked 23rd. The last time we did this, it seemed like he had stagnated as a prospect.

And now, you know, a few months later, he has really elevated his profile. It's been really nice to see. He's made his way all the way to Arkansas. It hasn't gone particularly well for him, but it's a small sample size. Colby, how impressed have you been with Michael Morales this year? Yeah, obviously the numbers are really interesting.

Now, remember when Morales was drafted in the third round back in 2021, he was a Vanderbilt commit. They overpaid. He was slot. He was overslaught a little bit. And the idea was that he was going to kind of get bigger, stronger, fill out. Fastball still, you know, 91, 92, 93. So there needs to be more VLO there for him to reach his ceiling.

But I did talk to Oliver Bachter. of Future Star Series. And he's seen him live a couple times this year. So I asked him what he thought about him. Because I was having trouble placing him because the stuff to me still reach pretty ordinary. It kind of seems like a number five starter. And what he told me was pretty interesting. He says it's a five or six pitch mix.

So it's a fastball sweeper, a slider cutter, change up in a curveball. He throws enough strikes and he mixes in all those pitches really well. But he is concerned about the he is concerned about the fast. ball value because again it's 91 92 93 says the pitch needs more presence which I thought was pretty interesting did to throw a comp on him that I thought was pretty interesting he talked about Nick Martinez and also maybe a Ross stripling type so that's a useful pitcher yeah and that's kind of a number five or kind of a you know a go-between or a multi-endie reliever type and again the the guy literally just turned 22 three days ago so still time he's 22 and double a that's the

that's right online. That's totally fine. Like he's got a couple years before you have to really start to be concerned about him tapping out. But there's not a lot of strength left to go get. I don't see. Like there's not a lot to add to that frame. So he's going to have to either, you know, improve all of his secondaries or he's going to, you know, just kind of have this mediocre fastball. And to me like his ceiling right or like where he kind of comps out right now is it just kind of feels like what we've talked a lot about with Emerson Hancock.

where he's just like he's going to throw strikes he's going to pitch his way or like he's he's he's a grinder you know he pitches his way through tough spots and he's not going to give in and he's going to throw strikes and he's just going to kind of you know bulldog his way through a lineup a couple times and that's where he is right now at 22 years old so uh i think all of that combined makes me higher on him than i was coming into this year but obviously there's still concerns because if your fastball is is mediocre at best boy you better have pinpoint command or you better have pinpoint command or you better better have really good secondaries. And I don't think Morales is there yet. But again, because he's 22, because he's taking this big leap this year, it's possibly you can take another leap next year. And all of a sudden we're talking about like a number four starter who's, you know, throw strikes at 23, 24 years old. Coming in at number 13 is a man that Jerry Depoto came onto this show and absolutely

gushed about. And we have learned a lot about him over the last few months. That is Logan Evans, who is now in AA Arkansas. of course, came in at number 14 on Colby's list, 12 on mine. He was 29th the last time we did this. So they tried to experiment with him as a reliever. That did not go according to plan. But a little over a year ago, Logan Evans was not doing too great in college.

He still got drafted. And the Mariners have really elevated his staff. They've elevated his profile and he's quickly become a pretty significant presence in the farm system and even got to a point again where he was challenging for a spot on the big league roster. Again, seems like they want him to start. They think that he's a starter. They don't think that they can get necessarily more out of him as a reliever. So overall, how do you feel about Logan Evans, Holy? Yeah, I feel pretty good about him.

I think he's going to be a big leaguer. Do I think he's the next Miller or Wu type? Probably not. I don't think the stuff is there. My read on Evans from what I've seen and what I've also read and heard is that it's pretty ordinary stuff. But it's a five pitch mix and all of them are average, which is still valuable. Obviously, you prefer to have a couple plus offering. but if you can throw five pitches for strikes,

he throws plenty of strikes, that's not an issue. He's a good athlete. He repeats his delivery. And there are pitches. The slider is flashed above average, maybe even plus at times. The cutter has taken real steps forward.

