MiLB Notebook: Hear from Nuts’ top prospect and coaching staff ahead of 2022 season
The Modesto Nuts kick off their season on Friday, April 8 at John Thurman Field with the first game of a weekend series against the San Jose Giants at 7:05 p.m.
The team has what the coaching staff calls a “good mix” of experienced players who have been on an affiliate roster before and young guys coming up from the rookie leagues, the Arizona Complex League or the Dominican Summer League. Players are looking to help their team win games, but ultimately want to move up the ranks of the Seattle Mariners’ organization like former Modesto Nuts center fielder Julio Rodriguez, who was announced as a member of Seattle’s Opening Day roster.
The Nuts’ roster features one of the organization’s top prospects, catcher Harry Ford, and a pitching staff of 18 arms all looking to make their marks. Here’s a look at the roster and what some of the coaches and players are saying ahead of the start of the 2022 season:
Adjusting to Affiliate ball
Michael Morales and Edwin Arroyo are two of the new faces in Modesto. Morales, a right-handed pitcher, turned down the opportunity to play at Vanderbilt and Arroyo, a shortstop, could have played at Florida State, but was drafted out of high school and played in the ACL instead. Their goals are like everyone else in the minors, win games and, as Morales says it, “Go to the next level.”
“Obviously that’s a goal for everybody. But you know, if you really want it, I think you can do it.” Morales said.
Both just finished with their first month-long spring training and learned a lot from it.
“It was less hectic than I imagined coming into it,” Morales said. “I thought, with all the different affiliates and the big league squad being there it’d be hectic, kind of like the first day of high school or something like that. But I think our organization did a really good job keeping them organized to keep everybody out of each other’s ways.”
The biggest adjustment will be the number of games they play. Arroyo says in the rookie league, he played about 21 seven-inning games. He played just about the same number of games in spring training as he did an entire rookie ball season, and the number of innings per game increased from seven to nine.
“But I’m ready,” Arroyo said. “I feel ready, that was good for me to prepare for the season. That was that adjustment, but I honestly got used to it pretty fast.”
Mariners’ top prospect
Everyone who follows baseball probably knows about top prospect Harry Ford. “And if they don’t, they soon will, I’m sure,” said hitting coach Mike Fransoso. Ford, the Mariners’ 2021 first-round pick, is the Mariners’ fifth-ranked prospect by MLB.com and the sixth-ranked prospect by Baseball America. He played in the rookie league and was with the Mariners organization for this year’s spring training. Coaches are impressed with the 19-year-old catcher’s athleticism, both in the batter’s box and behind the plate, and how much he has improved since being drafted and joining the Nuts.
“He just matured a lot and a lot of ways on the field and off the field,” said Fransoso. “A lot of high praise for his catching as well, which he’s shown improvements in and a lot of people are excited about that, same with his hitting. … He’s young and he’s a special player, so it’ll be fun to watch him grow.”
Ford says his experience in the Arizona Complex League will help him adjust from high school to professional baseball.
“It was nice getting to go into rookie (ball) for a little bit to see it for a while and then come here and have spring training,” Ford said. “You never saw anything like the stuff you see out here in high school so it’s definitely a big jump, but hasn’t been something too hard.”
Julio’s inspiration
Just the mention of Julio Rodriguez puts a smile on the faces of Nuts coaches. He has worked his way up through the Mariners’ minor league system and on March 4, the team announced that he would be named to the Opening Day roster. After playing in the DSL rookie league in 2018, the center fielder spent part of the 2019 season with the Nuts. According to milb.com, in Rodriguez’s 17 games in Modesto, he collected 30 hits with six doubles, three triples, two home runs, 19 RBIs and finished with a .462 batting average.
He spent the 2021 season with the High-A Everett AquaSox and Double-A Arkansas Travelers, where he played in a total of 74 games, finishing with 101 hits, 13 home runs, 47 RBIs, 43 walks, 21 stolen bases and a .347 batting average.
“Julio is a special kid, and a special talent and he works his butt off every day and it was fun to see last year when he came up to double A,” said coach Ryan Scott. “For these kids, it really shows them that when they can put in that work, and they can go about their business the right way every day … and play the game hard, play the game well, it’s not too long before they can make it up there.”
Pitching depth and standouts
The Nuts will return with a number of pitchers from last season’s staff, including Juan Mercedes, Kelvin Nunez, 2017 ninth round pick Jorge Benitez and Josias De Los Santos, who was the Nuts’ 2021 opening day starter and posted ERAs of 2.37 and 3.33 in May and July, respectively. There are 18 arms on the pitching staff but one player to keep an eye out for is starting pitcher Joseph Hernandez.
“The work ethic he brought on a daily basis, the process that he goes about, in the athletic training room in the weight room and the throwing program and holding his teammates accountable … that’s something that’s really stood out to me.” said pitching coach Nathan Bannister.
If you can’t get enough pitching, keep an eye out for Will Flemming and Jimmy Kingsbury, who both showed bright flashes in limited time with Modesto last season. Kingsbury, a graduate of Villanova, was drafted in the 17th round in 2021 and made his pro debut with Modesto on July 28, 2021. Not even two months into his career he pitched seven innings of a combined no-hitter with Kelvin Nunez.
Flemming, a Wake Forest product, was selected in the 11th round in 2021 and is the Mariners’ 30th ranked prospect according to MLB.com. He earned Low-A player of the week honors last season and ended the year with a 3-0 record.
The offseason and Spring training were key for both young players to improve and watch players on the Mariners’ roster.
“(Spring training) was awesome,” Fleming said. “It was nice when all the big league guys came in so you could see how they work. To be with like 100 and something guys you know, you can take different pieces of information and get to know those guys it was great.
“I talked to Matt Brash about his slider just because it’s so good. … He was doing the same stuff we are not even a year ago, so it’s cool to see everyone kind of work their way up and then be successful in the bigs.”
This story was originally published April 7, 2022 at 12:56 PM.
