Chasing The Storm 2049-5 Minor League Report

[njherdfan]

After years of being a competitive team, Seattle's fortunes have taken a significant turn for the worse over the last few seasons; one thing that's supposed to accompany a stretch of sustained losing is an abundance of high draft picks that should help to improve the team's fortunes in the near future. Through a combination of bad luck and bad drafting, that hasn't really been the case for Seattle. With that in mind, let's take a look at some of Seattle's prospects that could make the majors in the near future.

If Jared Bolen leaves in free agency, as many expect, then don't be surprised to see Trevor Eteldrum as Seattle's opening-day catcher next season. Eteldrum actually received his first major league call-up this season, and he appeared overmatched by major league pitching, as he posted a .461 OPS in 23 games. Seattle fans will hope, however, that the small 23-game sample isn't a sign of things to come; instead, they'll point to his excellent 2049 season at AAA Pasco, where he had an .842 OPS and produced 3.5 WAR in only 98 games. Of course, he won't repeat those same numbers in the majors next year, but Seattle fans will be hoping for league-average production.

Last year's top draft pick Joe Jackson is likely to make his debut in Seattle in 2050 as well. Jackson is a well-regarded prospect who was advanced enough to pitch in AAA in his first full minor league season. His AAA season was solid, if unspectacular. In 26 starts, he threw 164 innings and had an ERA of 3.45 and a FIP of 3.92. Scouts believe that Jackson, as of now, does not have the sort of dominant pitch or pitches that would leave to him dominating the best hitters in the Brewster, and instead, he relies on a mixture of decent pitches; it's unclear if Jackson will be able to develop a dominant pitch, but his ceiling very well might be capped if he's unable to do so.