We've seen a pretty good change up at times this year. So there's still plenty to like about Logan Evans. Obviously, it's been a really good season. When you look at it, you know, 75 strikeouts and 83 innings. Yeah. You know, he's not missing a lot of bats. And so there is a concern here that, you know,

because he doesn't have the plus offering, that, you know, is he just another Emerson Hancock number five type, possibly? But he does have, you know, more weapons to go to. He does have, you know, more command than even somebody like, you know, Hancock, who we've seen survive at the big league level this year with guile and command and control. And again, it's a really good frame. It's is really athletic. It's a clean delivery.

It's very smooth. So there still is more to go get. But again, he's 23 years old. it's not like he's 20, right? And those, you know, there's just a cap sometimes on how much more or how much better you can get. So I still like Evans quite a bit. I don't think that, you know, the hype that was around him at the very beginning of the spring, I think that's died down just a little bit because you just can't miss enough bats to really get me super excited.

But I think he's still going to be, you know, like a really solid number four starter, you know, and I think he's probably going to have that workhorse quality where he's going to go a hundred, 180 innings for you. I like the frame. The stuff is good enough. He throws a ton of strikes and he's athletic. So there's lots to like here. I think that I did like,

oh my God, did the Mariners find another, you know, number four, number two starter, you know, late in the draft. It's like, no,

they didn't, but they probably found a major league starting pitcher, at least in the next year or two. Uh, in the 11th, 12th round last year. And they've already gotten him to double a. So,

uh, yeah, Evans is a really good prospect. Uh, he's just, you know, he didn't, I was hoping that maybe he would

take that jump and be like, you know, top five at this point. He just hasn't. He's just been, you know, really good, really good year, but not elite, nothing to get super excited about yet. Well, let's talk about another 2023 drafty along with Logan Evans who has just burst onto the scene this year. That's Brandon Garcia, the lefty who has quickly, quickly rose through the levels of the Marinus Farm System is at double A. he's handling it very well. He is dominated pretty much every single level of the miners that he's pitched in this year. Like you talked about earlier on in the show, we didn't have them ranked the last time we did this.

We didn't even talk about Brandon Garcia whatsoever. He didn't even cross our minds. Now he has quickly become one of the merri's better pitching prospects and might be able to make his debut as soon as next year with the way he is looking right now. he doesn't look overmatched in double a at times hitters look overmatched by him in double a so talk a little bit about brandon garcia here colway yeah it's really fun that the mariner's did this garcia the 11th round pick uh evans the 12th round pick next year and it looks like the mariners have gotten at worst two back-in starters out of day three picks but possibly with garcia there might even be a high leverage lefty in here if it doesn't work out in the pen and you know

know Garcia ahead of Evans, I don't think you're going to see many lists that have it that way. But to me, the fastball value and the cutter that Garcia have, those are both plus pitches right now. And also, unlike Evans, he's actually missing bats in double a 119 strikeouts in 98 innings total, 34 strikeouts in double a and 29. That leads all Mariners minor league pitchers, by the way. Right. Opponents are hitting just 206 against him in AA. He's getting a ton of ground balls, a ton of soft contact. It's fastball cutter slider.

He's 6'4, about 235. Like he's well built. I think that the slider or I think that the cutter and the fastball are better than any pitch Logan Evans has right now. And he's got both of them. And the slider is no chump either. So yeah, I do think that Garcia just has a higher upside. I think he's got a higher ceiling. He's throwing, you know, plenty of strikes, 36 walks and 98 innings.

He's challenging guys. He's got the size. I do think that there is a lot of value here in Garcia. And again, this is a guy who drafted. Most people said, bullpen guy, like throw him in the bullpen, whatever. Maybe you can get some lefties out.

And the Mariners have turned him into a legit starting pitching, you know, if the Mariners found a Brian Wu or a Bryce Miller in last year's draft, it's Garcia. It's not Evans. But we'll see. Obviously, you know, again, 24 years old, turned 24 in late May.

