The Mariners announced that they are promoting a starter from AA Jackson to AAA Tacoma but it’s not one of the big three, it’s the technical “number one starter” for the Generals, Andrew Carraway.
With Brian Sweeney going on the DL for the Rainiers, Carraway will take his spot and continue to prove that he deserves a shot with the big league club: Carraway was 4-0 for Jackson with a 2.61 ERA in 38 innings with 32 K and 7 BB. The 25-year-old was a 12th round choice in 2009 and is already proving to be a very good pick for the Mariners, no matter what he does from here.
The Rainiers are also proving to be an interesting team to follow finally: with Carraway, Erasmo Ramirez, and Forrest Snow, these names aren’t just filler.
Steven Proscia was promoted to Jackson to replace Rich Poythress, who went on the DL.
Danny Hultzen gets the start for the Generals at 4:15 tonight against Tennessee. The lefty is 2-3 over six starts with a 2.35 ERA but needs to cut down on his walks; he has allowed 19 in 30.2 innings.
Not doing so bad lately is James Paxton and I have a gut feeling that he’ll be the first of the big three to reach Seattle. Since his awful start on April 21st (6 ER in 2.1 innings) he has made three starts:
17.1 innings, 2 ER, 21 K, 7 BB.
Paxton has allowed two runs or fewer in six of his seven starts this season and batters are hitting .198 against him. He has also gone five innings or more in each of his last three starts, something he only did once prior to that.
I’d expect Paxton to be in the Mariners rotation by midseason if he keeps this up.