UPDATE: We just got word that Dustin Ackley has been named the Arizona Fall League player of the week. Ackley leads the league in slugging percentage (.756), on-base percentage (.557), runs (20) and walks (15). His .422 batting average is second in the league.
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The past weekend was a whirlwind baseball-wise if you were in my shoes, even though this is the supposed slow season before free agency picks up.
I’m in Arizona spending time with family (there are a couple of unborn twin girls who already are giving their parents fits), and taking some time when I can get it to get my baseball fix.
Around Phoenix, that means the Arizona Fall League. And Saturday night we joined about 5,000 fans, a few hundred scouts and a couple other interesting folks we ran into at the annual Rising Stars game in Surprise. Here are a few things that stood out:
• Mariners second base prospect Dustin Ackley played a decent game, going 1-for-2 with a first-inning strikeout (rung up on a really, really close third strike on the outside corner) and an infield single when he bounced a chopper to first base and simply out-ran first baseman Brandon Belt to the bag. Reminded me a little of Ichiro Suzuki beating Randy Johnson to the bag in the first inning of the 2001 All-Star Game at Safeco Field. Mariners scouting director Tom McNamara said he had Ackley at 3.9 seconds to first base.
Ackley didn’t hit the ball out of the infield, but he worked the count like few hitters we’ve seen at Safeco Field lately. He saw six pitches in each at-bat.
Defensively, Ackley made the few routine plays that came his way and tried to convert a spectacular one. In the top of the second inning, Mark Krauss hit a line drive off pitcher Mike Montgomery’s leg, and the ball bounced high in the air before coming down between first and second base. Ackley charged hard and tried to short-hop-flip the ball to first baseman Eric Hosmer, but it bounced off his glove into right field. Krauss was given a double.
• Mariners pitching prospect Josh Fields worked 1 1/3 innings and looked impressive, but also like a guy who hadn’t pitched a lot this year (Fields missed most of the final three months with Class AA West Tennessee because of a forearm injury). He allowed one hit, two walks and a run, throwing a fastball that topped at 94 mph and a really nice curveball. Fields struggled with his fastball location, especially after he got two outs in the fourth inning and appeared to try and put some extra sizzle on the fastball. Nothing official from the Mariners, but word is that Fields will pitch some more this winter after the Fall League ends this month.
• Ackley and Fields weren’t the only Mariners presence in Surprise on Saturday. I ran into pitcher Josh Lueke in the stands during the game and we talked about 15 minutes. Lueke also is pitching for the Peoria Javelinas in the Fall League and has been one of the top relievers, with two saves, 10 strikeouts, one walk and one earned run in nine innings.
I wrote a note on Twitter on Saturday that I’d visited with Lueke, and almost immediately a few people Tweeted back asking pretty much the same question: “What is Lueke like?” There’s a lot of curiosity about him, given his ability as a pitcher and also off-field background (he pleaded no contest on a lesser charge of false imprisonment in connection with a 2009 incident).
I found Lueke to be extremely personable and easy to talk with. (This wasn’t an interview; we were just talking.)
It’ll be interesting to see how the Mariners handle Lueke, because he has pitched extremely well since coming to the organization in the Cliff Lee trade. General manager Jack Zduriencik has rarely mentioned Lueke’s name when asked about the organization’s top prospects. However, I do remember Zduriencik saying a few times, when asked specifically about Lueke, that anyone who meets the kid will find that he’s a pleasant young man who wants to make things right. Lueke and I didn’t get into any heavy stuff when we talked Saturday night, but that’s exactly the impression I came away with.
• The Rising Stars game actually was a side trip for Tom McNamara, the Mariners’ scouting director. He had a crack-of-dawn flight out of Phoenix the next morning so he could watch a high school all-star game in the afternoon at Ontario, Calif.
This is definitely a huge year for the Mariners’ scouting department because they’ll have the second overall pick in the 2011 draft. This will be the second time in the past three drafts that the Mariners will have the second pick.
McNamara says this should be a strong draft for both pitching and hitting at the high school and college levels, especially for teams picking high.
“It’s nice picking No. 2 but you really don’t want to be the team that picks No. 2 every year,” he said.
• In addition to those on the field and in the scouts’ section, the Mariners connection extended into the TV booth. Former catcher Dave Valle worked as an analyst on the MLB Network telecast of the Rising Stars game.
We ran into Valle behind the stadium after the game, and he was sharing memories with former umpire Richie Garcia, especially about the time when Garcia called Valle out on the bases. Valle remembered seeing a picture of the play, with Garcia standing over him and Valle on his knees, arms extended pleading his case. Umps don’t change those calls and years later on a Saturday night in Surprise, Garcia still wasn’t giving any ground, although he and Valle were having quite a laugh about it.
And now, a couple of links to start the week:
• The Oakland A’s – not the Mariners, as many expected last week — have won the bidding for Japanese pitching star Hisashi Iwakuma. Here’s the story from MLB.com.
The A’s, Mariners and Rangers submitted bids, according to the story. The A’s have 30 days to work out a contract with Iwakuma, who would go back to his Japanese team (the Rakuten Golden Eagles) if they can’t reach an agreement.
• Seems people are preparing to wave the flag on the end of Jamie Moyer’s career after he suffered another elbow injury while pitching winter ball in the Dominican Republic.
Moyer hurt the elbow in July while pitching with the Phillies and, despite being nearly 48 years old (his birthday is next week), he was working his way back. Moyer was headed to California to have his elbow examined.
It may not look good for Moyer, but I’m not ready to jump on the this-is-the-end bandwagon. He’s been told for 20 years that his career was done and proved those people wrong. Even if he has Tommy John surgery, it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if he tries to come back from it and pitch again.
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