So he should be getting close to the big leagues. Like he did start later, his pro career later than a lot of guys. So, you know, the age and the fact that he's dominating a double A with his age, like it's not like he's old for the league, but he's not young for the league or anything like that. But fastball, cutter, slider, all flash above average. The fastball and cutter pretty consistently sit at 55, 60 grade offerings. And so I really like the profile. Honestly, I see at least a high leverage.

lefty reliever out of Garcia. That could be as soon as next year. But I do think that there is a strong possibility that he could actually stick in the rotation and be a mid-rotation guy. So I really like Garcia. The last prospect of the day is Tyler Locklear, who of course, like Ryan Bliss, like Troy Taylor, you have already seen at the Major League level with the Mariners this year. He was in the top 10 last time we did this. So have your feelings changed?

at all on Tyler Lockley are now seeing him in a mariner uniform um you know i'm i'm i'm still a little concerned about what type of power output you're going to get from him it's not that he has no power we know he has some power does he have first base power does he have everyday first base power i don't know i'm not convinced that he does yet uh i'm not convinced that he's going to hit enough uh to kind of compensate for that so like if you're going to be a we talk about this law with Thai France. If you're going to be a 20 home run first baseman, fine, you got to hit like 270. You got to get on base 36, 37% of the time. Can he do it? I don't know. There's, there's, you know, he's only got 45 at-bats in the big league level, but he did strike out 20 times.

So there's still some swing and miss there to be concerned about the power in theory. It's above average raw power, but raw power doesn't mean anything in the grand scheme of things. You have to translate it into a game. into game power. He's going to be fine first baseman, but it's first base defense. There's not a ton of value there anyways. So he's,

that doesn't really help his profile. You know, decent runner for a guy his size, but I don't know. I'm still not, I'm still on the fence about whether or not Locklear is an everyday player at the big league level or not. I know that the power is there.

I know the raw power is there, but I got to start seeing it, you know, in game. And we've seen it in bits and pieces. Like, you know, this year, you know, 14 home runs. That's not terrible. But you combine, you know,

16 home runs and about 400 at-bats, like that's borderline everyday power for a first basement. And, you know, he's spent a good chunk of this season in Tacoma, which obviously we know that the power in Tacoma, like much easier to be a power hitter in Tacoma than it is in Arkansas. So still like the bat. I still like the profile overall. I don't, I wouldn't say I've given up on him whatsoever, but I just haven't had as many questions answered about him as I would like. So right now, I don't know. It's, if he's not going to hit 30 home runs, he's got to be an above average hitter. Like, he's got to be a 55 bat. I don't know if he can hit 30 home runs. I don't know if he can be a 55 hitter. Right now, to me, kind of looks like it's 45 power 50

hit. And that's really borderline to be an everyday player. And, uh, and, Again, because he's 23 years old, it's not like, again, it's not like he's old. It's not like you can't develop once you get past 23, but he's not 21. You know, there's, there's just less time for him to develop that power. But overall, I still like the player. Obviously, I have them, what, 10, 11, wherever I had him. So I still like the player. But I do have some concerns.

All right. Well, that is going to do it for our show. We will be doing the top 10 of our midseason rerank on Tuesday. I believe we'll have mailbag Monday for you on Monday. Of course. So we'll go over that. That's going to be a really fun list to break down. But before we get out of here,

a reminder that Lockdown has launched the first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel on YouTube. And now it's also available on Amazon Fire TV and the free Fire TV channels app. Lockdown Sports today is here for you 24-7 covering the top sports stories of the day with the local experts of Locked On. Plus our national shows covering every league. Find Locked On.

sports today now available on the free fire TV channels app. Thank you so much for joining us here on the Lockdown Mariners podcast for Colby Patnode. I'm Tadangazales. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter at L0 underscore Mariners. You can follow me at Tadangazales and Colby at C-Pat 11. That's CPA-T-1-1. You can also find all that stuff in the description of this episode. Now head on over to Locked-on Seahawks to get all the latest out of training camp from

Corby Smith and the gang. Tell them Ty and Colby sent you. Have yourself a beautiful baseball day and we'll see you next time. Peace.