There hasn't been much pitching below AA for the Mariners this year that I've been fond of. Sure, there's Victor Sanchez, who might be the best pitching prospect in the system outside of Taijuan Walker if he weren't so far away, but there's little else to pay attention to.
Then there was Jordan Shipers.
He was a 16th round pick in 2010, but he mostly fell because of signability issues with his commitment to Missouri State. The Mariners wound up signing him for $800,000, which is astronomically higher than the recommended slot bonus for a 16th round pick. The payoff has not been immediate, with Shipers posting an extremely low strikeout rate (50 of them in 90 innings) but he does have a 3.50 ERA in 16 starts with Clinton this year. It's a little bit lower after tonight.
Shipers went 9 innings against the West Michigan Whitecaps, striking out two (yeah), walking two, and allowing not a single hit.
While the strikeouts have disappeared (he struck out almost a batter per inning in his debut last season) Shipers has now allowed just five earned runs in his last 27 innings. Perhaps this no-hitter could propel him to take the next step and live up to those $800k expectations.
And isn't that just what the Mariners need? Another non-hitting prospect?