Down On The Farm

Dustin Ackley

Each month here on the blog were going to take a look at some of our Minor League ball players that are putting up solid numbers. This will give Mariners fans who dont follow Minor League players a glimpse of what the future has in store for us.

Tacoma Rainiers AAA

Luke French SP : This crafty soft tossing lefty has yet to lose a game down in Triple A so far this season and is also sporting a solid 1.72 ERA. The down side to these numbers is that he has also given up 46 hits in 47 innings. Keep an eye on French if Rowland-Smith continues to struggle he could get the call up soon.

Other Notables:

None they all suck!!!

West Tenn Diamond Jaxx AA

Michael Pineda SP : The 6'5 Righty out of the Dominican Republic has been tearing up AA hitters. He is 2-0 with a 2.23 ERA and 40 K's in 6 starts so far. We will be keeping tabs on this guy throughout the season to see if he can do this over an entire season. If he is able to we may have an ace in the making.

Mauricio Robles SP : Robles came over to Seattle in the Washburn trade last July and just may be the prize prospect of that entire trade. So far this year the 5'10 22 year old is 3-1 with a 3.31 ERA and 35 K's in 6 games.

Dustin Ackley 2B : The #2 overall pick in the 2009 draft has been widely regarded as the most pure hitter in the entire draft class. After hitting 400 plus during his senior year at North Carolina, he went and tore the cover off the ball at the Arizona Fall League in Peoria. He started off a little slow but has been heating up lately. He has hit .303 with 6 rbis in his last 10 games but is hitting .200 with 1 hr and 10 rbis on the season. Expect this guy to keep hitting the ball and working his way up to Major Leagues quickly.

Other AA Notables:

Carlos Peguero has 11 hrs and and a 333 avg.

Josh Fields Seattles 2008 first round pick has a 2.89 ERA with 2 saves.

High Desert Mavericks A

Kenn Kasparek SP : 2-1 2.55 ERA, 25 K's in 7 games.

Johermyn Chavez OF : .283 avg 4 hrs 10 rbis and 2 sb in 31 games.

Rich Poythress 1B : .266 avg 6 hrs 28 rbis in 31 games.

Clinton LumberKings A

Nick Franklin SS : .311 avg 5 hrs 18 rbis and 4 sb in 33 games.

Dennis Raben OF/1B : .252 avg 8 hrs 18 rbis in 34 games.

Erasmo Ramirez SP/RP : 1-2 1 sv 2.73 ERA and 20 K's in 26.1 IP.

Andrew M

Photo from:http://www.greensborobatting.com/dustin-ackley1.jpg