The Modesto Nuts, Low-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners are now a week into their season. Their first series against the Stockton Ports has already concluded and now their in the midst of their first home series, in which they’re hosting the Lake Elsinore Storm. As the reigning California League Champions, the Nuts have a lot of pressure on them this season, and considering the fact that they have eight of the Mariner’s top 30 prospects, they’re likely to have even less stability than most seasons as the big league club will be aiming to get those players to a higher level as soon as possible.
High Offensive Output and Concerning Pitching
The Nuts are off to a hot start when it comes to offense. In their first six games, they’ve scored five or more runs four times. Their highest run total was against the Ports on Sunday, when they put up a total of 14 in a dominant victory against the Oakland Athletic’s Class-A affiliate. It is worth noting though, that the Ports did finish at the bottom of the eight-team league last season and that the A’s only have a couple of their top 30 prospects at that level.
On an individual level, 30th-ranked prospect Luis Suisbel has been off to a very hot start. The first-baseman has a .429 batting average, three extra base hits, included one homerun and three runs batted in over the course of 21 at bats. There are a few top prospects that have shown off their power so far this season as well. Colt Emerson (3rd), Jonny Farmelo (6th) and Aidan Smith (14th) are tied for the team lead in HRs at the time of writing at two. While the offense has been on a roll so far, not everything has been perfect in Modesto.
Pitching on the other hand has been very concerning so far. One of the most notable struggling pitchers has been the Mariners’ 26th-ranked prospect, Brody Hopkins. During his first appearance of the season, he gave up four earned runs in and only pitched 2.2 innings. Breaking it down a little further, he gave up six hits, three walks and hit a batter, as a result there’s no surprise that his night came to a very premature end. That night ended up being their second loss of the season, as the Storm walked away with an 8-5 win.
Most relief pitchers have played fairly well, with the main exception being Yeury Tatiz who gave up two runs and only recorded a single out in his only appearance to date.
An Entertaining Home Opener
The most exciting game that the Nuts have played so far would be undoubtedly their home opener which gave the fans at John Thurman Field some free baseball. The game entered the tenth inning tied at six. The Storm got out to a 7-6 lead, with the runner who started on second base scoring on a sacrifice fly by Oswaldo Linares. That was the only run they’d score though, so the Nuts needed to score a run in the bottom of the inning to keep the game alive.
Charlie Pagliarini started on second base and advanced to third after Thomas Balboni Jr balked. The Nuts seemed to be right where they wanted to be, especially since Connor Charping, the first batter of the inning, got walked as well. With runners on first and third, Farmelo hit a ground ball to the second baseman who threw out Pagliarini at home who attempted to score on the play. With one out, the Nuts were still trailing by a run but had runners on first and second.
The next batter was Colt Emerson who got Modesto’s eighth base on balls of the game, loading the bases for the Mariners’ ninth ranked prospect Michael Arroyo. On the first pitch of the at bat, Arroyo hit the ball into shallow left field. Charping rounded third and scored, Emerson followed him through while the left fielder attempted to throw him out at home plate. The throw would be too late though and a two-run single gave the Nuts a walk-off win.
Northwest Sports Desk 