Fall League observations on Ackley, Tenbrink, Carl Willis and rock-hard infields

A few thoughts after spending Wednesday afternoon in Peoria, Ariz., watching Mariners prospects in the Peoria Javelinas’ 11-2 victory over Mesa in the Arizona Fall League:

• Dustin Ackley continues to hit and get on base. He’s fourth in the league with a .400 average and first with a .554 on-base percentage. He went 1-for-4 against Mesa but also walked twice. He still has only one steal in the Fall League, although in his past couple of games he’s had runners on base ahead of him much of the time.

• Defensively, Ackley did nothing to shame himself at second base. He was the pivot man on three double plays and stood his ground with runners sliding hard into the bag. Late in the game, he ranged deep into the hole between first and second to field a bouncer in shallow right field before throwing out the runner. There was some athleticism on that play.

• Speaking of infield play, I’m not sure how any of the players can stand the rock-hard condition of the infield at Peoria Stadium. The grass is a green-brown and dirt seems only slightly less firm than asphalt. Choppers bounce like rubber balls. Arizona ballparks are known for hard infields, and last spring I remember former M’s manager Don Wakamatsu insisting that the grounds crew pour more water to it.

• Speaking of athleticism, Nate Tenbrink has it. He’s a 6-foot-2, 200 pounder who is showing his versatility in the Fall League, playing third base and the outfield. He played left field on Wednesday and showed no problems getting to balls in the gap to his left, to his right into the outfield corner, behind him at the wall and in front of him.

Tenbrink is batting .282 with a .356 on-base percentage and seems to be continuing what he accomplished during the regular season at Class A High Desert and Class AA West Tennessee. He batted .377/.449/.646 in 44 games at High Desert, then .274/.381/.427 at West Tenn. He started slowly at West Tennessee, for good reason. In one of his first games there, Tenbrink suffered a concussion when he was hit on the head by a 99 mph fastball.

• Speaking of velocity, the Mariners have more than a handful of power arms that could make people take notice at spring training next year. We’ve heard a lot about Michael Pineda and Dan Cortes, and Josh Lueke is throwing some heat here in Arizona for the Javelinas.

Here’s another to add to the high-heat pile: Maikel Cleto. He’s still in the raw stage, but he hit 100 mph on the gun in his last outing for the Javelinas.

The Mariners are working with Cleto to help him become a pitcher more than a thrower, and he’s more apt to settle into the 94-97 mph range once he “learns to pitch,” as they’re fond of saying.

• The atmosphere at a Fall League game is hardly what you see at spring training. Think of it more as a Wednesday afternoon at the local park when a baseball game breaks out. With some pretty solid players.

There might be 200-300 in the stands, and a good third or more of them are scouts and major league executives.

• Speaking of major league executives, Mariners minor league director Pedro Grifol was in the stands Wednesday and alongside was none other than Carl Willis, who’ll spend the next few days watching the M’s pitchers.

Willis, who started this year as the Mariners’ minor league pitching coordinator and finished the season as their big-league pitching coach, has been the topic of considerable speculation that he’ll be pitching coach for new M’s manager Eric Wedge.

I asked Wllis, “So, if I were to write about you, how should I refer to you – pitching coach?”

Willis smiled a smile I’ve seen a thousand times before over the years and said, “Just say I work for the Mariners.”

Wedge continues to get his coaching staff together and it’ll be announced when all the pieces are in place. Just a hunch here, but I’d be shocked if Willis isn’t the pitching coach. That’s the job he had under Wedge for seven years with the Indians.

• Speaking of the coaching staff, there are strong indications that bullpen coach John Wetteland won’t return. Sorry to see a good man leave, especially one who poured himself into the job the past two years. It brings back the memory of a touching scene involving Wetteland after the final game of the season Oct. 3.

• Speaking of those no longer with the Mariners, among scouts in the stands was Benny Looper, the former Mariners scouting director who’s now with the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies had six prospects playing for the Mesa team.

Looper said Wednesday was his first day back at the Peoria ballpark since he left the Mariners in 2008.

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