EVERETT – The Everett AquaSox hope to be a little older and a little wiser this season.
As the Sox prepare to open their 2004 short-season Class A Northwest League campaign tonight against the Vancouver Canadians at Everett Memorial Stadium, they do so with the belief that added maturity will help the team fare better than last season.
“As a whole I thought everybody could have done a lot better,” outfielder Josh Ellison, one of three returning players, said of last season. “Individual-wise there were a bunch of guys just worried about themselves. That’s what this game is all about, individually making it to the big leagues. But at the same time, there’s got to be some part of you that’s a team player.
“From what I’ve seen just being around these guys, these guys seem to jell well together.”
Last season, Everett finished 32-44, which left the AquaSox in the West Division cellar. This season, with a roster chock full of players who have at least one year of experience in the Seattle Mariners’ minor-league organization, Everett expects improvement in the standings.
“Last year’s team, I think we played really well for 40-45 games,” said Everett manager Pedro Grifol, who returns for his second season at the helm.
“We had a lot of new guys who weren’t used to the grind of every single day. I think these guys have been around a little longer. They understand what pro ball’s all about and I think these guys are going to be stronger throughout the whole year.”
The AquaSox have three players returning who saw significant playing time on last year’s team. Nineteen-year-old Venezuelan infielder Oswaldo Navarro batted .258 with a team-leading 42 runs scored and also tied for the team lead in stolen bases with 16. Ellison, a 20-year-old from West Palm Beach, Fla., batted .269 with four home runs, 26 RBI and 12 steals, and first baseman/outfielder Bryan LaHair, a 21-year-old from Worcester, Mass., hit .244 with two homers and 20 RBI.
Navarro is part of a trio of middle infielders who rank among the team’s strengths. Navarro, who played shortstop last season, fellow Venezuelan Asdrubal Cabrera and Yung Chi Chen from Taiwan are exciting players who should see time all around the infield.
“They’re going to be fun to watch,” said Everett coach Darrin Garner, who works with the infielders. “I’ve never seen a young group like this with the ability that they have. They’re very athletic guys, have good hands and good feet. They could all go pretty far.”
The coaches are also confident about the team’s pitching. The majority of the pitchers spent the last month in Peoria, Ariz., for extended spring training and pitching coach Marcos Garcia said he likes the way they’re entering the season.
“Pretty much everybody (was pitching well in Peoria),” Garcia said. “It’s still early, but we’re looking pretty good right now.”
Hard-throwing right-hander Aaron Jensen, a 20-year-old from Springville, Utah, is slated to start tonight’s opener. Lefty Kendall Bergdall, a 21-year-old from Lahoma, Okla., who has good movement on his pitches, righty Ivan Blanco, a 20-year-old from Venezuela with a big breaking ball, 20-year-old righty Ruben Flores from El Paso, Texas, who was originally scheduled to start opening day before suffering minor arm soreness, and 19-year-old lefty Shawn Nottingham from Massillon, Ohio, who pitched two innings for the Class AAA Tacoma Rainiers earlier this season, round out the initial starting rotation.
Another intriguing member of the pitching staff is 24-year-old right-handed pitcher Phil Cullen. The 6-foot-9 Cullen was a basketball star at Chelan High School and went on to play basketball at the University of Utah before being drafted by the Mariners in 2000. He spent the 2001 and 2002 years with full-season Class A teams before sitting out all of last season with a right arm fracture.
Garcia said the one big question right now is at closer, a role that’s still waiting to be filled.
Grifol likes Everett’s talent. Now he just wants to avoid the injuries that plagued the team last season.
“Last year we had to play guys out of position all year,” Grifol said. “We moved guys around and put guys in positions where they hadn’t played before. They worked hard and got better as the year went along, but it was a transition phase for them. Injuries killed us.
“The main thing this year is we have to stay healthy and we have to play as a team,” Grifol continued. “If we do that, we’re going to compete.”
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